The Bond Identity

Many years before Jason Bourne lost his memory and decades prior to Jack Bauer repeatedly having the worst day of his life, there was only one super spy that the cinema going public cared about, and that was James Bond. Ever since Sir Sean Connery uttered the words "Bond… James Bond", viewers everywhere have been fascinated with the exploits of the world's most famous patron of espionage. But the recent buzz (or lack thereof) surrounding the latest edition suggests something of a lacklustre level of enthusiasm.

So why does nobody seem to care? You would think that with a new Bond, a return to the character's origin and the appointment of Martin Campbell at the helm (director of arguably the last decent instalment, 'Goldeneye') that excitement levels would have the fan-boys lining the streets in their fake tuxedos. But, unfortunately for all those involved, the fans seem to have lost their appetite and their passion has, to adequately sum it up, died another day.

Inevitably, the majority of the speculation and pre-movie bashing has been laid at the door of the newest man to have his vodka martinis shaken and not stirred, Daniel Craig. With Pierce Brosnan hanging up his Walther-PPK, Craig becomes the sixth James Bond (Do we really have to count George Lazenby? Oh alright then) and has some very big shoes to fill. Besides the living embodiment of James Bond that is Sean Connery, Craig also has to contend with Roger Moore (whose very name is a double entendre), super-smooth Pierce and Timothy "I know – let's try and give Bond some depth" Dalton.

Therefore, aside from the fact that many have suggested he looks more like a henchman, Craig seems to have already been written off rather unfairly and will have to do something fairly special to appease those who want him to be simultaneously as tough as Connery, as humorous as Moore and as slick as Brosnan.

But is the new blond-haired, blued eyed 007 really to blame for the lethargy surrounding 'Casino Royale'? In short, no he is not. Taking a more educated look at recent years, one could explain the lack of anticipation by taking into account the poor quality of the last few movies and the dumbing down of Ian Fleming's source material. Sure, not every Bond movie has been great and there were a few cringe-worthy scenes (the pigeons doing a double take in 'Moonraker' anyone?) but the good always outweighed the bad and the movies did not pretend to be something they were not.

Whether it was Connery's undeniable charisma or Moore's uncontrollable eyebrow (which really did have a life of its own) the films charmed and satisfied their audiences by following the Bondian blueprint and, unlike recent efforts, did not pander to American audiences with explosions every three minutes.

What lies in store for Bond next remains to be seen but let us hope that we lose the token bad-guys, the invisible cars and the garden variety plotting in favour of some gritty spying, a few nifty one-liners and – one can only hope – a bald guy stroking a white cat. "Ah, Mr Bond… I've been expecting you." Haven't we all…