My Bond movie-watching journey is nearly over so I’ve been dragging out my final few James Bond films, including the writing of this piece. I watched the movie on September 30th, and I’m just now publishing this piece.
So far, the Daniel Craig era is different for sure. He’s a big change from all the previous Bonds, but I’m not sure I like him as Bond. I’m still deciding.
Daniel Craig as Bond
Daniel Craig comes off more as an assassin than an MI6 agent. His look and detached demeanor remind me of a Treadstone assassin in The Bourne Series. He kills without showing remorse. He’s cold even when he’s not. In this movie after comforting a friend who was dying in his arms (after Bond used him as a human shield), he tossed him into a huge trash bin once he was dead, then took the money from his dead friend’s wallet.
Cold-blooded assassin…that might be the label I give Daniel Craig’s Bond, but I’ll have to see what he’s like in the next few films.
If you read my previous Bond movie reactions, I have a label for all the Bond actors. Sean Connery is the Bond with magnetic onscreen flair. George Lazenby is the everyday boy next door. Roger Moore is the British gentleman. Timothy Dalton is gritty and serious. Pierce Brosnan is pretty boy Bond.
James Bond & Women in Quantum of Solace
James Bond has definitely turned a new leaf when it comes to his treatment of women. He no longer comes across as a gift to all women. He only slept with one woman in this and the last movie, Casino Royale.
Compared to the previous Bond persona–over confident womanizer–Craig’s Bond comes off as slightly awkward with women. In Casino Royale, sucking the woman’s fingers to comfort her was weird when he barely knew her. In this movie, his approach to getting the female agent to join him in the bedroom is to pretend he can’t find something and he asks her to help him. (She’s the only one he slept with in this movie.)
The secretary, Moneypenny, wasn’t in this movie nor the last. If she returns it’ll be interesting to see how Bond interacts with her since all previous Bonds have heavily flirted with her.
Bond’s Transformation/Evolution
Bond has definitely evolved when it comes to respecting women. Finally. The big shift I thought I’d see with Pierce Brosnan I’m seeing with Daniel Craig.
This is why I’m watching the movies…to see if James Bond ever evolves from a disrespectful misogynistic man to a man of depth. I wouldn’t say he’s become a man of depth, but he has grown out of his misogynistic ways. And it’s not so much that he’s “grown out of” anything, it’s simply that times wouldn’t allow Bond to continue as the man he was.
Other
There was a writer’s strike going on during the production of this movie. Because of that, it’s said the movie’s not as good as it could’ve been. The movie was released in UK theaters in October 2008 and American theaters in November 2008.
If you’d like to know why I, a non-Bond fan, am watching all 25 James Bond movies you can read about it in detail here: Who Is The Next James Bond? A Non-Bond Fan Makes Her Prediction.