Daniel Craig's James Bond Era Was The Bleakest (Which Is A Good Thing)
Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond in No Time to Die is a great example of why his Bond era is the bleakest in the 007 franchise. Craig’s take on the titular character began in 2006 with Casino Royale, a film that quickly changed the complexion of the previously jovial Bond franchise. One of the best illustrations of this new, darker territory was the death of Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) immediately after Bond decided to retire from MI6 in Craig’s first movie, with her death subsequently fueling the events of Quantum of Solace.
Yet despite Casino Royale's hefty amount of carnage, the movie has one of the lower body counts of the Craig Bond era. Upon closer inspection, the vast majority of supporting players (including both side characters and villains) in Craig's Bond era failed to survive all five films. This is of particular importance because, along with the deaths of many Bond girls, principal characters such as M (Judi Dench) also exited the series through violent means — with movies such as Skyfall and No Time To Die dispensing with the plot armor that has previously saved the Bond franchise's main characters time and time again.
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Yet while Craig's Bond era is undoubtedly gritty, its bleaker take on 007 is not a bad thing. Part of why Craig's somber narrative works so well is because it makes more sense within the context of 007's espionage-based story, which carries far more gravitas than some of its predecessors, such as the Pierce Brosnan Bond era. Although in a ranking of the James Bond movies, Craig’s films are inconsistent (making up some of the best and worst in the franchise), the bleak identity they maintained was to the latest
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