The film was more violent and graphic than its predecessor. The film was more closely based on Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo (1961) than it was on a Fleming novel, but its writers had written Bond’s character with Dalton’s interpretation in mind. Nonetheless, after the release of his second and final outing as Bond in License To Kill, Dalton’s performances were growing tiresome for some fans and critics. Dalton himself has lauded the Daniel Craig era of Bond films for attaining these same merits. The character stopped being a caricature, and many felt that Dalton played a believable killer, one who was actually frightening when armed with a gun, whereas Moore had not been. He was passionate about the source material and he did his own stunts. It lacked humor, but there was appreciation for Dalton (originally a theater actor) approaching the role with such earnestness. Dalton did not arrive at a franchise on its knees as Craig did.įollowing more than a decade of Roger Moore’s flamboyant and comical-leaning Bond, many critics did find it refreshing to have a more serious interpretation of the character in The Living Daylights.

It’s likely that the critical derision that Pierce Brosnan’s final Bond film Die Another Day (2002) faced, plus the growing demand for comedy spy films, helped to pave the way for Craig’s Bond to be welcomed with open arms. This Bond - an emotionally vulnerable, erratic, and believable killer – brought the character back to its roots and yet was firmly and rightly associated with its predecessor but one. Ironically, Craig’s performance (one of the most well-regarded aspects of Casino Royale) was consistently and positively compared to those of Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights and License To Kill (1989). Casino Royale was praised for its departure from the franchise’s conventions, particularly in how it captured the edginess of the Dalton films while avoiding the excessive joviality of the rest. All the old tropes that were so synonymous with Bond had become vulnerable to mockery and parody. The Austin Powers trilogy (1997-2002) had mocked the Bond franchise (and the spy genre more widely) to such acclaim and enjoyment that MGM felt that the existing model had become unsustainable.

Martin Campbell’s Casino Royale (2006) marked the biggest overhaul in James Bond history, ditching the gadgets, unconvincing CGI, and comic book villains.

Cast of movie casino royale