Bond is back!
That was the statement that seemed to preceed Daniel Craig’s first attempt at the illustrious 007.
Funny thing is, I’d never noticed he’d gone away – just changed his ‘look’ through the years (never his views or one-liners). Each actor seemed to pick up the role from where the previous one had left it, did their bit to add or ‘develope’ the character, but essentially bond remained the same, tall, dark & handsome chap from old.
Then I heard Craig had secured the part. How did he fit the role? My image of him was the weak and slimey son of Paul Newman in ‘Road to Perdition’. Hardly the cool sophisticated image of Bond.
But after seeing him in the role it is hard to imagine anyone else playing the part. Unlike the old Bond this guy sweats, bleeds and shows emotion, it made me realize just how dated the old Bond had become. Audiences need more from the characters, replacing over-the-top special effects with just enough to enhance the reality of the story.
Craig’s Bond can be vicious, a cold-hearted killer and still be capable of complex emotions (his intention to leave his job for a new life). But what confirmed to me that things had really changed was when Bond entered a bar after a particularly grueling experience and he asked the barman for a vodka martini, the barman inquired ‘ shaken or stirred?’, to which our new Bond replied ‘ do I look like I care?’.
Bond is dead! Long live the new Bond.