I wasn’t expecting to make this video, and I definitely wasn’t planning to cover James Bond
twice in a row, but since I saw No Time To Die, I can’t stop thinking about it.
But this isn’t a video essay or a review of that film. Instead, it is a tribute to a character
that means a lot to me, and to the actor who has brought him to life over the last fifteen years.
There will be full spoilers for No Time To Die though so if you haven’t seen it yet,
maybe click away from this video and watch the Bond is Back playlist instead.
And before we go any further, I have to say one thing. Some of you will disagree
with what I am going to say. That’s fine. You are welcome to feel however you like.
This character and franchise means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.
I am one of them, and this is how I feel about a character named
Bond. James Bond. I grew up with James
Bond. I can’t remember the first time I saw a James Bond movie in the same way I
can’t remember the first time I watched Star Wars. For my whole life he has been there,
usually on an old VHS tape that we had recorded from when the films were shown on TV.
I mostly watched Roger Moore. We had some of the Connery films, and The Living Daylights was also
a household favourite, but the Roger Moore films were the ones I kept coming back to.
I was too young to remember Pierce Brosnan being announced as the new Bond, even though it happened
in my lifetime, but The World Is Not Enough was the first Bond movie I saw in cinemas.
But in moving from Moore’s films to Brosnan’s, there was something about Tomorrow Never Dies
in particular that appealed to me. Sure, kid Pentex went nuts for the remote controlled
car and the motorbike chase, and I still rank the opening as one of the best ever.
But what I remember most was this scene, because it was the first time I remember connecting with
Bond on an emotional level, and realising that beneath all the cool, there was a character.
I’m not saying that there weren’t serious, reflective, or character focused moments in
other Bond movies – of course there were – but for whatever reason, when I was a kid they went
over my head. I only remember noticing it for the first time with this scene.
Even when I was younger, I kept coming back to Brosnan’s first two movies – and I think
these scenes had as much to do with that as any of the action did. Because this was the first
time I remember seeing a male action lead show any sort of emotional vulnerability – and besides The
Lord of the Rings and Spiderman, I wouldn’t see this again in a mainstream action movie until…
Today the actor Daniel Craig was officially unveiled as the new James Bond.
I don’t remember Daniel Craig being announced as the new Bond.
I was still at school and even though it was 2005 I didn’t have the internet at my house.
But I remember seeing this poster and holy shit.
I don’t know why but it just captured my imagination. Bond with his bow tie undone,
pistol drawn, and with THAT look on his face, he just looked like the coolest person ever.
I bought the tie in edition of the novel and it became the first Bond book I read. Reading
Fleming for the first time helped me understand the character, and see that even from his origins
in this book, he had flaws beneath the bravado. Then the movie came out and I loved every second
of it. It had everything I loved about the Bond films, but did it better than any of them had
done before. And it went further. Bond got hurt. Bond got called out for his arrogance. Bond’s
recklessness had consequences. Bond lost. Twice. It surprised me because it wasn’t like the Bond
films I was used to. Yet somehow at the same time, it was the best one I had ever seen.
Not just because it challenged the core formula of the previous movies, but because the
characters all had depth to them – even Bond. I was at quite a formative age when this movie
came out, and its timing was perfect. This movie showed me that this and this are not
mutually exclusive qualities. It showed me that this moment, not this one, is why Vesper says
If all that was left of you was your smile and your little finger, you’d still be
more of a man than anyone I’ve ever met. James Bond has always defined masculinity.
In Casino Royale, Daniel Craig did it in a way that I had never really seen before in a movie.
And he would continue to do so. What Craig brought to the character time
and again was all of the traits that define traditional masculinity, but more importantly
a message that this is all worthless if you can’t save or protect those you love.
He taught me that these moments are much, much more important than these ones.
This was a Bond who could have platonic relationships as well as romantic ones.
A Bond whose friends mean something to him. And contrary to popular criticism, his movies
aren’t quote unquote too serious. Craig portrays Bond with a brilliant dry wit and sarcastic
sense of humour, and shows a much, much broader emotional range than he tends to get credit for.
I’m Mr Arlander Beech, professional gambler, and you’re Miss Stephanie Broadchester…
I am not!
You’re going to have to trust me on this.
I understand people who don’t like the fact that his films were episodic,
rather than standalone. I totally get that. But for better or worse, these films were always
about telling one complete story, and I never felt like Spectre concluded that story properly.
They were always leaving the door half open for Craig to return, but they also had to hedge their
bets in case he didn’t. So the ending was neither a neat conclusion nor a teaser for
the next movie like his other endings were. And that brings us to No Time To Die. This
film will be debated for years, probably decades to come. It will be very divisive. But for me,
it had to do one thing. Properly conclude Daniel Craig’s arc. If you haven’t seen it,
this is your last spoiler warning. If you had asked me beforehand if I
thought they should kill off Bond, I would have said no. I would have said that Bond
deserves the happy ending he was denied in Casino Royale and OHMSS. The happy ending every other
Bond got at the end of each of their movies. So when I realised what was going to happen,
I was genuinely shocked. I had come into this movie prepared to say farewell to Daniel Craig’s
James Bond. But I wasn’t prepared to say farewell like this. I wasn’t prepared for him to die.
And I was sad. Genuinely, deeply sad. But even here, in his last moments,
Craig delivered his best performance as Bond yet. He isn’t sad, or angry. He’s happy. Happy those he
loves can live safely forever. Happy that he has something to leave behind, even if it was taken
from him far too soon. His quiet acceptance of his fate is a mark of true bravery and heroism.
And you know what? I think this was the perfect ending for Daniel Craig’s James Bond.
Some people won’t like it. I understand that, and you are allowed to feel that way.
But Craig’s tenure has always been about Bond’s journey. I had wanted, and assumed,
that this journey would get a happily ever after. I never genuinely thought he would die. But you
know what? It’s a more satisfying and powerful ending than I could have possibly hoped for.
And that’s why I love this franchise. Because after sixty years it is still
doing something new. It is still surprising us, and breaking ground no other franchise will.
And it will continue to do so. James Bond will return. And I cannot wait to see what
the next incarnation will look like because I know this franchise will keep innovating
and changing like it always has. But for now, we need to pay tribute
to Daniel Craig. His portrayal of this character for the last fifteen years has probably had more
influence over me than any other fictional character. He was an icon, and in many ways,
a friend. And it was harder than I thought to say goodbye.
So thank you Daniel. Thank you for everything you have done for James Bond. Thank you for
showing us what it means to be a man in the 21st Century, and for doing it so stylishly.
People will debate the legacy of your films,
as they do with all Bond films. Some people may not think you were the best Bond,
or even the best looking Bond. You weren’t the first James Bond, and you won’t be the last.
But you were my James Bond, and you always will be.