The Evolution of James Bond: Daniel Craig

by Charlotte Wyatt

The whole movie franchise of James Bond (aka 007) originated from the books of Ian Fleming, who published the first book in 1953 which was Casino Royale. The books were then turned into a film franchise which so far has consisted of twenty-five films. There has been many debates regarding who plays the best James Bond, whether James Bond should be female, as well as the oversexualisation of women. There have been many pivotal and prominent actors that played James Bond including Roger Moore, Sean Connery and most recently Daniel Craig. The discussion at the moment is whether the franchise will continue on, and if so who will take over the role and do it justice. There’s also been questions as to whether a woman will play 007 for the first time in history. In 2021, No Time To Die was released and became one of the most hyped movie releases in a long while considering the ongoing pandemic and then lockdown that everyone was put in. CInemas were busy, and the film profited $708 million in revenue thus far, making it the fourth biggest grossing film of 2020/2021. Consequently, Daniel Craig revealed that this would be his last movie playing the character of James Bond, henceforth all questions and theories coming out.

Personally, the actor who I have enjoyed the most to play James Bond has been Daniel Craig as I felt he brought the most brooding to the character, he made him sexy yet mysterious the way Ian Fleming had written Bond to originally be. The movies still have a comic value to them, and over the expanse of his five movies we see Craig settle into the role comfortably, as well as seeing the progression made in such a short amount of time. Previously all of the Bond movies had been similar in the aspect of the ‘white hero’ arc that Bond portrayed, and the many women he had falling at his feet. At the beginning of Daniel Craig’s time playing the agent, he followed the same pattern of saving the damsel in distress and having people falling to his feet.

I would argue that the turning point for the Bond franchise was Skyfall, which is where we get a glimpse into the emotions that Bond feels. In Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace we see his character upset for the death of girls he had made a connection with. However Skyfall shows us the house where Bond grew up with his parents before they were murdered, and his relationship with the groundsman, Kincade. We see a brief remiscient emotion overcome Bond, who stereotypically is a man who doesn’t cry, is stoic and harsh. In M’s final moments, there is that obvious mother son dynamic between the two, where despite whatever James Bond did, and all the mistakes he made M was always there at the end of the day, still loving him. That's why this death was so impactful for Bond, and we see for one of the first times him starting to cry.

After Skyfall, James Bond’s character has an obvious progression with the subtlety of respect he now has for women specifically when he meets Madeleine Swann at the end of Spectre he is seen giving up his assassin lifestyle for her so they can have their ‘happy ever after’. Spectre was also one of the first times that Bond took mercy on his villain, in this Blofield had just crashed in his helicopter and Bond was standing over him pointing a gun at his face getting ready to kill him. Madeleine is on one side of the bridge, and at the other end stands M both awaiting to see what James Bond will do. In the end, he spares Blofields life and instead makes sure he gets arrested. It's hypothesised that he did this because Madeleine doesn’t like guns or violence, and Bond wanted to have an easy life with her. Killing Blofield would have only made him more enemies and therefore putting Madeleine's life in danger.

Finally, No Time To Die was the final release in Daniel Craig’s run of playing the much loved character of James Bond. This film was the most controversial, and raised all of the questions currently floating about the internet. For the first time ever in history, James Bond died at the end of the film. Safe to say, not many people were expecting this turn in events. Usually, in every other Bond movie to exist he comes close to dying, or we’re made to think he did die, so that when he finally does for the first time ever the audience were left dubious and unable to trust what they were seeing. The ending credit scene where Madeleine is driving their daughter Mathilde is them going through a tunnel, a tribute to the bullet tunnel Bond was always associated with. His death was perfectly executed, he sacrificed himself on a suicidd mission to protect the woman he loves, but also the child he never got to see grow up. The first ever child we’ve seen James Bond ever have. This gave closure to not only James Bond, but Daniel Craig himself as it was the perfect way to end his fifteen year journey playing the character. With a massive, progressive arc from him in Casino Royale in comparison to No Time to Die.