It allows actors to slip in and out of this role, making it timeless. As much as M and Q and Moneypenny are all titles for different people. To me, James Bond is an alias as much as his handle as 007 is. It created a strong continuity.īut, of course, the classic Bond fan within me found something really wrong with this. We were seeing real bridges being built with this James Bond. This wasn’t just a “villain of the week” scenario. Bond’s story wasn’t merely just a mission, and in some ways this was good.

I adored Javier Bardem’s Silva, a villain that could veritably tear down MI-6 and get at the very core of everything that is safe in Bond’s world. On one hand, the story was marvelously constructed. But the need to tie in Craig’s Bond movies made Skyfall a mixed bag for me. He’s a spy on a mission and he’s got a license to kill, that alone should give you plenty of ammo for thousands of stories. It elaborated on a backstory that I neither asked for nor wanted. Skyfall‘s debut in 2012 did something that essentially ruined Bond for me. The following Quantum of Solace in 2008 felt more like a long, violent footnote to a story that had already found a solid end in Casino Royale. He had the chip on his shoulder again, and not even an Aston Martin could change that.īut, as perfect as Casino Royale was in introducing the new, grittier Bond, Craig’s Bond didn’t age well. But Die Another Day, for some, felt trite and Casino Royale brought Bond back to life. Sure, there will always be diabolical villains twirling mustaches, crying blood-with their fluffy white cats–and there will always be beautiful mysterious ladies whose main purpose is to give Bond information while being naked. It added a necessary grit to a Bond who was starting to get a little too whimsical. Bond is smooth and classic and he does everything in a slick suit with a martini in one hand and a lady on his arm.ĭaniel Craig’s debut as James Bond in Casino Royale in 2006 had a measure of the old Brosnan/Connery/Dalton charm along with a roughness that was appealing in a way that was different from the previous films.

I’ve been watching Bond movies since I was old enough to be told to cover my eyes when he was philandering with his leading ladies. No Bond film is complete without three things: action, style, and suffocating machismo.Īnd that’s not an insult.

Cast: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Dave Bautista, Monica Bellucci, Ralph Fiennesĭistributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Columbia Pictures

Casino royale villain crying blood