Main reason why Craig is not Bond..

[Captain Nash]

I've heard the next Bond film is going to be a remake...


THUNDERBALLS.

I'll get my coat.

[Lord Shark]

It just seems so wrong that they would ditch tall, dark and handsome for short, blonde and thuggish.

Or more like ditching a tall, dark, fey, pretty, smarmy, Irish-American, cloths model, for a blond, masculine, naturally charismatic, self-deprecating Liverpudlian?

Cr-egg has charisma? Where does that notion ring truth? He could be the least charismstic actor in existence. He exudes a constant morose tone and look in most of his roles. His interviews always come across as abysmal as well.

Morose and brooding yes, but so was Richard Burton. Both of them share a similar kind of presence and charisma, and not without wit either.

One simply cannot compare the great Dicky Burton to the somewhat bland Dan Craig.

Neither were bland.

[mcbride007]

It just seems so wrong that they would ditch tall, dark and handsome for short, blonde and thuggish.

Or more like ditching a tall, dark, fey, pretty, smarmy, Irish-American, cloths model, for a blond, masculine, naturally charismatic, self-deprecating Liverpudlian?

Cr-egg has charisma? Where does that notion ring truth? He could be the least charismstic actor in existence. He exudes a constant morose tone and look in most of his roles. His interviews always come across as abysmal as well.

Daniel Craig is too wooden. He should loosen up in Bond.

[Lord Shark]

It just seems so wrong that they would ditch tall, dark and handsome for short, blonde and thuggish.

Or more like ditching a tall, dark, fey, pretty, smarmy, Irish-American, cloths model, for a blond, masculine, naturally charismatic, self-deprecating Liverpudlian?

Cr-egg has charisma? Where does that notion ring truth? He could be the least charismstic actor in existence. He exudes a constant morose tone and look in most of his roles. His interviews always come across as abysmal as well.

Daniel Craig is too wooden. He should loosen up in Bond.

You mean too stiff?

[mcbride007]

It just seems so wrong that they would ditch tall, dark and handsome for short, blonde and thuggish.

Or more like ditching a tall, dark, fey, pretty, smarmy, Irish-American, cloths model, for a blond, masculine, naturally charismatic, self-deprecating Liverpudlian?

Cr-egg has charisma? Where does that notion ring truth? He could be the least charismstic actor in existence. He exudes a constant morose tone and look in most of his roles. His interviews always come across as abysmal as well.

Daniel Craig is too wooden. He should loosen up in Bond.

You mean too stiff?

Yes. He is overdoing the mentally troubled tough Bond too much.

[katied]

Craig makes oak trees look life like!

[Victor Meldrew]

I like Daniel in his other roles; but for Bond he is just a midget version of Dolph Lundgren. That's not my cup of tea.

[FormerBondFan]

Welcome to the forum, Victor.

[carl stromberg]

I like Daniel in his other roles; but for Bond he is just a midget version of Dolph Lundgren. That's not my cup of tea.

Barbara had a think in 2005 and thought "we need to change Bond and turn him into a midget version of Dolph Lundgren". Thanks Babs.

[Peacemakesplenty]

I haven't had a chance to read through all the comments so I don't know if this was alluded to earlier but it seems to me that the general feeling is that Daniel Craig ruined bond but thats hardly fair.
Firstly he is just an actor who was instructed on how to act, where to run (through a wall for instance, although thats one of my favorite scenes in a film for some reason) and he probably wanted the huge dump trucks worth of money and raised profile it got him. I'd have done the same knowing full well i'd have hammed it up proper. Plus he is a good actor regardless' would you rather a george lazenby.
Also I personally thought the latter brosnan movies had become ridiculous and there was the Bourne films to consider. While not wholly similar they were two excellent characters that exuded competence at every turn. The one that won out in popularity I think is the one encased in the better film, which was to me at the time the Bourne films.
For me the best Bonds were Connery, Craig and then Brosnan , the others I wouldn't be too pushed about either way, they could have chosen better then too.

[katied]

Craig is under the aegis of EON. They basically have him by the metaphorical-and literal-short and curlies,


Sure, he can go off and do other movies(not that he's going to make much pocket money doing so ) but Mizz Broccoli keeps him around(indeed needs him around) as much as possible. It makes her menopause so much easier.

[Kristatos]

I haven't had a chance to read through all the comments so I don't know if this was alluded to earlier but it seems to me that the general feeling is that Daniel Craig ruined bond but thats hardly fair.
Firstly he is just an actor who was instructed on how to act, where to run (through a wall for instance, although thats one of my favorite scenes in a film for some reason) and he probably wanted the huge dump trucks worth of money and raised profile it got him.

I think the general feeling is that the casting of Craig is a symptom of a more general malaise within the series. Nobody here thinks that he single-handedly came in and ruined Bond - he had help!

[Bond77]

Lacks the essence.

[Alessandra]

I picked "lacks the Bond essence" because it covers a broader range. I frankly wanted to tick ALL the boxes, because to me he has all those faults in equal measure.

He doesn't look the part AT ALL. Not by any stretch of imagination. There is a very precise description of Bond in the books and he doesn't fit it even marginally. Bond is supposed to be tall, dark and handsome, with a cruel mouth. Craig is NOT tall, he's blond and unattractive with a constant pout.

And since I am one of those nutjobs who read ALL the thread before posting, I am going to comment on one part, because as a woman I must.

Craig has now scored high in countless women polls, I've read many saucy remarks from women journalists, and seen many famous actresses come out of the woodwork to say they fancy him. Hell, at the BAFTA award's, Jonathan Ross introduced him as the sexiest man in the room, to which was met by a large round of applause and wolf-whistles from females.

And all this for a guy who is supposed to be `average looking at best?'

You seriously think that AT THE BAFTA AWARDS, in the middle of all his colleagues and with people from the industry, ANYONE would not highly applaud and whistle at something like that? OF COURSE they applauded and whistled and cheered, what were they supposed to do? And I say this as someone who's been experiencing the entertainment environment in recent years. People laugh at such introductions by the way... because it doesn't really speak much for the actor, especially on such an occasion, to call them the sexiest man in the room instead of, say "the most skilled actor". So everyone takes it with humor, laughs and applauds. And yeah of course whistles are included... it's what they would have done had anyone else in that room been introduced the same way.

And also... the "countless polls" aren't countless at all, and are primarily on UK magazines or newspapers. Daniel Craig may be popular within women in the UK, no doubt, he looks like the average English man, so there has to be at least a part of the female population that of course appreciates him. Outside of the UK it's an entirely different story.

In the US he's not very popular at all, not just among women but in general. TV actors in the US are much better known than him. And yeah, that includes Henry Cavill, who will hopefully be the next Bond. Pierce Brosnan still is WAY more popular than Craig in the US. And that despite being at a totally different point in his career and despite not having done any major blockbuster lately. Neither CR nor QoS did particularly well at the US box office anyway.

I'm Italian, people barely know Craig's name in Italy. If you say Daniel Craig, people don't know who he is. You have to say "the guy who plays Bond". "Ah! That blond guy" is what follows in the best-case scenario. And when it's not women. Because when it's women the overwhelming majority just goes "oh GOD! I want Pierce Brosnan back". I'm in media and work in a very international environment so I have many female friends from various countries. I can safely say that I don't have ONE single friend, or friend of friend, who finds Craig attractive. I've had this discussion many times with my female friends because I get really annoyed when Craig fans keep implying that Craig is incredibly popular with women now, so I like to "test" my friends. So no, he is not incredibly popular among women. He's certainly more popular in the UK, but that is one nation out of an entire planet.

Most of all, those of my female friends who like Bond and watch Bond movies, all think, and I mean all of them, that he is totally and completely wrong as Bond because he A)doesn't have the looks at all B)doesn't have the style at all C)doesn't have the charm at all D)doesn't have the wit at all. The average assessment is that he's incredibly ordinary, looks like a "blue-collar worker from the UK" thus for starters he cannot be a refined, suave secret agent. He'd be the villain, not Bond. Second, Bond is supposed to be sex on legs, and someone women fall for in just a blink because of his looks and his style and manners. And again, we concur that Craig simply doesn't fit that bill. Even worse, in his two movies he doesn't exude charisma or sexiness. He only exudes "I'm a gym-pumped evil guy who can kill". Then things move onto the strict "looks" aspect, and there again, we all concur that "dark, tall and handsome, cruel mouth" does NOT by any means equal Daniel Craig. The inevitable "Sigh, I miss Pierce and Connery" follows.

To all the above, I can add my personal (so mine only, not from a diversified group of women) take: other than the obvious complete lack of looks for the part of Bond, the thing that bothers me the most is the total and absolute lack of style, charisma and wit this man has. He is vulgar and antipatico (yes that's the word in Italian, has no equivalent in English but it's the perfectly fitting word.. it's a mix of unfunny, unfriendly, ill-mannered and slightly nasty) even in interviews. Bond swearing at the first press conference... classy.

He does absolutely nothing for me in terms of acting as well. I never say that this or the other actor "Cannot act" because I strongly believe that can ONLY be used by those who have actual competence to state so, and it annoys me incredibly when fans use it. I can, anyway, express my personal preference as to how he comes across to me. I will never say Craig cannot act. That's his career and if he has one, he clearly can do something. Just like ALL other actors out there. But, I find him completely inexpressive. He doesn't communicate anything to me, no matter what character he's playing. I could watch paint dry and it would give me the same emotional effect. Actually no, because when he plays Bond I get angry at the fact I have to watch a guy I don't want to look at (because I really find him unattractive) play the part of my favourite spy, who's supposed to be this tall, dark, handsome man that women like me fall left, right, and center for... and instead I have an ordinary, quite short, blonde and unattractive guy who plays the killer. That's not James Bond he's playing. It's a random, generic killer from a random, generic movie. I see none of the James Bond qualities in Craig or in his Bond movies.

And don't even try to tell me that "Bond was a ruthless killer!". I know that. The problem is that was JUST AND ONLY ONE PART of who James Bond was. What diversifies Bond from Jason Bourne and all the other spies is that he's also got great looks, charm, style and wit. He smiles and wears a tux flawlessly while he kills. Craig and his Bond have absolutely none of those qualities. So no, there's no James Bond in his movies, not for me.

And the "the movies did great at the box office!" argument won't work either. People went to see Casino Royale because it was (supposed to be) a Bond movie (which it wasn't LOL), not because of Daniel Craig. People went to see QoS because it was Bond, not because of Daniel Craig.

Wanna see James Bond? Here. And he isn't even in the part here, he's just shooting a commercial. Yet there's way more Bond in here than there has been in both movies Craig did.

[The Old Fakir]

I voted too old for rookie Bond. Very daft casting.

[Capt. Sir Dominic Flandry]

I voted too old for rookie Bond. Very daft casting.

Welcome the forum. You are in good company as there are quite a few fakirs on here.

[shaken not stirred]

Welcome to the forum Old fakir

[carl stromberg]

Welcome Mr Fakir.

[Alessandra]

I voted too old for rookie Bond. Very daft casting.

Indeed. Welcome! Surely you'll have some fun around here

[Sir Dennis Hodge]

Too old for a rookie Bond.