Bond is played by Daniel Craig in "No Time to Die."
With the global airing of "No Time to Die," the Daniel Craig era of the Bond Series came to an end.
He has shot 5 films for the role since 2006. It was 15 years after the first Bond film was made that Daniel Craig left the role he was most familiar with. The Bond series of films has long been criticized for objectifying women and advocating "toxic" machismo. In the past 15 years, Bond, played by Craig, has tried to get rid of this machismo perspective and inject new air into the "Bond series". In this prestigious film series, Craig left his own unique legacy.
The blonde man who is not favored
In 2006, when the "Bond Series" crew announced the ace spy's new cast, Daniel Craig was not yet a Hollywood A-list star. In the past, the actors who played Bond were all black-haired and white, and Craig had blond hair, which can be said to be the first "blonde Bond" in the series.
This British actor, who has never played the main role of a blockbuster before, was not optimistic about his debut. The inconspicuous Craig was widely questioned by the outside world about whether he could play the role. Britain's poisonous tongue critics taunted Craig, saying he had no friendly interaction with reporters at the launch ceremony and wore life jackets when he sat in kayaks on the River Thames to show off his "heroic posture".
"Bond in a life jacket?" Am I mistaken? ”
Stills from the 007 film Dr. Noe starring Connery
In addition, some people think that his facial features are not handsome, and his face is full of wrinkles. Mune's expression and stiff movements seem to lack the characteristic temperament that Connery injected into the 007 character. In the hands of Craig, can the "Bond Series" continue to have box office appeal in the 21st century?
Judging from the first 007 movie "Casino Royale" starring Craig in 2006, its box office performance is considerable. The $616.5 million box office receipts that year gave the producers hope for Craig. Since then, Craig's Bond star has been low and high, and has become the best face of Bond image in the early 21st century.
Bond is in such good shape?
In the 21st century, people are tired of the old-school Bond role. In the eyes of critics, Bond is a rough machismo. As a spy, the old-school Bond has no real flesh-and-blood feelings, he seems to be just a killing machine. He had difficulty empathizing, and apart from the fact that he would not die in all fights, he had no emotional bond with women other than the flesh.
Audience and critics' aversion to the Bond series reached its climax around 2000, when the "Bond series" routine became more and more apparent: Bond definitely liked cocktails, he was certainly invincible, and his male hormones were sure to conquer all the women he had ever met.
Stills from the first 007 film, Casino Royale, starring Craig
The 007 character finally got into Craig's hands in 2006, so how can he avoid falling into clichés? One strategy was that he and the production team behind him began to guide people from "Bond Girl" to Bond himself.
During the filming of Casino Royale, there was a scene that was filmed by the paparazzi: Daniel Craig was naked on the seashore, wearing swimming trunks, rising from the blue sea under the sun's rays, like the sea god in ancient Greek mythology.
In the past, old-school Bond was tall and handsome in a suit, but taking off his clothes surprised people. In addition to a handful of thick chest hair that shows male hormones, Bond's bare upper body is mostly loose flesh. Is such a figure really invincible? Can such a figure really appeal to women?
Through Craig's muscular body, one felt a whole new Bond emerge. Bond in the suit is handsome, but after taking off his clothes, he is still very attractive.
"The Best Bond ever" has since become a nickname for Craig.
A flesh that has been tempered
In order to draw the audience's attention to Bond, the crew specially invited fitness coach Simon Watson. For 15 years, Watson made Craig a handsome, stripped-down "new Bond."
Watson's appearance is somewhat similar to Craig's, and the height and head shape of the two are almost the same, even the hairstyle is close. Watson and Craig are not so much a coach-trainee relationship as a fitness pair. During training, the two of them often picked up iron together. Watson developed a unique fitness program for Craig.
Daniel Craig
Under Watson's creation, the muscles of the Bond character must be good-looking, but they must also have good combat function. As a spy, he must be competent in climbing, jumping, and fighting. Even Bond's speed of turning and pulling out his gun was designed specifically for Craig by Watson. The not-so-tall Craig doesn't feel oppressive, but is made into a tough agent ready to fight.
"One second to kill, the next second to repair the washing machine at home", is the British "Guardian" evaluation of the image of Bond played by Craig.
Watson explained to CNN that he had a fitness plan for Craig: "The training session is dumbbell weightlifting and a lot of compound exercises. This allows you to do extremely strenuous training with heavy loads, and because of the intensity, your heart rate will also increase. As a result, it not only builds muscle, but also trains the cardiovascular system and reduces body fat. ”
Craig, who rarely uses a stand-in, is injured both inside and outside the play. During the filming of Ghost Party, Craig sprained his knee ligament. In his last Bond film, No Time to Die, he suffered an ankle injury and had to undergo surgery.
Stills from "No Time to Die"
In the "Bond series", people see the fragile side of Bond's flesh. The plot reveals that Bond's body is actually scarred, and as a born and dead agent, the torture and suffering of the new Bond begin to have an impact on his profession, rather than having a king kong body like the old bond.
Like a normal person, Bond, played by Craig, screams when he is tortured. For male audiences, perhaps the most empathetic scene is the heart-rending howl of Bond's lower body when he is tortured by the fierce hand of the villain in "The Great Curtain Killing Machine". This also highlights the fragility of the male flesh: although it seems to be strong, in fact, as long as it is hit by the door, it will still be painful to die.
In order to make several films appear more coherent, in these Bond films played by Craig, the injuries he suffered in one film are also imprinted in the next. In the end, the Craig-era "Bond Series" broke the structure of each one being an isolated narrative, laying out a narrative thread.
Bond and women
In Craig's day, bond was no longer a playboy who would only play with women, but a man who respected women's feelings. In addition, Bond also experienced emotional setbacks such as lost love. Craig's azure eyes, when staring at women, often give people a feeling of comfort and care.
Stills from Casino Royale
The image of Bond in the Connery period has been criticized by some women in the 21st century. They believe that the "bond girls" of the Connery era were objects of male toying. In Goldfinger, a detail that has attracted the attention of contemporary audiences is that "Bond Girl" constantly rejects Bond, but Bond, played by Connery, still forcibly has a relationship with her. Cary Fukunaga, director of "No Time to Die," points out that by contemporary standards, it was a rape.
As the Craig era drew to a close, speculation began to emerge about who would be the next Agent 007. Perhaps, we will see a female 007?
Author | Cantonese force
Edit | He Renyuan
See the world magazine produced by new media