6 of the greatest changes the Daniel Craig era brought to James Bond.
After 16 years as 007, Daniel Craig with the longest uninterrupted tenure of any actor to play the character , will sign off as the character for the last time in No Time To Die.
Craig for many is a defining bond , perhaps more so than even Sean Connery. Having Craig introduced as Bond through Casino Royale all the way back in 2006 , it is Craig’s character and his era where many recent memories of Bond centre around. Whilst a recent poll asking people who they felt was the best actor to play bond came out with Connery on top many feel Craig is a close second.
In this listicle we shall look into 6 reasons why Craig and his era as bond has brought so much to the character and franchise in his 5 film occupancy of the Role.
1.)Realism
Before Casino Royale ,the previous outing of bond was in Die Another Day with Piers Brosnan playing the role. This film was widely canned by critics for its almost sci-fi approach to gadgets and plot, with an invisible vehicle and laser focussing mirror respectively. After this approach in 2002 the Bond franchise wanted to return to more realistic grounds for their next movie.
The start of Daniel Craig’s career as bond, began with the realism the franchise needed with a chase across a Madagascan city on foot against the parkour of assailant Mollaka. In this scene bond whilst using logic instead of acrobatics succeeds in keeping up with Mollaka, however it is clearly a struggle as impacts of clinging onto objects can be clearly seen in his expressions. Within this chase we see both determination bond has to succeed, a very relatable quality, in addition to showing he is also not indestructible as previous bonds may have appeared to be.
Similarly, the theme of realism continues in Spectre a whole 10 years later where we see bond fight the incredibly muscly Mr Hinx. Whilst in previous iterations bond would seem un-phased, in this scene he clearly tires and only his ingenuity saves him . These qualities of gritty realism move bond away from the disconnected hero and into the remit of possibility if an individual has enough determination. This is exactly what the franchise wanted and has lead to more affinity with the character.
2.)Emotion
The second thing to focus on is the emotion Daniel Craig brought to the roll, not only showing that 007 can be a hard-edged killer but also that he is a human and that his actions do have an effect on him. This is clearly demonstrated in Skyfall during his desperate attempts to keep M , someone he holds very dear, safe from villain Silva. In this scenes we see a real desperation to protect M but when she passes a sort of undercurrent of loss from Craig as Bond made pertinent by his appreciation of the porcelain bulldog received from M’s final wishes.
Additionally, within the latest two films the strength of the feelings of remorse bond feels for some of his actions are clearly displayed. From the decision not too kill Blofeld at the finale of Spectre to in an opening sequence from No Time to Die when Craig’s facial expressions whilst burning a note opposite Vesper Lynd’s grave show his sadness at the callousness of his actions at the end of Casino Royale.
Working with realism the emotional aspect of Craig brought to Bond again causes a much better affinity with the character than otherwise would have been felt.
3.)Meta-Narratives
Throughout the Craig era something that has been done rather well and of which many hope will continue is the idea of over-arching narratives. Whilst this has no doubt been a decision influenced by the success of this technique within the Marvel Universe series of films , it does not ‘ water down’ its effectiveness.
We see this effect used to varying success in the 5 films of the Craig era from the only mildly successful continuation of vengeance for Vesper’s death dominating the plot in Quantum of Solace , to the highly successful interconnected plot of No Time to Die. Nevertheless the intricacies of meta-narrative definitely continue to assist the franchise in enticing us back to the cinema in search of the answer to how it will be resolved.
4.)Teamwork
Part of the success of the franchise has got to be in the love for the supporting characters which are as diverse as entertaining as bond himself. Before Daniel Craig , the appearances of Q , Moneypenny and M were frequent and always added conflicts and collaboration to the narrative giving a real sense of movement to the narrative.
Whilst perhaps not introduced rather re-introduced in the Craig era the supporting characters from Skyfall onwards really added extra elements to the films meaning that the stories became much more wholesome and give parts of the films a more light-hearted air to them.
Ben Whishaw’s portrayal of Q in particular is excellent adding a modern flavour to the much loved character previously played by Desmond Llewelyn and John Cleese. Whishaw’s begrudging respect for bond is apparent even if 007 seemingly destroys everything Q provides him with. It is these supporting characters that add so much more interest to the films and hopefully this new rooster of support continues into the next iteration of Bond.
5.)Equality
Something previous Bond films were frequently accused of was sexism. Misogyny was rife in many of the earlier Bond era’s with many of Bonds female interactions being overly sexual and having little bearing within the story. Clearly the Bond franchise needed to modernise its image.
Within the Craig era , the side characters of disposable Women have largely gone whilst there was still some use of the practice within Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall . The Craig era really made strides to improve Bonds image. We see this earliest in Casino Royale in Bonds emotional connection to Vesper Lynd a person Bond really adores, meaning when betrayal is uncovered it leaves him with deep psychological scars.
Furthermore, in the latest instalment of the franchise , the equality stakes really are level between Bond and some of the strongest and most competent female characters the franchise has ever seen. Nomi and Palomo are in many ways the next generation being rather better at international espionage than Bond ever has.
6.)Modern Suaveness
One aspect all 007 agents have had is the ability to be on a sub-zero level of coolness. In previous eras within the franchise all it took was a few choice lines and the tailored suit however there are real moments within the Craig era where his calmness and professionalism in missions exude the word ‘cool’ .
A particular moment where Craig shows how he has updated the meaning of being Suave comes in the opening sequence of Skyfall. Here Bond is pursuing Patrice a contracted assassin , who has stolen the names of many MI6 operatives around the world from a computer hard drive. In the process of the chase, Bond ends up on a moving train , with bonds carriage being disconnected from Patrice’s. Here 007 uses a digger to clasp onto the quickly escaping carriage and after he jumps from the diggers arm into the carriage he uses these few seconds to adjust his collar and suit. It is elements like this that have redefined suaveness in the films.
No Time to Die is out exclusively in cinemas globally now.
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