Eps 37: James Bond Just Learned That the Name's Bond, James Bond
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Angel Sims
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My dad was none too pleased with Daniel Craig playing his role in No Time to Die, Bonds latest movie. There is something quite humorous about Not Time to Die, where James Bond returns to MI6 Headquarters after five years in retirement, and a desk officer has no idea who it is that is calling him Bond. Now, unless the Bond movie universe goes the way of superhero movies and starts using time travel, quantum mechanics, and any other filmmaking magic writers can come up with, Daniel Craig may never get over 007. As of this writing, Daniel Craig is the longest-serving Bond in franchise history, capping off a 16-year run of multibillion-dollar-grossing films without time to die.
Despite the films title, Craigs famous spy, 007, has actually died. Daniel Craigs own performance delivers every bit of grit and menace that 007 deserves, matching Ian Flemings portrayal, and measuring up to Sean Connery, the still-standard against whom every other Bond is inevitably measured. The first of the 007 films saw Connerys take on the British character live-action on the silver screen. Even Sean Connery, the man who made James Bond an icon, wanted to kill off 007 after playing him seven times .
Roger Moore is the longest-serving Bond, as far as the number of movies made, and there was one point where the actors time as 007 was nearly short-lived. The James Bond movie franchise is a pop-culture institution, featuring 007 - and also involving some impressive stunts, beautiful locations, and perhaps the best film-themed theme song of all time. The latest James Bond movie is the 25th entry in the Bond series by Eon Productions, dating all the way back to 1962 and the debut of Dr. No, a modestly-budget movie that proved to be a success and launched Sean Connery into a career-defining role. Not only is this title an early line for James Bond, but this is also the first definitive look at the James Bond face in the Bond franchise.
The name might not appear in every single James Bond movie, but it is heard frequently enough for fans to clap and cheer whenever they hear it. Since it is establishment, so many other films, including Batman, have taken their cues from the catchphrase. License To Kill, James Bonds sixteenth film in the franchise, and second and last to feature Timothy Dalton, was the franchises first film to use a name not drawn from one of writer Ian Flemings novels or short stories.
Although Ian Flemings novella Casino Royale was the first about James Bond, Eon Productions chose Dr. No as the first book for adaptation, thus by the time of OHMSS Bond was already established as the operating Agent 00. Casino Royale is based on Ian Flemings first novel about Bond, and gives us the very 007 we were introduced to in The World. The latest James Bond film concludes Daniel Craigs time as 007, and speculation is now running rampant over what is to come in a franchise built on Ian Flemings ultra-spy - including who will become the next James Bond.
Over the years, we have learned that British secret agent James Bond is an amazing pilot, a high-stakes card player, a martial artist, a martini drinker,... to name just a few. Like the Bond in the novels by Ian Fleming -- and unlike the Bond in the original four decades of movies that came out of them -- James Bond is flawed in much the same way he is cocky; hapless in love, often injured, aware of his own potential for murder in his line of work, given to wistful musings. Daltons performance is the perfect representation of what Bond was in Timothy Dalton; less of a smooth, rakish superstar, more of the grittier, darker underfire agent. Daltons delivery is a case study in why Timothy Dalton is an underrated Bond, not spending any time trying to be suave with an in-joke, akin to Daniel Craig.