Daniel Craig’s coming back to the big screen as Bond in the newest installment to the series, Spectre, and perhaps, for the last time. Considering the fact that Craig had some huge shoes to fill from where veterans like Sean Connery and Roger Moore left off, which most opined Craig was incapable of, this writer felt compelled to tribute an ode to arguably the best Bond in history. Since, there’s been a fair amount of speculation to who the best Bond was, I’d like to put my two cents in to why Craig takes it. Here's why:
The succession of great characters, played by splendid actors with more than memorable performances, usually fuels hate fire from fans and critics alike.
Craig was no stranger to this manner of dismissal, when the virtually unknown actor was announced to take up the role that Sean Connery epitomized, Roger Moore owned, and Pierce Brosnan kind of made look cool, toward what most critics counted as the near end of the franchise itself.
Heath Ledger’s Joker to Jack Nicholson’s, Ben Affleck’s Batman to Christian Bale’s, and now, Jared Leto’s Joker to Heath Ledger’s; the list goes on and on, and critics usually find a way to put their foots in their mouths.
He was too short, too blonde, and too blue-eyed, most fans quipped, only to have to take their words back a decade later.
Craig’s depiction of Bond was suave, but short of the near ideal portrayals of roles that came before him. Bond wasn’t the all-knowing, reliable, and quintessential good guy anymore, he had far darker and messed up shades to his personality that made him almost relatable. Keeping you jumping between figuring out whether he really is 'all that'.
The man had problems with childhood trauma, authority, love, alcoholism and the all-round minimum criteria to be an MI6 agent, but somehow still pulled it off like a boss.
Recounting performances of the novel but sometimes almost cartoonish versions of the previous Bonds, Craig modernized the character to the age of Jason Bourne and Ethan Hunt - from the intelligence spy into the train-hopping, free running, neck breaking assassin we needed.
And, let’s face it, he’s probably the first bond with a ripped body.
Gaining 20 pounds of muscle, training in rugged forms of martial arts, living off of a scientifically prescribed diet for 6 months, going to bed at 9 o’clock at nights during the shoot, and even losing two of his front teeth during filming. All this, from the actor that originally turned down the role. “He's like a monk,” said producer Michael G. Wilson in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter; very unlike the character he was playing.
The train-hopping, free running, neck breaking assassin we needed, not just a chain-smoking smart ass.
Both Casino Royale and Skyfall – perhaps the two best Bond films ever made, with Craig being counted as an active member of the movie’s directorial aspect – had audiences witness the ushering of a vintage pin-up character into the era grit and grime; building Bond from the ground up into the spy that would repeatedly save the world from doom.
Bond's not a vapid and shallow character with everything just working out for him anymore, and Craig successfully played the alpha man characteristics with slight tints of insecurities and doubt, amazingly. Maybe the first Bond who messed up more often than he helped the cause.
You gotta jump through the hoops to be the alpha.
What about the women you say? Now, Bond's womanizing and Casanova image is something that doesn't really need to be pointed out. But, the Craig reboot left out any of the borderline anti-feminist objectification of women, which he had to work really hard on. It's the age of male empowerment; and, why should women have all the fun. Very classy we must say.
If she can do it, so can he.
It's one thing to square off edges to a classic character, and another shave off some of its most famous attributes. You know you're just asking for it from die-hard fans when you stray from a lot of the stereotypical James Bond tags. Dropping away the gadgets, kicking the cigarette butt, and even the traditional olive martini that he liked shaken, not stirred. But, no sir, not the new Bond, not Daniel Craig's Bond. Not after he lost 10 mil in a hand of poker.
You think you know him, but you don't.
To suffice, Daniel Craig's Bond was as 21st century as the legend could get, with the cynical, technically-not-fit-for-duty, softy-turned-womanizer personality beaten into shape. He successfully redefined the Cold War-era, redundant, Bond into the stone-hearted assassin we need.
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