In particular Samuel L Jackson! I’m tired of him being shoved in my face! We all know what to expect from him at this point!
I wouldn’t go that far. Whilst clearly not perfect, Christ far from it, it was fun, if in a way that most of them were flailing in lockdown.
Including the directors cat being important…
Should again emphasise I did enjoy it, even if not clamouring to watch it again.
Having just watched The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, I’ll take Alex Pettyfer for Bond 7.
See the article below. It is certainly not the first time Regé-Jean Page’s name has been suggested. I have yet to watch Brigerton but I hear very good things about the show and the actor. My only fear is that if he is cast, there will be a group complaining that the casting was “woke” instead of judging the performance. There was a time when I would have opposed a person of colour being cast as I thought that would introduce elements (e.g., experience of racism) that are not there in the source material. I have since moved on from this limited view (describing myself and not others) and really only care that we get a solid actor to play the part. Besides, we have already had a 007 who is a person of colour and I enjoyed her portrayal. In alternate universe, it would have been fun to see Idris Elba.
Season 1 of Bridgerton was fun for me, mainly due to Page‘s charismatic turn. Subsequent seasons without him bored me enormously.
But while I could imagine him as Bond before, I can’t anymore, after having seen him in other roles.
So much for the rumour he will be involved in casting.
He has completely cut ties with his past and wants to distance himself from the role. Which is his right, of course.
But it is just oil in the fire. Sometimes I wonder whether he took the role to drain it for maximum money and then burn the whole enterprise down by killing Bond.
There’s certainly no sense of passing the baton and being an ambassador for the series the way Moore was acting in over the decades.
Then again, past experience shows Moore always was the outlier there. Would have been nice had Craig tried to take him as an example - but apparently there’s no fuel left in Craig’s tank to engage himself with the fandom.
Maybe it’s too early, or he doesn’t want to be seen as the old guy not able to let go. I could understand both, but it’s not what one would expect from a lead who put his stamp on the part like Craig did.
It did, understandably, take Brosnan a few years to get into his proud to have been Bond phase.
Therein lies my issue with these kinds of comments from him, though.
He hasn’t really made any effort to cut ties or distanced himself from the role.
He’s still brand ambassador for Omega, a position he has only because of Bond, and that requires him to continue to act/represent the Bond image/lifestyle in their promotions and events. And he’s still linked to Eon and Barbara Broccoli, which, despite their efforts, is essentially exclusively known for Bond. Noone is particularly interested in asking about their Othello or whatever play Barbara is working on, so if he wants to really distance himself from the role and stop facing questions about it, he should actually try to cut the ties that bind.
He seems to enjoy the luxuries Bond still affords him (luxury watch sponsorship and events; a production house pretty much at his beck and call) and can’t separate from them, yet overtly resents the actual roll that gave him these things and being asked about it.
He can simply give a “no comment” type answer rather than this smug, charmless, condescending, over-the-top eye roll act he pulls.
He was acting like this even during his tenure which makes his hanging on to all the trappings even more ridiculous.
I believe he is by far the worst ambassador for the series we’ve had, and I’m often thinking that he was more detrimental to it than positive. I do enjoy his films, but the narrative that he “elevated” the series is overblown, and I feel the series is in a worse position now than when he took over.
The sooner we get Bond 7, the better for everyone.
He was 58 when he retired from Bond, and not the leading man that Connery was.
Many of his later roles traded on his having been James Bond. He was also much involved in charity work, so ambassadorship became the theme of his post-Bond years.
Dalton, Brosnan, and Craig sought to separate themselves from the role as they pursued film and/or stage roles.
But it is what one would expect of someone who desired to play Pinter and Shakespeare on Broadway, and William S. Burroughs on screen.
Dalton graciously solved the dilemma Broccoli was put in by the studio (which wanted Dalton to go) by quitting instead of having his friend fire him. Afterwards, Dalton’s career did, unfortunately, not go well. But while he was never therefore really asked to be an ambassador for Bond he never diminished it but always spoke highly of his time.
Brosnan was highly popular, wanted to go on and then was let go. Understandably, he was hurt and bitter. But he always enjoyed the role and never spoke of his tenure in a condescending way.
Looking back now, I really think that the Craig era did not really add anything new which was worthwhile. If he only had pulled a Lazenby with CR I would remember him much more fondly. If he had stopped after SP I would also think, yeah, he did well enough. But NTTD has not aged well for me (and not just because of the ending) - rewatching it I get the feeling of a hodgepodge of ideas, forced together without a sense of an interesting narrative.
I highly enjoy Craig, however, as Benoit Blanc.
I think the manifestation of Robot Bond in SP was a significant addition–the state-sanctioned assassin is made, not born.
The rogue can reappear only so often before the well of return runs dry.
This🤷♂️
And then when promoting his new film, which couldn’t be more of a polar opposite to Bond, some pillock interviewer asks his opinion on a casting process that everyone is saying hasn’t even started yet? I think in that context an eye roll is a positively restrained reaction.
Acting is a job: jobs are transactional, in that work is rewarded with pay. Those who care about their job invariably are better at it. I think it is pretty clear that Craig cared about doing the best he could for the role. That transaction is now over and Craig owes us as fans nothing and we owe him nothing in return. That said, I appreciate his great work while in the role!
I pretty much agree. Craig could have been more diplomatic in his response but this is certainly not the first time he has been like this.
Personally, I think he was a good brand ambassador it’s just there were some occasions where he was a little irritated. Right now, I think he would rather talk about the films he is in rather than talk about Bond. Certainly not the first actor to get tired about talking about the past.
My hunch is that over time the Craig era will be seen as a high water mark and NTTD will get better with age in the same way that OHMSS did. I watched NTTD this summer for the first time in a long time and thought it was better than I remembered.
He doesn‘t owe the fans - but the series. Without it he wouldn‘t have the luxury he has now.
And would it be so difficult for him to say that AND also express his wish to move on and do other stuff?
Stressing his indifference is probably his schtick, but it is not the only way to do this. He is an actor, dammit, at least he could fake it.
Strikes me how Connery for many years apparently was sick to the core to be asked about Bond when he had various different films to promote, often projects he cared passionately about.
There can be no doubt Connery earned his star status largely thanks to Bond - but having it brought up with every interview must have been an enormous drag.
Craig seems to be in a situation not entirely dissimilar: naturally, he’s asked about the series since there’s literally no sizeable information that should by now turn up - and equally naturally he’s cross for getting such questions (likely for the umpteenth time).
Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if Daniel Craig has ever stated which of the five Bond films he did was his favorite?
Technically, he’s still James Bond (deceased).
Not that I would know of. Don’t know if there was a good opportunity for a proper recap for Craig yet. During promotion he had of course to praise the film at hand - each time. Has there been an in-depth retrospective interview yet?
At a guess, purely speculation naturally, I’d say he’d probably name CASINO ROYALE.