Friday Five: Daniel Craig's Bond

I have seen the latest Bond. I have thoughts and some issues. But before I saw it, I refreshed myself by watching the previous Daniel Craig Bond films, beginning with Casino Royale, which is 15 years old. It took a few days, obviously, and I had a martini or two, but with gin - you know; the proper way. The following contains spoilers.

1. Casino Royale (2006) - rebooting Bond with Daniel Craig was utterly inspired. A little darker and more serious - less spoof and more spy - than previous outings in the Bond franchise, the third screen version of this Ian Fleming novel relied more on practical stuntwork than the CGI placements of former films. The torture scene is both excruciating and disturbingly erotic. The scene in the stationary vehicle was more thrilling and dramatic than when they are chasing each other through picturesque landscapes in high octane pursuits. We are also introduced to the DBS, which has the potential to steal the show. The acting is stellar as you would expect from folk more used to theatre; Judi Dench as M sparks off DC with the direct current those initials suggest, and Mads Mikkelsen does a great turn as the baddie, Le Chiffre. Sadly, the 'Bond girl' trope still puts pouting over substance, and Eva Green as Vesper Lynd is insubstantial. As these things demand, however (if Bond falls in love, the object of his affection must be elminated to give him motivation), she dies at the end - shutting herself into a lift in a derelict Venetian palace that crumbles into the Grand Canal.





2. Quantum of Solace (2008) - generally panned when it was released, I think this film has a lot more to offer than many suggested. Daniel Craig (or his stunt double) rides a motorbike, runs over rooftops, flies a plane, pushes bodies off buildings and through windows, walks across deserts, steers a boat, hangs off dodgy-looking scaffolding in building structures, executes dangerous overtaking manoeuvres on narrow twisting roads, and wears sunglasses like a boss. You want more? The Bond girl is actually good! Olga Kurylenko plays Camille Montes as a Bolivian agent who actually does something interesting. Mathieu Amalric is the main villain, Dominic Greene, who claimed to model his perfomance on 'the smile of Tony Blair and the craziness of Sarkozy'. We also get to see Rory Kinnear, Phil Ritter and Gemma Arterton (always a bonus) and the opening salvo by Jack White and Alicia Keys is pretty good too, although a departure from the popular Bond-ballad style of theme tune usually preferred. 

3. Skyfall (2012) - many people's favourite, and for very good reason. The opening sequence is worth the price of admission alone, as Bond fights a baddie atop a moving train and M instructs Moneypenny to 'take the damn shot'. As she does so, she accidentally shoots Bond who falls into a river and is presumed dead. Of course he isn't, although he takes advantage of the presumption for early retirement, only returning to service in London when the MI6 computers are hacked and their building blown up. There's some shennangians in Shanghai with a thrilling casino scene and even more palpitations in the London Underground - 'Health and safety; carry on.' Ben Wishaw pops up as Q, Naomie Harris is Moneypenny, Javier Bardem is top-notch fabulous villain, Raoul Silva, and Adele cashes in with the theme song. We see a softer side to Bond as he returns to his ancestral home in the Scottish highlands and Ralph Fiennes succeeds Judi Dench as M in a heartbreaking and brilliant handover.  

4. Spectre (2015) - Bond is once again sidelined due to unauthorised action, and M (Ralph Fiennes) is in a power struggle with Max Denbigh dubbed C (played with unctuous indifference by Andrew Scott). We have scenes in Mexico City (Day of the Dead), Rome (The Forum), Austria (snow), and London (helicopters crashing into bridges), and some decent stunts. Unfortunately the insipid Bond girl returns (Lea Seydoux as Madeleine Swann), and Bond falls for her and makes ridiculous choices. On the plus side we get Christophe Waltz as big daddy baddy Blofeld, Monica Bellucci providing an age-appropriate dalliance, and a throwback to an exploding gadget. We also get to see M take down the duplicitous C and say, 'And now we know what C stands for' - supposedly it's 'careless', after he hasn't checked the bullets in the gun, but I think we all know differently.

5. No Time To Die (2021) - There were all the spoilers in the world for this film. Mainly the connections to Jason Bourne - there was never just one. Daniel Craig is still superb and the supporting cast of M (Ralph Fiennes), Q (Ben Wishaw), Moneypenny (Naomi Harris), Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) and Bill Tanner (Rory Kinnear) are all delightful. The new agents are a revelation. Lashana Lynch as the new 007 has gravitas, and the CIA agent, Paloma (played by Ana de Armas), is admirably engaging. Less so the charisma-free Lea Seydoux who returns to her Yoko Ono-esque role to mess up the Bond we know and love. The ending has way too much mawkish sentimentality and, with its sledgehammer points about the importance of parenthood, it made me nostalgic for the old sign-offs of double entendres and smutty humour.