After way too many delays, No Time To Die is finally hitting theaters in October! Since it’s the last time Daniel Craig will play James Bond, we’ll revisit his four previous outings as the world’s most famous spy!
Casino Royale (2006)
After Die Another Day (2002), arguably the worst movie in the franchise and Pierce Brosnan’s last time as James Bond, EON Productions decided to reboot the series. With that in mind, they chose Ian Fleming’s first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, and a new actor, with a completely different approach to the character: Daniel Craig.
Not only did Casino Royale restart the story, showing us James Bond becoming a 00 agent, which means he has a license to kill on behalf of Her Majesty’s government, but also infused a completely new style to the character. Daniel Craig’s James Bond has way more physical altercations with his enemies than the previous versions. The movie was also way more focused on reality than its predecessor, which had a lot of sci-fi inclinations.
Directed by Martin Campbell (who also directed GoldenEye, Pierce Brosnan’s first Bond movie), Casino Royale also showed James Bond falling in love and having his heart hopelessly broken by Vesper Lynd (Eva Green). The franchise, then, became more character-driven, with Bond actually having feelings and getting emotionally hurt, which would impact the following movies.
Eva Green is perfectly cast as Vesper and is able to mislead us all about her intentions until we finally learn the truth, just as Bond does near the end of the movie.
Another great choice was keeping Judi Dench as M, after having played the character in all four Pierce Brosnan’s movies. She really owns that character and puts Bond in his place. It’s also very important that she’s a woman who is his boss rather than one of his love conquests.
We can’t forget an important element in every James Bond movie: the villain. Here, we have one of the greatest Bond villains, in my opinion: Le Chiffre, played masterfully by Mads Mikkelsen. All their interactions throughout the movie are incredibly fun to watch, but the highlight of the film is the famous torture scene, where Le Chiffre has James Bond tied naked to a chair and still can’t get the information he wanted from the spy.
The story never slows down, with Bond going from location to location in a heartbeat, while getting into several fights. The action sequences are exhilarating and the score by David Arnold enhances them and gives them a greater sense of urgency.
There is also, of course, the ending, where Daniel Craig says, for the first time, “the name is Bond, James Bond.” It is a perfect way to end that movie and to re-introduce that character to a new generation of moviegoers.
Quantum of Solace (2008)
It is impossible to talk about Quantum of Solace without mentioning the writers’ strike that took place from November 5, 2007, to February 12, 2008. All film and television screenwriters went on a strike that affected multiple TV shows and movies, which caused many productions to be delayed.
EON Productions, however, didn’t change the release schedule for Quantum of Solace, set to be released on October 29, 2008, which meant that the movie began production without a finished screenplay. That obviously affected the outcome and Daniel Craig’s second outing as James Bond ended up being a bit underwhelming, especially since it followed Casino Royale, which was a huge hit.
Quantum differs from most movies of the franchise because it’s a straight follow-up to Casino, with the movie beginning moments after the story ended in the previous film. That means that the audience would need to remember what had happened in order to understand why Bond wanted revenge above all, regardless of the consequences.
The action sequences are the highlights of the movie, with incredible chases and stunts that leave the audience on the edge of their seats.
Something else that bothered many fans was the absence of the famous one-liners, like “Bond, James Bond” or “vodka martini – shaken, not stirred.” Their absence made Quantum feel more like a regular action movie than a James Bond movie.
While it’s not Daniel Craig’s best James Bond entry, it’s well above many, many other movies in the franchise.
Skyfall (2012)
Skyfall was released on year of the 50th anniversary of the franchise and it became an instant classic. Directed by Sam Mendes, it is my favorite James Bond movie because it encompasses everything good about that character, paying tribute to the previous films as well.
It shows James Bond vulnerable again and drinking heavily, evidently not ready to be back on the field. It also focuses, for the first time, on M (Judi Dench) and their relationship, and we see how much Bond loves her when she dies on his arms at the end of the movie.
We also learn a bit about Bond’s past and his struggles, which would have direct consequences in the following movies.
With Judi Dench leaving the franchise, we’re introduced to a new M: Ralph Fiennes. Other MI6 characters are also back, after being absent in Daniel Craig’s first two movies: Miss Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) and Q (Ben Whishaw), who are welcome additions to the cast and inject new life in the series.
Javier Bardem thrives as the villain and is part of Skyfall’s best scene: the sinister flirting between his character and Bond when they first meet. According to the documentary Being James Bond, the studio wanted to cut a part of that scene. I’m really glad the producers won that fight. It’s an important moment for both characters and it shows that Bond’s past didn’t only include women as his love interests.
The cinematography in Skyfall is breathtaking, with the constant contrast between warm colors (red, orange) and cold colors, with a lot a blue present in the film. The choice of locations also helps with that, with places like Turkey, Shanghai, Scotland, and London. So, it’s not surprising that its cinematography was nominated for the Oscars in 2013.
The movie also got nominations for Original Score (Thomas Newman) and Sound Mixing. It won two Oscars: Best Original Song (“Skyfall,” by Adele) and Best Sound Editing. It was the Bond movie with the highest number of Oscar nominations. It is also the most successful James Bond movie at the international box office in the official film franchise’s history.
Directed by Sam Mendes, Skyfall really is a remarkable achievement, and it doesn’t lose its appeal, even nine years later.
Spectre (2015)
It was always going to be tough to follow Skyfall, so the news that Sam Mendes would be coming back to direct Spectre let everyone hopeful that it would be just as good.
However, Spectre ended up being a missed opportunity to fully introduce the most famous (and dangerous) Bond villain to new audiences: Ernst Stavro Blofeld, played by Christoph Waltz. Yes, Blofeld is an integral part of the story, linking all other villains from the previous three movies together. However, instead of just making him a villain with no connection to Bond, in Spectre we learn that Blofeld is Bond’s foster brother and wants to inflict pain in Bond specifically.
The movie, unfortunately, doesn’t explore the organization further. It doesn’t even explain its acronym (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion).
Spectre also introduces Dr. Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), the daughter of Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), a villain who had previously featured in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Dr. Swann becomes Bond’s serious love interest, as they end up together by the end of the movie and, as the trailers show, they’ll start No Time To Die together as well.
There are many great moments in Spectre, such as the opening sequence, filmed in Mexico City and showcasing the celebrations for the Day of the Dead. The car chase in Rome is also a highlight, as well as any exchanges between Bond and Q.
The climax, however, when Blofeld and Bond are finally face to face in Morocco, is underwhelming, and everything that follows doesn’t quite make up for it.
We recently learned in the Being James Bond documentary that Daniel Craig was in severe pain through most of the filming, contrary to what had been initially reported. We knew he had a knee injury, which shut down the production for a couple of weeks, but everyone assumed he had fully recovered when production resumed, which wasn’t the case. That information made me appreciate the movie a bit more and explains better why he gave his now infamous quote after he finished filming saying he wouldn’t come back for another one.
No Time To Die is shaping up to be not only a direct sequel to Spectre, but also a way to redeem it and to finish the story that started 15 years ago. I can’t wait to see it!
