How Daniel Craig’s James Bond Fixed Your Criticisms Of 007

Daniel Craig’s James Bond era has come to a close, but through his five films, Craig’s 007 fixed many of the franchise’s biggest criticisms.

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Daniel Craig’s James Bond era has concluded with the release of No Time to Die, and it will be remembered by many as a period of marked improvement for the franchise, fixing longstanding problems and introducing great new stories, characters, and traditions. Though it’s one of the biggest and most beloved film franchises of all time, James Bond has had just as many disappointments as its had hits, many of which were due to problems the films struggled to solve for decades. Fortunately, Craig’s 007 era solved many of those issues, delivering the best run the franchise has had in decades.

There are numerous trademarks of the James Bond movies that have existed since the start and continue to be popular today. Spy gadgets, dapper suits, shaken martinis, Aston Martins, car chases, theme songs, memorable villains, and stylish opening credits sequences all fall into that category. However, there are also some age-old James Bond traditions that did more to hinder than help as time went on. That includes the overt silliness and campiness of some of the films, the lack of any lasting stakes in the stories, and of course, the lead character’s less admirable qualities, which ranged from alluded alcoholism to sexism that occasionally manifested in outright despicable ways.

In the Daniel Craig era of James Bond movies, all those criticisms have at least been acknowledged, and in many cases, they’ve been majorly improved. Not all of Craig’s 007 films are perfect, but at their best, they’ve updated the character and the world around him in meaningful ways, keeping the franchise relevant in the 21st century. Now that Craig’s James Bond tenure is over, there’s even an argument to be made that he’s the best 007 of all time.

Craig’s Bond Embraced His Vices

The Craig Bond era didn’t remove the character’s less savory characteristics. Instead, it acknowledged 007’s vices for what they are – flaws. “Shaken, not stirred” remained a cool line, but it took on a darker context when the films started acknowledging the obvious problem with Bond’s heavy drinking and the larger emotional issues causing it. The violence of his profession is also shown with grim candor, and Craig’s James Bond frequently grapples with the grey morality of the things he does. Even Bond’s libido is called out in the Craig Bond movies, with many female characters rejecting him and taking him to task for his occasionally sexist assumptions and behaviors. This embracing of Bond’s vices made him a more rounded and nuanced character, while also acknowledging the parts of the franchise’s past that many viewers had previously criticized.

Craig’s Bond Lost The Camp (But Not The Humor)

One of the most common criticisms of the older James Bond movies is that they venture too often into campness, erasing any semblance of real stakes or seriousness with villainous who are too cartoonish, gadgets that are too absurd, and storylines that make no sense. Movies like Sean Connery’s You Only Live Twice and Roger Moore’s Moonraker fall into this category, as do many other films from the earlier years of 007. In Craig’s Bond era, however, this sillier atmosphere is gone.

The most notable change in Casino Royale was how much more grounded and gritty Craig’s Bond story felt. In many ways, that shift was inevitable in an era that had already seen The Bourne Identity change spy movies forever, but Casino Royale did it in a way that kept the core of Bond intact. Through its five films, Craig’s 007 era has beautifully balanced humor and fun with more serious stories and real emotion. There are still jokes. There are still gadgets. Q is still excessively worried about his creations coming back in one piece, and supervillains are still trying to take over the world through absurd means. But Craig’s James Bond films never cross that threshold into camp territory, keeping things tense and exciting while still allowing room for laughs and tropes.

Craig’s Bond Actually Has An Arc With Stakes

Unlike the Bonds who came before him Craig’s 007 has a full story arc spanning his five films, packed with powerful emotional moments and perfectly wrapped up by the end of No Time to Die. In the Craig era, Bond grows. He learns. He experiences real loss, both in his love life and his professional relationships, and those losses change him in ways that last between movies. He grapples with his own flaws and reflects on his life choices. While James Bond was always cool, he was rarely a nuanced, complex character. Craig changes that stereotype completely, creating the best character arc 007 has seen yet.

Craig’s 007 Isn’t All About “Bond Girls”

Another of the most common criticisms of the James Bond franchise is the inherently sexist nature of the “Bond Girl” archetype. Basically every movie in the series prior to Craig’s 007 era featured a traditionally attractive woman in an essentially empty role, who Bond would inevitably sleep with by the time credits rolled. It was problematic at best and deeply demeaning at worst, and while Craig’s Bond movies still feature their share of love interests, the female characters of his era are far stronger and more complex than their predecessors. Bond’s relationships with those characters are usually much more nuanced as well, with some never turning romantic at all, and those that do being written in far more balanced and consensual ways.

Moreover, Craig’s James Bond isn’t defined by his sex life the way past versions of the character were. His most meaningful relationships are those he has with long-term partners, colleagues, and M (Judi Dench), and he is frequently forced to contend with his own sexist tendencies in his earlier films. Does the James Bond franchise still have room to grow with its gender representation? Absolutely. But Craig’s era makes the biggest improvements the series has seen since it first began.

Daniel Craig is the Best James Bond Since Sean Connery (Is He Better?)

Everybody who’s seen the James Bond films has their favorite star, and every actor who’s played the character has champions who will rush to defend them as the best. But while Roger Moore, George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan have all been popular in different ways, none of them have brought even half as much to the franchise as Connery did in the first series of 007 films. Everything about Bond’s core onscreen persona was created in Connery’s James Bond era, and while each of his successors brought their own unique flavor and style to the character, they all more or less copied what made his Connery’s movies so popular. That is, until Craig stepped into the role.

Craig has not only added more to the character of James Bond than anyone since Connery – as evidenced by all the previous points – he’s also the best Bond since the original. He’s added depth, dimension, and emotion without sacrificing any of the character’s signature swagger. Craig has also starred in two of the best films in the franchise in Casino Royale and Skyfall, the latter of which is also the franchise’s biggest box office performance ever, even adjusting older films for inflation. Craig has seen James Bond through a massive resurgence, shooting the franchise to arguably the highest heights it has ever seen in terms of critical reception and commercial success.

The natural question, then, is whether or not Craig has actually cemented himself as the best James Bond, even over Connery. That argument is one of invention vs. modernization, of nostalgia vs. refinement. It doesn’t help Connery’s case that many parts of his 007 movies have aged quite poorly due to sexist and occasionally even downright nonconsensual behavior on the part of Bond. Looked at in totality, however, does Craig really have a claim as the greatest Bond of all time? It’s an impossible question to answer given the vastly different eras the two stars have existed in, but when the history of James Bond is written, Craig’s era will have a strong case as the franchise’s crowning moment.

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