James Bond

There's a real ownership to the James Bond movies. Everyone who's ever seen one, or several as the case may be, feels a particular affinity for the Bond of their generation, be it Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton (ugh!) or Pierce Brosnan. The movies' fans are almost rabid in glorifying their favorite Bond, and will not hesitate to take someone to task for disliking their fave, and for preferring another. I know that Mom likes Brosnan; and I know that a good portion of the Bond audience believes that Connery was the best. I've never really been a big fan of any of them (movies or Bonds).
That's Daniel Craig in the picture to the left; the new James Bond. Filming for the 22nd Bond film, Casino Royale, is going on now, and the movie is looking at a November 17 release date. There are a lot of people (read: fan boys) out there who are campaigning voraciously against Craig as Bond; and have started Craig-hating Web sites, blogs, petitions and the like. What's their beef? He's not polished, they say, not suave enough, tailored enough; too blond, too scruffy. Personally, I can't wait to see Craig's Bond. I like a guy with a bit less polish. To tell you the truth, I hated the fact that Bond was always wearing a tuxedo; always had a laser in his watch; always was surrounded by women; and always was at the top of his game. What fun is that in a character, really? There's no meat there. No drama, actually. No reason to watch the movie, since you always knew that Bond was going to get the bad guy, and he was going to do it absolutely perfectly.
According to this article in USA Today though, it seems as though the new Bond will be rougher around the edges; will be pre-shaken martinis; and will be growing into his own. Sure, M will be there, but thankfully, there's no Q, so Bond will have no gadgets to fall back on in tight jams. He'll be forced to rely on his wits, and not necessarily his sexual prowess either, to beat the bad guy.
Craig, more than the Bonds before him, has the tormented, dirt under his nails, Jack Daniels drinking, aura about him. He looks like he could get as down and dirty as any bad guy, and that he'd actually welcome getting rumpled and bloody in a fight. Dirt, sweat and blood on a collar won't bother him. And that's the kind of Bond I'll appreciate seeing on the big screen.