Finally, A Tough Guy Bond

Rating: 10/10 (17 April 2007)

Those reviewers who didn't like Daniel Craig as James Bond should read some of the novels. The James Bond of the novels is more like a British Mike Hammer. You get the feeling that Bond had a rough, working class background and the sophisticated taste came later. The Bond of the novels had worked behind the lines in WWII sabotaging and killing Nazis.
Indeed, when Sean Connery first auditioned for the role, it was this roughness that got him the part. Connery had to be taught the sophisticated veneer. Till Craig came along, the young Connery was the only Bond that looked like he could walk into a bar and break your arm off.
The Bond character got sidetracked with the likes of Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan who look and acted like overage gigolos. I never could see Moore, Dalton or Brosnan kicking anybody's ass. I never wanted to be Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton or Peirce Brosnan. I wanted to BE the young Sean Connery. I hope to be like Connery is now when I get to his age.
I like the fact that Craig didn't have those ridiculous gadgets. Bond didn't have them in Dr. No or From Russia With Love. One of the best fights in all the Bond movies was the claustrophobic Orient Express fight with Robert Shaw. Gadgets? some tear gas, a knife and a garroting wire.
I like Daniel Craig as Bond. He's ruthless, primitive, and tough; the educated sophistication doesn't quite mask it. A good man to have on your side.