The late, great Roger Moore knows a thing or two about playing James Bond, having appeared in seven films as 007, and he once remarked that Daniel Craig is the best Bond because he “looks like a killer.” This is due to Craig’s performance of course, but also to the scripts that have allowed Bond to be more vicious and cruel in the 21st century.
It’s obvious to even the casual James Bond fan that the 007 is now more brutal and less heroic than the past - certainly more than Moore’s time - but here are 10 other things the producers should keep in the franchise.
Bruised and Battered
Daniel Craig’s James Bond gets beat-up - a lot - whether its escaping thugs at the opera, jumping around a construction site, or fighting his way out of a Macau casino. When he battles evil minions the audience can feel it, and his battered and bloodied face is often the result.
Different from past Bonds, Craig often wears his bruises for half the movie. In fact, in Casino Royale he was shown convalescing (for months) - unlike say Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible franchise, who often follows up his near-death experiences with a superhuman battle. Bond movies should continue with the blood and bruises to add a dose of grit to future films.
No Smoking
James Bond has always been a cool character: he beds beautiful women, drives fast cars, and drinks the right brand of scotch (or vodka, depending on the product-placement). Past Bonds also enjoyed a cigarette and the occasional cigar, but Craig's version has refrained from smoking on-screen.
In the books, 007 smoked 50+ cigarettes a day, and Craig, the actor, admits that he struggles to quit. It's tempting to assume that the filmmakers helped Bond quit the habit to discourage fans from smoking - and suing the studio - but it's more likely there wasn't a need for the character to "light-up." In the new millennium, Bond is too cool to smoke.
Cruelty
James Bond can be extremely cold-hearted, often to the point of irritation. Author Ian Fleming called his creation as “a blunt instrument,” and Daniel Craig has certainly portrayed Bond as such over four movies. His Bond is not sentimental, charming, or overtly classy like Moore or Timothy Dalton - more back-alley brute, like Sean Connery.
In Craig’s movies, Bond deposited his expired colleague in a dumpster in Quantum of Solace, shot his tryst Severine in Skyfall, and imploded an evil henchman in Casino Royale. In Craig’s James Bond films, Bond isn’t always the Good Guy.
Casual Drinking
Next to Bond’s famous line identifying himself, his second famous is his preference for martinis “shaken, not stirred.” All five of the actors portraying 007 before Craig have either ordered their drink in this fashion or had another character refer to these specific instructions. Craig admitted in December that his scene with the iconic line - where he’s asked how he wants his martini prepared is met with “do I look like I give a damn” - helped convince him to accept the role.
Craig’s Bond is an unsophisticated character, which makes him far removed from Moore’s Bond, and the producers should continue in this vein. That Bond can drink and gamble and get into a fight is expected - that he shouldn’t care about the specifics makes him less like a prima-donna.
Less Gadgets
In Fleming’s novel, Bond relied on his wits, his fists, and his immoral way of seeing the world to outwit villains and woo femme-fatals. The introduction of futuristic devices was more the domain of the movies, especially the 70s films like The Man With the Golden Gun and The Spy Who Loved Me. At first, the gadgets were interesting - who doesn't want a watch that’s also a chainsaw - but they became a writer’s crutch and a convenient way for Bond to escape from an untenable situation.
Craig’s Bond has barely relied on anything more sophisticated than a high-powered rifle, and moviegoers are better off for it. When the common man’s smartphone has more intelligence than a dozen “Moonraker rockets,” 007 doesn't need gadgets.
Fewer Villains Bent on World Domination
It's become cliche in secret agent parodies that our hero needs to defeat the evil mastermind before he takes over the world. The Incredibles, Austin Powers, and any number of cartoons and Disney comedies echoed this trope. The problem for the James Bond franchise is that some action movies have taken over this ludicrous theme, including GI-Joe: The Rise of Cobra, X-Men Apocalypse, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Men in Black, and others.
Craig’s 007 has defeated despots and demagogues who were bent on destroying large portions of the population - notably Ernest Stavro Blofeld in Spectre - but they were a bigger threat to the British Empire than the entire planet. There’s no point in taking Bond into Avengers: Endgame territory on his next adventures.
Practical Stunts
By the end of Moore’s tenure as Bond - and Connery’s, and Pierce Brosnan’s - movie fans knew that wasn't the actor jumping out of airplanes, flying helicopters through buildings, or skiing down the cliff.
With Craig, we’re not so sure. Not because modern effects aren't being used to place Craig in dangerous situations, but because the actor seems like someone who could pummel the guards, sail through a crowded harbor, or drive a motorcycle across the Istanbul Grand Bazaar.
Jackie Chan famously does his own stunts - or used to - and Tom Cruise recently broke his ankle jumping between buildings for Mission: Impossible - Fallout. To keep up, the screenwriters should keep putting Bond into situations that allow his athletic, daredevil skills to win out.
Travel the World
The producers of James Bond were often tempted to put 007 on US soil, likely due to the popularity of Goldfinger back in 1964. But Bond movies have always excelled at throwing him into an exotic locale, and having him move about the crowd easily and respectfully.
Setting your film outside of North America is a sure way to appeal to international audiences, but more importantly for Craig’s Bond pictures, it reestablished the character as a man of the world. What we don’t need is Bond sneaking around the White House or racing down Los Angeles freeways or shooting his way through Times Square - its been done too many times, and we get more mileage when he cavorts around a scenic, extraordinary location.
Chases
Nothing suggests a “James Bond movie” like a good chase, and Craig’s movies have taken this to a new level - mostly. In Craig’s first outing, Casino Royale, the filmmakers made clear that Bond could be relentless via a parkour-like foot chase across a construction site. Craig/Bond’s toughness also came through in Quantum of Solace, pursuing a rogue agent across brittle rooftops, and his motorcycle pursuit on to a moving train in Skyfall.
However, Bond took a step back with the “car chase” in Spectre - it was so flatly staged as to suggest that director Sam Mendes had never seen one before. But from the No Time to Die trailer, it look like the Bond filmmakers are heeding this advice.
Strong Female Characters
The creators of Goldeneye signaled the arrival of a female head of the agency, M (Judi Dench) when she suggests Bond (Brosnan) is a “sexist, misogynist dinosaur” - and the non-disposable female Bond character was born. Craig’s 007 films have continued in this manner, with strong women crossing his path like Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) in Casino Royale, secret-service agent Camille (Olga Kurylenko) in Quantum of Solace, and of course Dr. Madeleine Swann (Lea Sydoux) from Spectre and the upcoming No Time to Die.
Bond movies will take a turn toward inclusion when Lashana Lynch stars as new 00 agent Nomi in No Time to Die - that a strong female character could fight, smirk, and even die in her duty to Her Majesty’s Secret Service is enticing.