Who’s your vote for the next James Bond?

[TiQuinn]

Honestly, I think Moore's best contribution to Bond had to be the little smirk he'd give people. Those people usually being Jaws.

 

[Guest 85555]

We have diametrically opposite tastes in fight choreography. I think the Craig fights are fantastic--dynamic, exciting, tense, and brutal. Someone like Moore on the other hand would do a roly-poly and then tap somebody on the shoulder and they'd fall unconscious.

Dont get me wrong, I am not praising the Moore fight choreography lol. I just have a particular aversion to fight choreography from that mid-2000s era. But my main issue isn't the craig era fight choreography. It is that he just doesn't seem to have a lot of charisma and he built more like a tank. I think we'd have to go over lots of examples to figure out our respective tastes there because mine are all over the map also often specific to a given franchise (i.e. what I like in one genre or franchise, I might not like in another). Also I am going largely by memory so I would honestly need to rewatch those Craig bond movies to see if I am being unfair to them (it is possible I am remembering the overall era of action from that time and imposing that on what I recollect from the Bond movies)

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Yep. When Chris Pratt and Paul Rudd got ripped for what amounts to a 3 second shot in their respective MCU movies that existed for no other reason than to show them with the shirt off, a new norm was set. Show up buff or don’t show up.

Sterling K. Brown in the new Paradise show absolutely redefined "unnecessarily ripped" for me. Like, he looks very normal and just like he jogs and stuff, and fits well into normal clothes and suits, and then he has this shower scene and jesus wept he's ripped beyond all belief. I hope it was because he was in a movie or something as well!

 

[Mannahnin]

I think Craig has plenty of charisma. He's certainly the best actor in terms of craft and skill at acting to have played the role. Others were definitely charismatic, of course. Connery and Moore in particular iconically so.

Definitely his fight scenes are MMA-influenced, but they're also just more realistic as well.

I don't really know what a UFC fighter looks like, but Craig just looks to me like a guy who works out. He's not bodybuilder built or anything. As for football players, I assume you mean American football, but don't they come in different shapes and sizes?

He definitely doesn't look like a pro bodybuilder, and I like that they didn't make him get insanely cut, but this is a solid frame with substantial muscle. I understand they really focused on the v-taper and shoulders to make him fill out a suit perfectly.

 

[TiQuinn]

Sterling K. Brown in the new Paradise show absolutely redefined "unnecessarily ripped" for me. Like, he looks very normal and just like he jogs and stuff, and fits well into normal clothes and suits, and then he has this shower scene and jesus wept he's ripped beyond all belief. I hope it was because he was in a movie or something as well!

I thought the exact same thing. Clearly that was an eye-candy moment for the shower scene alone, but just...why?

 

[Guest 85555]

I think Craig has plenty of charisma. He's certainly the best actor in terms of craft and skill at acting to have played the role. Others were definitely charismatic, of course. Connery and Moore in particular iconically so.

I don't think he is a bad actor at all. I just think he is missing something in terms of the charm level. Most Bond actors have that same kind of charisma I almost expect to find in actors playing villains. And that something is absent for me with Craig

Definitely his fight scenes are MMA-influenced, but they're also just more realistic as well.

I agree on both counts. I am not saying they aren't realistic. I don't think I want quite that much realism though in my Bond fights

He definitely doesn't look like a pro bodybuilder, and I like that they didn't make him get insanely cut, but this is a solid frame with substantial muscle. I understand they really focused on the v-taper and shoulders to make him fill out a suit perfectly.

Yeah for me this is just a bit too muscly for bond. If I am watching a bond movie and have to ask myself "is he natural?" (not saying he isn't, just saying the question popped in my head), I feel he is too muscular for the role

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I thought the exact same thing. Clearly that was an eye-candy moment for the shower scene alone, but just...why?

Sterling, you're already hot enough, please stop!

Ooooh I should have gone for the Archer reference... Archer fans know what I mean...

 

[Mannahnin]

I thought the exact same thing. Clearly that was an eye-candy moment for the shower scene alone, but just...why?

I sometimes wonder if it's a combination of the studio thinking of it as an "objectively" viewer-pleasing thing they can add, and the actor (at least for some of them) happy to take the opportunity to have a studio pay for them to get in killer shape. Which can also enhance future job prospects/add to their portfolio.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I sometimes wonder if it's a combination of the studio thinking of it as an "objectively" viewer-pleasing thing they can add, and the actor (at least for some of them) happy to take the opportunity to have a studio pay for them to get in killer shape. Which can also enhance future job prospects/add to their portfolio.

I mean I definitely never thought of Sterling K. Brown as "superhero-tier-ripped" before, so I guess it worked, and if Marvel want him as a replacement Kang (he's a better actor than Majors anyway - he would actually have made a really good Mr Fantastic for a slightly edgier FF) or something, he's right there.

 

[Mannahnin]

I don't think he is a bad actor at all. I just think he is missing something in terms of the charm level. Most Bond actors have that same kind of charisma I almost expect to find in actors playing villains. And that something is absent for me with Craig

I getcha. I think it was a factor in the casting that they were trying to get away from "wink and a smile" James Bond and make him a bit more grounded. I think they deliberately wanted to cast against that image a bit. But in the films he DOES have some one-liners. He just delivers them more drily. Moore and Connery most of the time look like they're having fun. Craig's got more range.

Yeah for me this is just a bit too muscly for bond. If I am watching a bond movie and have to ask myself "is he natural?" (not saying he isn't, just saying the question popped in my head), I feel he is too muscular for the role

I think it's part and parcel of making him feel a bit more more realistic. Craig in that shot looks to me like a guy who could have been SAS or something. A guy who could kill someone with his bare hands if he's on undercover assignment and caught without a weapon handy. And not unrealistic in the superhero movie sense of dehydrated cut either.