Just finished watching Spectre, the latest James Bond flick. Not to spoil it, but based on the ending and based on Daniel Craig's comments after Skyfall a few years earlier - this was likely his last Bond role.

Of course, the Bond genre will continue... it must. Hollywood can't continue to exist without a proper British spy movie, and Bond set the standard. Spectre was pretty good, actually. I enjoyed it. Not nearly as good as Skyfall, but good nonetheless.

Obviously Sean Connery will always be the best James Bond, and although Roger Moore represented fairly well in Octopussy - it's worth noting that a scantily-clad Maud Adams didn't exactly hurt the plot or the ratings.

Timothy Dalton was kinda meh... although The Living Daylights was pretty good.

Pierce Brosnan was a good fit for the role, although near the end of his 7-year run it was pretty obvious that the series needed to head in a different direction with a tougher, leaner and meaner character, which basically delivers us to Daniel Craig.

Craig has done an excellent job overall, and it'll be interesting to see who his replacement will be, if in fact this was his last Bond film.

Hopefully, the new guy is someone Richard Bransonesque. 😉

Out of all of them, I kinda liked Craig's Bond the most. Sorta moody and dark and much more a man of his own than any of the others. He had integrity, he couldn't be bought out, but in any given film you half expected him to go off the ranch as in, "feck it, I'm going to Russia." In Spectre, I really liked how he introduced himself as an assassin, none of this high minded agent for her majesty stuff, which also struck me as a nod to Jason Bourne.

  • Supp replied to this.

    blader

    I agree with your analysis. The original Bond in the novels is an assassin, not so much the debonair character portrayed on some of the early movies.

      Isn't Craig contracted for one more Bond movie?

        Umfaan

        He very well might be... it's difficult to judge one way or another really. It depends on which article you read sometimes.

        Two things prompted my unconfirmed take on the matter that he might be calling it quits; the closing scene in Spectre, which I won't disclose as to not spoil the ending, only to say that it kind of appeared to be a subtle statement to his fans in the manner in which it played out. And the other thing was a comment he made shortly after Skyfall had released, where Craig said, "I'd rather slit my wrists than do it again."

        Of course, he didn't slit his wrists and he obviously accepted the role to do Spectre.

        Whether he's had his fill or possibly not quite yet finished - history indicates that the average term for an actor to stay active in this role is roughly 10 years, and unless there's a production not being talked much about coming up for release later on this year (which is highly unlikely) - Craig will be entering his 11th year as the main character in 2017. In other words - the writers are probably already looking for an answer to the "who's next" question, regardless of what seems to be at the very least some indecision coming from him on the matter at the moment.

        Rumors surfaced a couple of years ago that Denzel Washington was actively considering to be Craig's successor, but he said that they started because of something he jokingly said, at least more so than there being any real seriousness about it. That said, he did seem to indicate that he wouldn't automatically turn the opportunity down if he were approached about it, certainly leaving the door open.

        Suffice to say - it would be very interesting to see how well an African American version of Bond would be received. I personally think he could pull it off in a big way, but at 61 years of age - the question is more about whether he would want to take on the usual modern-day stunt work that tends to befit someone considerably younger. Craig is 47 years old, 14 years younger, btw.

          The only problem with Denzel playing Bond is when he orders a martini and says..."Yo, shake up dat MoFo and don't be's stirrin' dat bev-er-age, my brotha". That is where he may lose the Bond audience credibility.

            I think the amount of physical stunts and fight scenes with Craig was wearing him out and causing bodily harm. Those comments about not doing it again came right after the completion of the last movie.

            Daniel Craig is great, but I could see Thor playing the role. He shows up in screen and drops the hammer while all the women just drop their panties in front of him.

            Thor is just a bad ass. That is all.

            Bangoman

            I think Denzel, being a fairly successful actor, can read a script and differentiate a role between something like, say, Training Day, and a James Bond movie.

            Unless, of course, you were attempting to be humorous, and if so it went completely over my head.

                Matt Damon should be the guy as he doesn't do Jason Bourne anymore and he was very good being Jason Bourne.

                I hate when movie franchises continually change the face of the main character. The franchise loses credibility when it happens so often, imo.

                Release Donald Trump

                Lol. You're just trolling now. Sure, I'll bite. Trump would only talk trash and insult everyone else, so as to make himself feel superior. Meanwhile there would be no action in the movie, because he'd just stand around saying, "It's going to be amazing!!!"

                🙄🤔😤

                    How about Brad Pitt playing Bond.

                      PIGDivot

                      Why not ?
                      He has no chance of being the next President of the United States. Most people supported him during the primary said they will not vote for him.
                      He has done his job of stirring up the attention of the voters, perhaps motivate them enough to cast their vote. Best performance he has given.

                      For that, why not in the roll of 007 ? Traditional male chauvinists, superman, every teenage boy's wannabe ?
                      He would be perfect.

                      Don't let his performance tricked you, he is actually smarter the he has portrait himself in the public.

                        Umfaan

                        IMHO,
                        Pitt could not hold shoes to the super male symbol of 007. He can't even hold shoes for the 007.
                        Sorry, that's my 2 cents.

                          A lot of talk about it being offered to Idris Elba. If he hadn't already been in a trilogy with the Nolan Batman series, I think Christian Bale would have been great. Tom Hardy would be a great choice also.