Off her majesty’s secret service
Daniel Craig’s 007 era ends with ‘No Time to Die’
Five films. Fifteen years. England’s Daniel Craig, whose acclaimed reign as Ian Fleming’s James Bond, Secret Agent 007, began in 2006 with “Casino Royale,” exits the iconic role with Friday’s “No Time to Die.”
Craig’s casting was initially greeted with skepticism — A blond Bond!? — until “Casino” opened and the series found itself turbocharged with sadistic sexual energy, beefy physicality and meaningful romance.
Referencing Sean Connery’s original 007, Craig’s tightly coiled hunk in a tight Speedo had a memorable foil in Mads Mikkelson’s evil Le Chiffre and, perhaps more importantly, took the womanizing bed ’em and leave ’em Bond into a serious romance with the Anglo-French actress Eva Green’s Vesper Lind.
While yes, Vesper (like every other woman Bond bonded with) had to die, there was a maturity in evidence alongside an enduring sorrow. Which is why it’s appropriate that “No Time to Die” begins as a now-retired 007 visits Vesper’s grave in an Italian hilltown.
Craig’s Bond would continue to mine loss. In 2008, there was “Quantum of Solace” followed by “Skyfall” (2012), which toyed with Bond as bisexual when tied and tortured by Raul Julia’s Raoul Silva.
In terms of the series, “Skyfall” climaxed with the death of Judi Dench’s M, which allowed for a youthful overhaul of recurring players Moneypenny, Q and Ralph Fiennes as M.
“Spectre” (2015), which Craig filmed mostly with a broken leg, saw him, sour on Bond and the series, ridiculously claim he’d rather slit his wrists than return to the role a fifth time and fulfill his contract.
If it was a bargaining chip, a way to play hardball to get exactly what he wanted with “No Time to Die,” it worked. Craig supposedly was given his every wish in plot, screenwriters, casting.
Rami Malek, the Oscarwinning “Bohemian Rhapsody” star, is Lyuitsifer Safin, one of two villains in “NTTD.” He tells how fun a Bond movie can be. For a crucial scene between 007 and Safin, he asked Craig if they could postpone filming and rework it.
Producer Barbara Broccoli, who inherited stewardship of the series from her father Cubby Broccoli, shut down filming to let them get it right.
After three hours they “nailed it,” hugged and Craig planted a big kiss on Malek’s cheek.
“I asked him,” Malek said slyly, “Does this make me a Bond girl?”
Now that Craig’s 007 era is history, how significant was it?
Craig, who has said the next Bond will not be a woman, changed forever our perception of 007. He took a Cold War warrior into the 21st century.