Daniel Craig came on to the Bond scene at a time when a course correction was desperately needed. After Die Another Day (2002) took the franchise off the rails, nothing short of a complete reboot could revitalize the franchise and get it back on track. Craig’s run is certainly the most unique as it is the only run with a true character arc. For over 40 years we saw new actors take on the role given little-to-no background and with loose continuity. The idea of an origin story was fresh and allowed for a new generation to become invested in the character and franchise once again. Unfortunately, as with all other actors who portrayed Bond, Craig’s run is not without its flaws. Here is the definitive ranking of Craig’s run as James Bond.
5. Spectre (2015)
Coming in at dead last is one of the franchise’s most disappointing entries. After receiving a cryptic message, Bond sets out to investigate a secret organization where he discovers the author of all his pain.
This entry will always be baffling to me. Director Sam Mendes successfully capped off the Bond origin story with Skyfall and setting up the franchise to continue on as it had in the past. Instead, Mendes continues to dig even deeper into Bond’s past and unravel even more secrets that essentially add nothing to his character and only sidetrack from what could’ve been a great story. The best part of this movie is it’s cold open, which is one of the best cold opens in the franchise. But when your movie fails to achieve that same quality for the remainder of the runtime, something has gone terribly wrong. There are also some fun and impressive action set pieces that add value, here. But that’s essentially all the praise I can give it.
Spectre almost completely ignores the new grounded, grittier Bond that was established by the previous three movies, and instead decides to introduce camp and homage into the mix. The casting of Christoph Waltz is a missed opportunity, as his character is relegated to a bitter and jealous step brother. The attempt to thwart the motives of the prior villains in favor of Blofeld’s personal vendetta is insulting and makes zero sense. This also ignores Bond’s attitude towards women that was so beautifully set up with Vesper Lynd’s death and betrayal. For no apparent reason, Bond and Madeleine Swan fall in love with nothing to support it. The climax is abominable, the theme song is weak, Monica Bellucci is criminally underutilized–I could go on. This movie derails and disrespects its predecessors in every way, making it not only Craig’s worst of the series, but among the worst in the entire franchise.
4. Quantum of Solace (2008)
Renowned as the first Bond movie to be a true sequel, this entry suffers from poor direction and a haphazard story-line. Bond unravels a plot by a secret organization to destroy a country’s resources while dealing with the aftermath of Vesper’s betrayal and death.
Clocking in as the shortest Bond movie to date, this was infamously affected by the writer’s strike, and it shows. I think I like this more than most people. What this movie really has going for it is the action set pieces. This is the only Bond movie to have a car chase (two, actually), foot chase, boat chase, and plane chase all in one movie. Unfortunately, abysmal editing brings down these scenes. The cuts in this movie are jarring and make each sequence extremely hard to follow, particularly the cold open. I’m not sure what director Marc Forster was going for, but it felt like a bad imitation of the Bourne style that just didn’t work well at all.
The plot feels wildly underdeveloped and rushed, which is confusing given the runway they had to really flesh things out. The villain is actually pretty solid, better than Malek and Waltz. He just feels underdeveloped along with everything else. Craig is still great, and Kurylenko is also really good as the Bond girl. With better direction/editing and a more fleshed out plot, there’s no question this would’ve been higher on the list. Still, it’s a fun follow-up to Casino Royale and very rewatchable.
3. No Time to Die (2021)
Marking the last time we’ll see Craig with the mantle, this manages to exceed expectations. Bond is taken out of retirement when an old friend from the CIA turns up asking for help, leading him onto a trail to discover dangerous technology in the hands of a mysterious villain.
Given some horrific plot and character elements that were bound to carry over from Spectre, I had little hope that this would be any better. To my surprise, this not only fully embraced elements that didn’t work from Spectre, but it addressed them in a way that connected. This trims the camp from Spectre almost entirely, except for maybe the villain. Malek may look menacing, but his character motives make no sense and makes some baffling decisions in the climax. Very forgettable. Ana de Armas is a clear standout and her action sequence may have been the best part of the movie. I wish she would’ve shown up throughout the series. She’s a great character with some real charisma. Fukunaga knows how to film action and every set piece looks beautiful. While Craig is pushing his age limits, I never found it distracting or discrediting his ability to handle the stunts.
The choice to double down on Bond’s relationship with Swan doesn’t work, primarily because we still don’t have a credible foundation to buy their relationship. Adding a child to the mix also was a bizarre choice, and just leaves us questioning why we ever had to go any deeper into Bond’s past and psyche than we did up through Skyfall. The cold open is pretty solid and the theme song is great. So while there are plenty of glaring issues that I have with the plot and characters, particularly those created by Spectre, Fukunaga still at least manages to deal with those elements and stick the landing emotionally in the climax, even if I disagree with it. If anything this outing made two things very clear to me: I’m glad Craig didn’t end on Spectre, but he should’ve ended on Skyfall.
2. Skyfall (2012)
The first Bond to cross the $1 billion threshold at the box office, Skyfall completes Bond’s origin story and brings him back into a modern context. Bond’s loyalty to M and the mission is tested when her past comes back to haunt her in the form of an ex MI6 agent.
Many will say this is Craig’s best Bond film. With Roger Deakins hired, this is easily the best looking Bond film to date. From the cold open to the climactic shootout at the abandoned home, it looks flawless. Javier Bardem is a real standout not only due to his performance, but his character has motives you can understand to the point of even sympathizing with him at times. He reaffirms the fact that every Bond movie is essentially as good as its villain. The introduction of Moneypenny is welcome; it’s fun to see how her chemistry with Bond builds to what we see in the earlier Bond films. The gadget department is fairly weak but it makes sense given that Q is only now being introduced to supply them to Bond.
This is also a great send off for Dench who will likely always be regarded as the best M. She outshines all previous iterations by a long shot and I like the culmination of her and Bond’s relationship. Craig continues to deliver a great performance as we really get to see his loyalty challenged in different ways. It’s not hard to see why this is a fan favorite. The only shame is that Craig’s run didn’t end here given what followed.
1. Casino Royale (2006)
Clocking in at number one and arguably the best in the entire franchise, Casino Royale reboots Bond and propels him into the origin story that we’d never seen before. Bond sets out on his first mission as a 00 to thwart a private banker funding terrorism in a high stakes poker tournament.
The biggest mystery in the franchise to me is why Martin Campbell, who successfully rebooted the franchise twice with my two favorite Bond films, only direct two Bond movies! He’s obviously doing something right so I’m not sure why he wasn’t hired to direct the entire Craig run. The introduction to Bond as a fresh 00 is portrayed with a grounded reality that feels real and intimate. The cold open feels like it could’ve pushed the boundaries for an R rating (it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a cut out there somewhere). It’s the first time we’ve been able to see what’s made Bond, Bond, and what drives his motives, loyalties and personality that we’ve seen for over 40 years.
Eva Green as Vesper Lynd is by far the best Bond woman we’ve seen on screen. She crushes her part and elevates her performance to the point where we never question her dominance while sharing the screen with Bond. She serves as perhaps one of the most crucial elements to Bond’s personality and shapes his attitude towards women. Mads Mikkelsen gives a phenomenal performance as arguably the best villain in the franchise. Similar to Silva in Skyfall, Le Chiffre’s motives are more than grand schemes of dominance or money, but motives that are fueled by desperation. We rarely get to experience villains acting out of sheer desperation as opposed to calculated, cynical methods. And as someone who loves poker, Campbell gives us a great poker sequence that further establishes Bonds skillset in the field.
The action sequences are riveting and superbly directed, with the construction sequence being one of the greatest of all time. There are really no flaws, here. The pacing takes a small dip after the torture sequence, but ultimately serves the higher purpose of establishing Bond’s crucial relationship with Vepser Lynd. This not only make sits mark as a top three Bond in the franchise, but one of the greatest action movies ever made. Please give Martin Campbell more work.
