James Bond is dead

The on/off saga of the 23rd Bond movie is making the news again with reports now suggesting that the £123 million movie has been canned once more, making it extremely unlikely that Daniel Craig will ever play 007 again. This comes as no surprise to the Archive - indeed we have all along predicted that Craig will not play Bond again after the terrible, Quantum of Solace. Once this news would have upset us and maybe even sparked a campaign to save the franchise, but not any more. Maybe it's better for the series to be rested for a few years and then rebooted with a different lead actor and a different production team. Regardless of the dubious  merits of the vastly overrated Casino Royale, Daniel Craig as Bond was terrible miscasting which proved that the current production team didn't really understand what it was that made Bond stand out from other action/adventure movies. Yep, Barbara just because your name's Broccoli doesn't mean you know your onions?

The final couple of Pierce Brosnan Bonds were far from perfect, though they were very much Bond films and continued a tradition that has been developing for years. By contrast Daniel Craig's first Bond, although almost universally applauded, was a Bond film in name only. Critics said it took the character closer to Fleming's Bond - it didn't and Craig's Bond was a rough and ready bruiser, the complete opposite to the larger than life character Fleming created. Daniel Craig is a great actor - Layer Cake is proof of that - but he was never going to make a credible James Bond and that's no reflection on his abilities, he just wasn't right for the role as was proven with Quantum of Shit.

The official stance is that Bond 23 is continuing and that Craig will once again wear the tux, or at least the frayed denim and muscle shirt, but we'll believe that when we see it.

James Bond is dead...