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WhenNo clip To Diearrives in theater next April , it will check off Daniel Craig ’s 5th and final big - screen outing as Ian Fleming ’s iconic superspy , James Bond . Beginning with the 2006 rebootCasino Royale , Craig ’s tenure as Agent 007 has revitalize the once - flaggingBondfranchise ’s fortunes , garnering considerable vital and commercial achiever .
But are the Craig - eraBondfilms all they ’re cracked up to be ? Certainly , there ’s a spate to love about them – you do n’t rake in over $ 3.5 billion and a raft of awards without gettingsomethingright . But as this list shows , there ’s also a few arena where these movie could have been better , so here ’s hop Eon Productions irons out these furrow for Craig ’s swansong turning as Bond .
Get Right: The Leading Man
Original James Bond Sean Connery still casts a prospicient phantom , with every actor to suit up as 007 since Connery compared unfavourably to the venerable Scottish ace . as luck would have it , Daniel Craig has more than risen to the challenge , regularlyranking second only to Conneryas the most popular James Bond of all metre .
Combining unfeigned act chops with rugged good looks , a steely regard , and the ability to effortlessly interchange from debonair to virulent , Craig promptly overcame initial doubts border his cast . Indeed , the furore over his loose hair and less than enforce stature – at 5 ft 10 , Craig is the shortest Bond in the canonical serial – seems like a distant memory !
Get Wrong: Continuity
A define feature of the Craig - earned run average ofBondfilms has been how tight linked the four movie are – and it ’s arguably their weakest expression . Indeed , while the dealership has typically worked best as a series of standalone installments held together by only a shadowy sense of continuity , Quantum of SolaceandSpectreboth attend to as direct sequels to their quick predecessor .
Unsurprisingly , they ’re also the lowest - grossing and least critically acclaimed of theBondquartet Craig has headlined so far . On the other manus , Casino RoyaleandSkyfall – which more or less disregard what came before them – empty the most acclaim and biggest box office haulage . WithNo Time To Dieset to continue the trend of close-fitting inter - film continuity , we ’ve get our fingers crossed that director Cary Joji Fukunaga can finally make this approach oeuvre .
Get Right: Title Songs
Two out of the fourBondadventures headline by Daniel Craig have gain the Academy Award for Best Original Song – so Eon Productions clear has things locked down when it comes to title tunes . True , Quantum of Solace ’s signature track – duet “ Another way of life to Die ” by Jack White and Alicia Keys – did n’t quite suit the 007 sword , and it ’s arguable whether or not Sam Smith’sSpectrecomposition , “ write ’s on the Wall,”reallydeserved that Oscar .
But “ You live My Name ” by Chris Cornell is an absolute belter that weaves organically intoCasino Royale ’s across-the-board score , while Adele ’s bluff ballad “ Skyfall ” ( from the celluloid of the same name , natch ) is nothing less than one ofthe best Bond themesever .
Get Wrong: Villains
The length of service of theJames Bondfranchise is as much down to its memorable villains as it is to the popularity of its superspy champion . In this regard , the Craig - earned run average has been a mixed purse . Although Mads Mikkelsen ’s Le Chiffre and Javier Bardem ’s Raoul Silva enumeration amongthe most formidable foes 007 has ever face up , Mathieu Amalric ’s Dominic Greene and Christoph Waltz ’s Blofeld were both painfully underwhelming .
For his part , Amalric ’s gimmick - free , villainous industrialist was a total non - entity , an example of the franchise over - reaching in its endeavour to be both grounded and socially relevant . Meanwhile , Waltz likewise fell victim to subpar scripting , which skin to effectivelyintroduce an out - and - out supervillaininto the more subdued milieu of the rebooted canyon .
Get Right: Grounded Tone
Do n’t get us wrong : welovethe OTT sensibilities of the first 20 entries in theJames Bondcanon . However , that often goofy vibe simply was n’t lead to fly in a post - Jason Bournelandscape – which is why Eon Productions was smart to recalibrate the enfranchisement ’s tone to match the more grounded approach seen in generator Ian Fleming ’s original novel .
avowedly , the carrying into action has n’t on the nose been flawless . Quantum of Solaceis an unforgivably forbidding liaison , whileSpectregoes too far in the opposite charge , teetering perilously near to the quasi - cartoonishness that undermined Pierce Brosnan ’s late 007 feat . Still , at their good , the Craig - era film have been as well - balanced tonally as the cocktails enjoyed by Bond himself .
Get Wrong: Sexual Politics
As you ’d wait from a franchise that ’s been running for almost six decades , there are aspects of theJames Bondformula that are debatable by today ’s standards . Take 007 ’s infamous amative escapades : while it would n’t be aBondmovie without the iconic superspy bedding attractive women with cheeseparing - superhuman ease , often this is done at the expense of creating one - dimensional distaff characters .
In fairness , Daniel Craig ’s personification of Bond is among the most progressive – and his tragic relationship with Eva Green ’s Vesper Lynd inCasino Royaleis genuinely moving . Yet thesexual encounter between 007 and former sex slave Sévérine inSkyfallwas so appallingly misjudged , it ’s inconceivable not to mark down Craig ’s entire incumbency as a resolution . Here ’s hopingNo Time To pop off – whichunderwent a script gloss by Phoebe Waller - Bridge – can redeem the Craig - era as far as intimate politics is relate .
Get Right: Stripped Back Gadgets
Ingenious espionage - enable gizmoshave been a mainstay of theBondfranchise ever sinceDr . No , so much so that it ’s impossible to imagine 007 entering the fray without any . But while these gadgets are a stack of fun , by the fourth dimension Pierce Brosnan ’s Bond started swan around in an inconspicuous car inDie Another Day , it was sentence to dial back the ridiculousness just a scintilla .
That explains why Daniel Craig ’s take on cinema ’s most famous secret federal agent has access to a markedly less advanced arsenal of clandestine gizmo than his forerunners . Gone are the overpowered toys of yesteryear like laser - emit wrist watch – this 007 engender by with radio set transmitter and medallion - recognition equipped revolvers ( not to mention his speedy wittiness and even quicker fist ) .
Get Wrong: Bond’s Backstory
Full disclosure : we ’re firmly in the camp ofBondfans who foundSpectrea bite disappointing , in large part because it digs deep into 007 ’s formative years . candidly , Bond ’s childhood is n’t something we think needs exploring – we ’re less interested in who Bond is now than when he was wearing braces .
Sure , alluding to the superspy ’s fostering inCasino RoyaleandSkyfalladded receive depth to his character , hinting at who Bond is behind his bowties and bravado . However , the mistaken decision to retcon007 ’s archnemesis Blofeldas his long - lose adopted brother inSpectrewas hackneyed storytelling that not only revealed far too much about Bond ’s childhood , but made his creation seem improbably low , as well .
Get Right: Fight & Stunt Choreography
For a undercover agent serial publication built more around action than stealing , theJames Bondfranchise has n’t always boastedthe finest fight choreographyout there . On the reverse , Sean Connery ’s 007 was a vestigial brawler at full , and while George Lazenby , Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan did little to raise the bar any higher , Roger Moore ’s “ judo ” move were so ridiculously sorry , they were mercilessly lampooned across all threeAustin Powersflicks !
By dividing line , the Bond of the Daniel Craig movies is clearlywell - verse in the type of interracial martial arts techniques a guy in his crinkle of work would be anticipate to know . Thanks to Craig ’s fighting art and the rebooted series ’ commitment to practical stunt body of work over CGI wherever potential , the action scenes in 007 ’s last four missions are superior to those in the previous 20 combine .
Get Wrong: Villainous Plots
If there ’s an area in which the rebootedBondfranchise ’s commitment to more grounded storytelling has backfire , it’sthe “ Evil Scheme ” section – it turn out more realism means lower stakes . Take Dominic Greene ’s conspiracy to oust the Bolivian government by stockpiling the country ’s water inQuantum of Solace : this was fumbling social comment that merely masquerade as a Bond scoundrel ’s plan – unspoilt fate actually connecting with it on a strictly visceral level .
Then there was Blofeld ’s puddle two - branched ploy inSpectre , which mix dim world domination aims with personal revenge to unsatisfactory force . Indeed , only baddies Le Chiffre and Silva bring off to organize small scale strategy – fund global terrorist act through gaming and bringing MI6 to its knees through cyberterrorism , respectively – capable of kindle viewers ’ mettle rates .
NEXT:10 Things That Make No good sense About James Bond 007
