Eps 32: James Bond Just Got Propelled Towards a New Age of Violence
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Host
Kyle Watts
Podcast Content
Fleming wanted one Bond to be a extremely boring, disinterested person who just happens to do things, and chose the name James Bond especially because of his drabness, he told The New Yorker in 1962. One Bond, created in 1953 by author and former Naval Intelligence Officer Ian Fleming, appeared for the first time in Casino Royale. Bond serves as the primary main character in the rebooted 007 film series, and is the first Bond incarnation to have died in duty.
While not taking the time to die, Daniel Craig did record a few interviews with his daughters Barbara Broccoli and Wilson regarding his years as James Bond. Every Bond film is its own version of a chaotic mess, and making No Time To Die, Daniel Craigs fifth and final movie in the role, was no different. Craigs time as James Bonds next came to a close last year, with No Time To Die, leaving fans debating over who should take on the role next. As Bonds 25th movie, No Time To Die, hits theatres, fans such as myself will be thronging theaters to see Daniel Craigs last appearance as British secret agent James Bond, a crucial moment in the almost 60-year-old movie franchise.
Ultimately, who takes up the mantle of new James Bond faces challenges that go beyond the films six-decade history and Craigs masterful performances. I was worried about that while sitting through the pre-release screening of "No Time To Die," which stars Lashana Lynch as Nomi, the new, ultra-competent agent at MI6, given the title 007 after British spy James Bond left the service. As producers on the Bond films ponder who to follow in the wake of Craig, I am guessing that the questions I am asking could make the selection more difficult. Here, in keeping with the general tone of the films, Bond is far more sadistic, a cold-hearted assassin with little sense of compassion, and Daniel Craig, with his penetrating eyes, fits in well with the entire franchise.
I have also appreciated the numerous ways that Craigs version of Bond has been refined and tweaked to fit contemporary sensibilities -- something I will discuss a bit more below. I still regularly revisit Bond films, especially Connerys classics, as well as his early films and Skyfall. Long gone are the days where a new Bond film felt like rebooting Bond and his universe, like an independent, live-action film. While Dr. No was the first of Bonds books to become a movie, Dr. No was not the first of Ian Flemings novels.
As the Dr. No of the James Bond franchise, many elements from Dr. No were contributing elements in later films, including Monty Normans theme from James Bond and Maurice Binders sequence with the gun barrel, variations of both appearing in later films. Albert Cubby Broccoli directed Dr. No, the franchises first film, in 1962. Albert R. Broccoli and Saltzman had originally wanted to make James Bonds eighth novel, 1961s Thunderball, the first film, but an ongoing legal dispute arose between Kevin McClory, the screenplay co-writer, and Ian Fleming. Fifty-eight years and 25 films later, the producers were his daughter Barbara Broccoli and step-son, Michael G. Wilson, who began his career in the Bond series in 1964, while working on the set of Goldfinger.
Ian Fleming thought that his stepson, Christopher Lee, would make a good James Bond Doctor, Julius No, though when Fleming told producers, producers had already cast Joseph Wiseman in the role. It was simply an accident of scheduling, and Daniel Craigs final shot as James Bond was of him wearing a dinner jacket, fading away into the night. Sean Connerys Bond was a rapist, basically, said No Time To Die director Cary Fukunaga this week, in comments believed to refer to a Thunderball scene where 007 forces himself onto a nurse who refuses his advances.
Dev Patel is director and star of Monkey Man, an action thriller out next year, which will make him the first actor or actress to direct before playing the next James Bond, but this points to a more general shift away from the sort of mammoth machinery that Bond represents. Yes, Henry Cavills Man of Steel has been near the top of James Bond fan-casting charts for an awfully long time, and fans are now hoping that he finally gets the opportunity to portray the character, with the franchise heading into a fun-filled future.