Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay I never grew up admiring the character of James Bond nor did I mark the occasion of the release of a new Bond film as a special cinematic occasion. I was more focused on Star Wars and the burgeoning Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I just never was particularly intrigued by spy movies to begin with. When I decided to watch through the four James Bond films starring Daniel Craig in the lead role, I truly did not know what to expect. I also genuinely was unsure if I would like any of them to any extent. But with the release of Cary Joji Fukunaga’s No Time to Die this weekend―Craig’s final outing in the role―I thought it’d be fitting to look back at all of the James Bond films starring Craig and see how he has evolved in the role and how various creators have translated Bond for the 21st century. So, without further ado…LET’S GET STARTED! Casino Royale (2006) I had certainly heard good things about Martin Campbell’s 2006 film Casino Royale in which Craig makes his first appearance as Bond. But to reiterate I was doubtful if any spy films could suck me into liking this character born out of the 1960s. From what I understood of Bond’s character as a narcissistic, misogynistic secret agent personified by the likes of Sean Connery (among others), I came into this film automatically standoffish to any attempt to modernize the character. But then Daniel Craig in Casino Royale just pulls it off in such a way that makes it somehow work. Much of what works about this film for me is encapsulated in the opening scene where Bond―shrouded in darkness and sitting in a corner―has a chat with his target before killing him without hesitation. At its core, this scene is about Bond being in complete control of the situation and pulling off the hit without breaking a sweat. Such a cool, badass way to introduce Bond but especially introducing an uninitiated viewer such as myself to who this character is. And then, throughout the course of the film’s runtime, we get to see Bond face increasingly difficult challenges that highlight the fact that he is not superhuman and is not even an experienced agent yet. But he retains a sense of calm confidence that reassures the audience that he will always get out of a sticky situation even if the people around him do not believe him. Halfway through the runtime, I was shocked at how much I was enjoying Casino Royale despite its slow-burn nature. For me, a film that can build suspense gradually and make the payoffs so rewarding is one of the greatest successes of the three-act structure (lookin’ at you, Parasite!). And this movie dispelled my initial trepidations about this kind of spy movie because it warmed me up to the story and the characters while escalating the tension slowly but effectively leading up to the second-act poker game. Without question, this set piece excels at virtually everything it is trying to achieve from establishing the character dynamics between Bond and his love interest Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), his American counterpart Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), and his nemesis Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen). Not only does the story advance with the various stages of the poker game, but the interstitial action offers multiple opportunities to display Bond’s skill sets and inject more meaning into his burgeoning romance with Vesper to help the third-act climax all the more impactful and powerful. Ultimately, any movie (in my humble opinion) only works as well as its characters and the extent to which I feel invested in both their individual journeys and their relationships with the other characters. Without question, Crag and Green’s chemistry may not be in-your-face lovable but by the end (and before Vesper’s demise) I want them to have a life together. I also feel genuinely betrayed by Vesper screwing Bond over, but then my heart breaks seeing Bond unable to save her from drowning. If someone told me that Casino Royale would take on a satisfying emotional rollercoaster before I first watched it, I would not have believed them. My favorite Craig’s take on Bond remains up in the air, but at the end of the day I stand by Casino Royale being the best of his five James Bond films (and arguably one of the best movies of the 21st century). By the time the credits were rolling, I was ready to see Bond’s revenge story in the sequel. If only the sequel lived up to the hype… Quantum of Solace (2008) I have little to say about Quantum of Solace, Marc Forster’s direct follow-up to Casino Royale. Mainly because I did not like it and do not understand why anyone does. The first twenty-ish minutes immediately caused me to put my guard up as I found the editing of the car chase in Italy to not only lack cohesion but be incredibly straining to the eyes. The hyper-rapid cutting made me damn-near nauseous to the point that I had to close my eyes for extended periods of time just to readjust my gaze on the screen. When it comes to the story of Quantum of Solace, the choice to make it more convoluted and complex than its predecessor was sorely misguided. Instead of intensely focusing on Bond’s revenge for the first two acts, we get an unengaging narrative about a coup d’etat in Brazil enacted by some faceless terrorist organization that I don’t care about at all. There are no memorable supporting characters or villains in the movie, and Bond lacks any sort of captivating character arc like he had in Casino Royale where he faced the gravity of the consequences of being a spy. Simply put, Quantum of Solace sucks and it does not deserve to be in the same franchise as Casino Royale or Skyfall (or even Spectre for that matter). But it is, so whatever. Skyfall (2012) If Casino Royale is the epitome of “slow-burn” filmmaking in a stylized action spy movie, then Skyfall multiplies the action and takes a hint from some of the more recent entries in the Mission: Impossible franchise to craft one of the best action flicks of this century. Of course, one cannot begin to discuss the greatness of Skyfall without addressing the cold-open action scene and the breathtaking title sequence. Immediately the audience is thrown into a tense action set piece where we see Craig’s version of Bond at the peak of his abilities as a super spy. And it all builds to Eve Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) inadvertently shooting (and presumably killing) Bond. As he falls into the water below the running train, we are treated to one of the best opening credits sequences that I have ever seen for a movie. Undeniably, the animation expertly captivates the eye while also telling the story of Bond’s survival and escape into early retirement. But what completes the ambiance of this sequence (and establishes the melancholic tone of the whole movie) is Adele’s rendition of the titular song. Her voice is both illuminating and haunting in a way that communicates so clearly the incredibly high stakes that Skyfall has going forward. From there, director Sam Mendes offers up a well-executed action movie with genuine stakes that harkens back to Casino Royale in terms of its grounded character dynamics but amps up the action to keep the pace fresh. Furthermore, this film puts Bond into an incredibly dangerous “cat-and-mouse” chase with ex-spy-turned-cyberterrorist Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem). But setting aside the action and story, what really allows Skyfall to transcend other films like it (in my humble opinion) is the believable and humanizing mother-son relationship between Craig’s Bond and M (Judi Dench). While I really fell in love with Craig and Green’s chemistry in Casino Royale, I actually Bond’s dynamic with M a little better in terms of his characterization. Whereas Vesper Lynd was a well-done, modernized Bond girl, M offers a look at Bond through a different lens in that it highlights his non-romantic attachments that form his core weaknesses of personality which make him so vulnerable during the film’s climax. Coming down to the last twenty minutes or so, Skyfall culminates all of the emotional stakes and high-octane action choreography into a very touching parting between Bond and M that made me feel for Bond as much (if not more) than when he watched his love drown to death in front of him in Casino Royale. Needless to say, it remains one of my favorite movies of the last two decades and holds up as one of the best action spy movies of all time. Spectre (2015) Going into the 2015 follow-up to Skyfall, I was quite certain that Mendes would simply be unable to capture lightning in a bottle twice (which ended up being true). In many respects, Spectre would probably stand out as one of the better Bond movies of the last few decades if not for the existence of its predecessors like Casino Royale and Skyfall. Largely speaking, that expectation was met for me as I found Spectre to be a decent movie but not a great one. Ultimately, much of my lackluster response to this movie comes down to just how much it pales in comparison to other Bond flicks and other movies like it. For starters, the central journey of Bond longing to retire from spy work lacks the impact that it needed for me to care because it’s been done better in films like Logan and Mission: Impossible III. While I understand why Bond wants to retire given all that he’s been through, he never felt like he was adamantly pushing for it for much of the runtime. When it comes to the villainous mastermind of Spectre personified in Ernst Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), he simply pales in comparison to Raoul Silva from the previous movie. Whereas Bardem’s character in Skyfall served as a great foil to Bond as both coming from MI6 but coming away with very different perspectives on the work that they do, Waltz’s character in this film feels like Mendes’s one example of trying to one-up something from Skyfall by creating a personal grudge between Blofeld and Bond. At the end of the day, though, this just felt forced and beneath Waltz’s talents as an actor. I also found the plot of Spectre to be (almost) as forgettable as the one in Quantum of Solace, with the roles of various characters (notably Ralph Fiennes as the new M) lacking significance or relevance to make me care enough. While I did not hate watching Spectre, by the end I was thinking to myself: “Man, I hope Craig’s run as Bond ends on a higher note than this.” No Time to Die (2021)
[NOTE: This blog contains spoilers for “No Time to Die.” You have been warned.] While Craig’s final outing as Bond was not the powerful sendoff that some people are saying it is, I was pretty satisfied with No Time to Die as someone who has no childhood nostalgia or sentimental attachment to the character and his rich, complex history. There is a good deal to like about this film, but also some undeniable drawbacks. So, let’s dive in, shall we? 😊 For me, what is perhaps best about No Time to Die is the character arc that Craig is given here. While not as intellectually engaging or emotionally satisfying as his journey in Casino Royale, Bond’s grappling with his age ended up being more thoughtful and profound than I figured it would be. Unlike some other movies that tackle the protagonists confronting their mortality, Craig wrestles with more than just his physical deteriorating (not only because he still comes off as fit and physically capable as ever). In short, Bond must admit to himself that he wants a life beyond espionage with people to care about and love. While virtually any other Bond film would shroud this story in an unbelievable guise of machismo for the sake of saving his archetype from being―God forbid―humanized, director Cary Fukunaga makes Bond emotionally vulnerable. Perhaps some diehard Bond fans will find this arc unbefitting of the exemplar action star, but I thought it was refreshing and a suitable conclusion to this Bond’s journey as well as Craig’s tenure as the womanizing super spy. Aside from Craig as Bond, No Time to Die allows two specific supporting characters―one returning and one new―to shine in the film’s first act. Despite his minimal screen time, I greatly appreciated Jeffrey Wright’s return as CIA agent Felix Leiter. Not only do we see an unspoken history having developed between Leiter and Bond via their friendly interactions at a dance club in Jamaica, but his final interaction with Bond in a sinking tugboat is quite touching. Essentially, Felix is a mirror for Bond to look and see what will happen if he stays in the game too long: he will never get to live the life he wanted, just as Felix has missed his shot before his demise. The somewhat (but ultimately not) surprising standout from the supporting case was newcomer Ana de Armas as fresh-faced CIA agent Paloma. Not only is she charming as hell, but she holds her own alongside Bond and the new 007 (Lashana Lynch) in one of the film’s best fight sequences that takes place in Cuba. While de Armas initially comes off as a dolt or fangirl, she more than proves herself in a fight by shooting and kicking her way out of a jam while in high heels and an evening gown. While I know that Craig is done with the role of Bond, I am hopeful that de Armas returns in a future installment in a more prominent role because her badass female presence is much-needed in this franchise (and in the modern action genre as a whole). Regarding the action sequences in No Time to Die, they are few and far between but generally “punch” (pun intended 😊) when they happen. I was particularly entertained by the intense car chase through the narrow streets of Matera, Italy during the film’s extended cold open scene. I found it a great way to get back into Craig’s Bond universe after Spectre. And the action steps it up a notch in the third act with an incredibly composed one-shot shootout between Bond and the goons of Safin (Rami Malek) through several flights of stairs. If you’re looking for constant action, you won’t get it here. But if you’re fine with some punctuated action set pieces that you can count on one hand, then I think you’ll appreciate this movie. I did ultimately enjoy No Time to Die, so I don’t want to focus on the negatives as much. But there are some specific elements of the movie that I want to highlight so you’re aware of them going into it. To begin, I believed the emotional stakes of Bond’s journey via Craig’s acting but the chemistry he has with Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) leaves something to be desired. I don’t blame Seydoux’s or Craig’s acting skills, but rather the writing of their scenes together lacks the strong gut punch needed to carry what is intended to be a tear-jerker ending for their story. Which is disappointing considering this film has an unnecessarily stretched-out runtime spanning over two-and-a-half hours. Certainly, their screentime could have been used more ergonomically to make Bond’s farewell more impactful. But it just was not. Furthermore, while I appreciated both Wright’s and de Armas’ presence in this movie I found the other supporting characters lackluster in comparison. I did like Ralph Fiennes’ “M” more interesting here than in Spectre, but his dynamic with Bond still pales in comparison to Craig’s chemistry with Dame Judi Dench from Skyfall. But he has more to do than either Ben Whishaw as “Q” or Naomie Harris as Moneypenny who ultimately fulfill their roles in the plot and make very little impression beyond that. Regarding newcomers Lashana Lynch as the new 007 and Rami Malek as the villain Safin, I came away from the movie feeling that their performances were adequate and sufficient but not super memorable or resonant. So, is No Time to Die a fitting end for Craig’s run as James Bond? In some ways it is, and I think its strengths outweigh its flaws. That being said, this is not a film that I plan on rewatching anytime soon. And without a doubt in my mind, it pales in comparison to both Casino Royale and Skyfall. At the end of the day, how will I remember Daniel Craig’s turn as James Bond? Well, my lack of attachment to this character or this franchise makes it easy to say that I’ll reminisce fondly about Casino Royale and Skyfall and not think much past those two films. Honestly, I’d be fine if the Bond franchise ended with No Time to Die because (in my humble opinion) this character has been (and will continue to be) very difficult to modernize while retaining that which defines him. But, I’m not in charge of the franchise so I guess I’ll keep my eye out for what comes next for Bond even though I’m in no way, shape, or form eager for it. With all that said, here is my official ranking of Daniel Craig’s five “James Bond” films:
What is your favorite Daniel Craig appearance as Bond? Who do you want to see play the next Bond? What opinions of mine do you find absolutely ridiculous? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, this has been… Yours Truly, Amateur Analyst
2 Comments
LUG
10/15/2021 04:11:49 pm
That first paragraph on Quantum of Solace is hilarious! Agreed!!
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Austin
10/15/2021 04:19:25 pm
Glad you enjoyed it! :)
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Austin McManusI have no academic or professional background in film production or criticism; I simply love watching and talking about movies. Archives
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