How Daniel Craig’s Bond Movies Reflect Adulthood (VIDEO SCRIPT)

Readers, when it comes to James Bond, I never really had that big of a connection with him as an action hero

Yes, it was cool to learn that Sean Connery was the first to play him, but he was pretty much just Indiana Jones’ dad to me

The Roger Moore films were fun and campy, but I don’t really rewatch them like that

And I’ll be completely honest with you; the only Pierce Brosnan Bond movie I’ve ever seen from beginning to end was Die Another Day, because Halle Berry. (pauses) I feel like you want me to elaborate on that... I’m not.

Basically, all James Bond movies were to me were the serialized intro screens with the gun barrels, which is a gimmick that I’m a HUGE sucker for thanks to every Christopher Reeve Superman movie ending with him flying around the world, stylized opening credit scenes with their own theme songs, which is a form of cinematic camp that I absolutely LOVE, and the rest is...pretty hit or miss.

So I went into Casino Royale with the same intention I had when I started playing Kingdom Hearts as a kid; everyone else has all these Final Fantasy games under their belt, so let me start this NEW rpg game from the first installment so that *I* can have something!

Yes, I’m now aware that’s not how Final Fantasy games work because its an anthology series; you don’t have to play Final Fantasy 7 to understand Final Fantasy 8. But you do have to play like...7 other handheld Kingdom Hearts games along with Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 to understand 3.

At the end of the day, it was *I* who became Boo-Boo the Fool...

Thankfully, Daniel Craig’s turn at James Bond decided to be a reboot of the franchise, adapting the very first Bond story Casino Royale to prove its point

This made getting into Bond -- at least for those who grew up with this era -- relatively easy, and did something that no other generation of James Bond on film has really done before; use each of its installments with the Bond in question to tell a whole story.

And while 3 out of the 5 intro songs are personal bops of mine and the opening credits for all of them were hella creative compared to the ones I’ve seen before, the stories each of the Daniel Craig installments had to tell were interesting and felt that they were a natural continuation of the previous as opposed to the mostly standalone films that came before.

Yes. Even Quantum of Solace and Spectre.

But as I reflect on Daniel Craig’s era of James Bond now that it’s complete with its fifth installment No Time To Die, I now understand what that overall structure is that carries over from Casino Royale to the 2022 film

Because yes, while Craig’s Bond films are the action adventure spy romp one would expect, for today’s lesson, I wanna go over what the five films in question actually reflect.

And what it reflects, is a coming of age narrative. Let’s begin.

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Hey, Readers. La’Ron here. Offering you analysis and perspective on your favorite bits of geek and pop culture media

If it wasn’t obvious from the intro, this video will in fact contain spoilers for all five of Daniel Craig’s James Bond films.

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That’s the syllabus. Now onto the lesson.

Here’s some Real Talk About James Bond...

What we received from Daniel Craig’s time as the character was not what I was expecting.

After he took over from Brosnan in Die Another Day, I was pretty much expecting the same old same old; fun little action-adventure romps that started off this new reboot of the franchise with the very first serious take of his first adventure adapted on screen.

/And for the most part, that’s exactly what Casino Royale ended up becoming; a modern day non parody take on James Bond’s first adventure as a 00 agent for MI6 with all of the charm, bravado and ego you’d expect a freshly made 00 agent named James Bond to be/

/Then they made Quantum of Solace; an original story that acts as the first direct sequel to a theatrically released James Bond film in I’m pretty sure it's almost 60 year history./

Picking up exactly where Casino Royale left off regarding MI6 trying to get to the bottom of Quantum, the organization responsible for Vesper’s betrayal at the end of Casino Royale while also trying to stop one of its members from taking over the water supply in Bolivia...

And a story that I didn’t really appreciate all that much when it first came out, real talk; I’ll elaborate more on that later.

/Then Skyfall came out, and it looked like we were returning to formula for a bit./

Because Daniel Craig’s bond was looked at as a reboot thanks to Casino Royale starting at his beginnings, Skyfall succeeded in feeling like a standalone Bond film that took place some time after the events of Quantum of Solace...

/But also used it as an opportunity to reintroduce some well known characters into the franchise; specifically Moneypenny and Q./

And while the film’s story also served as a way for the franchise to return to the status quo with the eventual return of a male actor portraying M near its end...

/Skyfall both honored and celebrated Dame Judi Dench for being the first to break it from GoldenEye onward in a story that was wholly appropriate for it being the swansong of this iteration of the character./

Skyfall succeeded in feeling like a standalone film while also using its position to its advantage in order to introduce the traditional building blocks of a Bond film in place as the third installment of a rebooted franchise.

From there, the franchise could go as traditionally expected. And for a lot of us fans, that’s pretty much what WE expected after Skyfall; modern-day evergreen spy adventure stories that now have all the cards in place thanks to the three movies that came before it establishing the characters, relationships and experiences necessary in order for them to truly feel like James Bond films.

/But that’s not what Spectre did. Not TRULY, anyway. While, yes, it did provide a way of reintroducing the organization and Bond’s archnemesis Blofeld into this rebooted version of the franchise the same way Skyfall did with Moneypenny and Q, it did so by establishing one thing about the entirety of Daniel Craig’s career as James Bond - one that would even proceed forward with his last film as the character No Time To Die; the entirety of Daniel Craig’s tenure as Bond is one long narrative, one long continuity./

From the moment he gains his 00 status in Casino Royale to his self sacrifice in No Time To Die. Despite the original intentions for the films in question, Craig’s Bond was a constant progression into the character that because of the standalone formula of the previous iterations, we’ve never really seen before in the franchise.

/And this is something that thanks to how he wanted to tackle his character, Daniel Craig himself was even aware of after the filming of Casino Royale./ (“He felt so complicated...lots of problems. We had this great story at the beginning, Casino Royale where he falls madly in love with somebody and is betrayed. And every time we came to make another movie, we sometimes said lets make a standalone, just a Bond Movie. And we never could leave that story alone; it always came into the plot. And so somehow we have this narrative all the way through, and that feels very unique and incredibly proud with the fact that we’ve done that.”)

Now when Daniel said “we,” he was talking about Neal Purvis and Robert Wade; the two writers and story conceptors that have been on board every single one of Daniel Craig’s Bond adventures in order to shape this consecutive narrative over the course of these five films.

And while the likes of Paul Haggis were on board for Casino Royale and Quantum, John Logan for Skyfall and Spectre, Jez Butterworth for Spectre and Phoebe Waller-Bridge for No Time To Die, it’s safe to say that the responsibility for the narrative structure of Craig’s five-film outing as bond can be mainly placed on these two.

But along with there being a consistent duo of storytellers that were responsible for linking all five of these stories together, we also have to take into consideration Craig taking on Bond and the changes he instilled in the character movie after movie. Especially since Casino Royale is such a building block to the progression of it like he says that it is.

So I rewatched Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall, and watched Spectre and No Time To Die for the first time with this mindset in place.

And now that I know I’m supposed to look at this Bond as a character that progresses and develops with every movie going forward as opposed to the one-and-done set it and forget it charisma staples that he’s been depicted as in previous eras, seeing the way in how Craig handled and dissected Bond -- especially in the five stories he was part of -- was very noticeable to me.

And how he and the writers chose to collaborate that handling was in the form of a simple question:

What if James Bond Was A Boy?

If I were to compare Daniel Craig’s James Bond in Casino Royale to anything, it would have to be a boy coming of age to manhood experiencing the realities of the world for the first time.

This analogy is reflected in the narrative with Bond gaining 00 status in the MI6, using his mix of charm, investigation, his sense of duty, and his egotistical enthusiasm he developed beforehand to make his mark on the organization to show that he’s ready for the responsibilities bestowed upon him by M.

/And for a while, it works out heavily in his favor. He’s good at his job, so he makes sure he takes everything into consideration in order for him to finish his mission if he has no choice but to surrender what he wants. His sense of and need for control over the multiple situations leading up to the Miami airport showdown is handled meticulously over the course of the entire investigation. Craig’s Bond in the first half of Casino Royale plays very much like a newly christened adult man trying to make something of himself and has all the confidence in the world; one that wholeheartedly believes you can’t tell him shit, and believes the myth that the world truly is his oyster/

Yes, I’m fully aware that mediocre white men already HAVE this mindset about themselves despite being nowhere as skilled as Bond. Can I finish my analogy, please?

Because all that starts to go out of the window once Bond is assigned to bring down Le Chiffre proper.

/Not only is Vesper Lynd slightly immune to his charm, challenges his bullheadedness every opportunity possible and is just as capable as Bond in analyzing and reading individuals (It’s tailored), but she’s also one of the first individuals chronologically that allows Bond to open up to his more empathetic nature that’s present throughout Craig’s run on the character. And not just with the women in his 5-movie lifespan, but in regards to men as well; both friends and colleagues./ (he didn’t make it)

Then there’s the first real instance of what a young Bond not used to having control of the situation he’s currently in looks like, when Bond loses his pot because thought Le Chiffre was bluffing and Vesper refused to buy him back into the game.

/Before that game, there was all the confidence from Bond in the world. His arrogance and ego caused him to confidently reveal his true name at check-in to Vesper’s dismay, and his first risky play was made simply as a way of figuring out how Le Chiffre plays. But then thanks to Vesper playing Bond for Quantum -- and, as a result, Spectre -- Le Chiffre goats Bond into losing his entire pot because of a bluff misread. This causes him to undo all of the emotional support he previously provided Vesper when she denies him a buy-in because of his impulsiveness./ (I can beat this man, you know that. Get your hand off my arm)

This is the first time we see how Bond acts when he no longer has a sense of control over the situation.

/Y’know, when he doesn’t have the vice of seducing women as his trump card to temporarily distract from his newly discovered insecurities like he does in Quantum of Solace./

And Daniel Craig plays it so well, too. The frustration Bond feels in both Vesper and himself is so potent in the scenes that feature the display.

/It very much reads that this Bond -- even before gaining his 00 status -- has never known what it felt like to be denied or have things not work out for him. That same man who first headed out into the world on his own as a fresh adult ready to make it his bitch, got his hand snapped at by said world for the first time when he went in to pet it confidently thinking it wouldn’t be aggressive toward him. And as the end of Casino Royale and the majority of Quantum of Solace has shown, the world doesn’t pull back any punches in Bond receiving his wake-up call./

Casino Royale and even the way Quantum of Solace handles the immediate continuation of the first Bond story can easily be looked at as what happens when an eager, naive and egotistical man who has buried within him a strong sense of compassion, empathy and loyalty to individuals he develops strong connections for...

Learns the hard way that the world to a certain extent will not cater to him, but that they must cater to the harsh and cold realities of the world.

He enters the “world” of being an MI6 agent with a vigor, rebelliousness and drive thinking that he’s ready. Only to be bombarded with betrayals, secret organizations, guilt and remorse...

/With only a select handful of relationships proving to be strong enough to either have him see the error of his ways in how he HAS been approaching the world, or to get him to see that, to quote Frou Frow, there’s beauty in the breakdown/ (end with the QoS kiss)

But while Camile was that for James in Quantum of Solace in empathetically “bonding” with her -- no pun intended -- regarding her childhood and desires for revenge while being forced to take down Dominic Greene without MI6’s help thanks to Quantum cutting off nearly every one of his usually reliable resources...

There’s one other character in the five movie arc that is Craig’s run as Bond that not only proves strong enough to give him that support for proper change and reflection in how he should see the world, but goes through a bit of it herself thanks to the relationship the two of them have.

/And it’s so prominent, that -- even without initially meeting her -- Camile is able to catch it in how Bond talks about her/ (Is she your mother? She likes to think so)

I mean, she only THINKS so because it’s TRUE.

Because when it comes to Dame Judi Dench’s impact in the first three Daniel Craig Bond films, and even Spectre when you think about it...

M Is For Mother

Dame Judi Dench’s M being the paternal figure for Daniel Craig’s Bond makes more sense than you would realize, especially when you separate her M from the Brosnan movies and look at it with the same fresh pair of eyes that Casino Royale forces you to look at the revised Bond franchise.

/She’s been the taskmaster for MI6 for a while, at least since the Cold War. She’s already had to deal with breaking the glass ceiling, so by the time we’re introduced to her in Casino Royale she’s already a bit aloof, which her reasonings are even further reinforced in Quantum of Solace when she learns that her colleagues have no problem going to bed with terrorists and shady organizations in order to have a position of power on the global scale./

With her promoting Bond to 00 status, she now has a lot more on her plate. He reflects her ambition of getting the job done at any cost, and learns that early on with what he does to foil the Miami airplane bombing financed by Le Chiffre.

/It’s both frustrating and pride-inducing for M in this case, not just because it puts her doubts of promoting him to bed, but also because it helps her establish a sense of trust and reliance for him at the cost of him superseding her authority in some cases. So now she has to juggle giving him discipline, care, and opportunity in order for proper nurture to take place like any mother would for her child in order to see them succeed./

This is why Judi Dench’s M is just as prominent a figure in the development of Craig’s version of Bond as he is.

While Craig plays this Bond in the first three films very similar to an individual who refuses to surrender his sense of control to the reality of the real world now that he has access to it, if one looks at becoming a 00 agent as the equivalent of transitioning out of adolescence and into adulthood...

Dench plays M from Casino Royale to Skyfall as one who has learned to find the balance in finding a sense of self in the ever-changing world and wants those under her to avoid making the mistakes that she made.

And her actions have had a positive impact on Bond as a result. If it weren’t for M’s constant reminder of what Vesper went through thanks to the involvement of Quantum and Spectre as a result, Bond’s sense of empathy toward anyone -- women or otherwise -- probably wouldn’t have grown or expressed over the course of the franchise as much as it has.

/Some would even say that M caught this behavior in Bond early on in Casino Royale before Vesper even entered the picture, when Solange, the wife of Alex Dimitrios, was murdered by Le Chiffre at the resort after Bond seduced her into finding out about Dimitrios’ Miami airport plot, and seeing a lack of emotion in Bond seeing her body for the first time./

/The same can even be said about how Quantum of Solace highlighted the toxic connection between Bond’s hedonism and womanizing ways with how he plays into them in order to keep a sense of control established in his life whenever the world -- or the mission in this case -- wants to challenge it./

/M rightfully so uses Dominic Greene’s murder of Fields as a wake-up call for Bond to address this toxicity./ (Why her?)

/And while he still gives in to carnal pleasures from time to time, they have since been fueled by his need of control less and less, and instead with the well intentions of making sure no harm would come to them; a genuine desire to get them out of danger, even if it isn’t in his immediate power./

These are some of the ways that -- looking at her as a mother figure -- M has gone out of her way to make sure Bond is “brought up right”; to make sure that the world -- ie, the job -- doesn’t break him down.

/And this is even reinforced when Silva comes into play in Skyfall, who represents all of M’s own toxic actions from the past coming back to bite her in the ass./ (Mommy was very bad)

And even though he’d never admit it, the bond is heavily reciprocated on James’ end.

/Since he was orphaned -- and especially after Blofeld pulled a reverse Dio -- he probably only had M’s approval to seek out and gain./

Which is pretty much why he handled the Dimitrios case in the first half of Casino Royale the way that he did once he was promoted to 00 status, real talk.

/Not only was he entering the world with “Can’t Nobody Tell Me Nothin’” vibes regarding how he handled everything up until the Miami airport incident, but it also radiated HEAVY “pay attention to me, mommy” vibes as well./

He wanted to stay angry at the world about what Vesper did to him, but the combination of Quantum’s actions and M talking him down from doing so helped him to see reason.

/When Silva attacked MI6 after he was presumed dead from M’s call, Bond didn’t come back for the job. He came back for her. And while he still had his reservations about the call M decided to make -- as you can tell by how bloodshot his eyes were when he broke into her house the second time to let her know that he’s alive and well -- he treasured M at the end of the day, and not just up until her final breath, either. Not only did discovering her final mission for him reveal to him that Blofeld’s organization Spectre was behind everything since becoming an MI6 agent, but he actively found a way of utilizing all of her challenges, criticisms and advice in order to adjust and change his toxic traits and negative vices, and better reinforce the positive ones about him that he only allowed a certain amount of people to see for so long. Even during his own curtain call./

So if you look at the 5 Bond films Daniel Craig was in, when it comes to the importance of Judi Dench’s M within them...

/Mum truly IS the word./ (I need you back. I never left)

Conclusion

I’m not gonna lie, Readers. Despite there being a various gauge of enjoyability for every film in the series depending on who you ask, I’m actually surprised at how well paced this way of viewing James Bond was presented in all of the films.

While I definitely agree that the overconnectivity of Spectre kinda muddles the waters a bit, it surprisingly doesn’t get in the way of seeing how Craig’s Bond has taken all of his inner and outer experiences from the previous movies and applies it in the scenarios that follow it, which is just as important when properly showing growth and development

As someone who only really decided to get invested in EVERYTHING Bond has to offer in a film, and not just the visually appealing camp it’s usually known for, I’m personally glad I decided to do so with Daniel Craig’s run.

/Here’s hoping whoever the next actor and writers are to take a whack at it can fill the shoes./

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But I digress, Readers. Your homework assignment for the day:

Write in the comment section below what your favorite movie is from Daniel Craig’s run as James Bond

Or, if you feel like sharing with the rest of the class, which out of the five films that initially got a bad wrap that you thought upon retrospect was pretty good, actually

Personally for me, that goes to Quantum of Solace. It’s not beating Casino Royale or Skyfall, but it definitely took me growing up for me to put some respect on it, real talk.

Whichever question you decide to answer, I’d love to know your thoughts.

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Make sure you check out the card at the end of the video to see if you want to join, or click the link to it or any of my affiliates in the description box below.

But until then, this is Readus 101. Class dismissed./