Bond for the Age of Global Crises: 007 in the Daniel Craig Era

Abstract

This article examines the dialectic between continuity and change in the first two James Bond films of the Daniel Craig era, Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008), reading these as complex responses to current geopolitical, social and cultural changes. Under the influence of pervasive media representations of the era of global crises, the 007 films with Craig – more than fifteen years after the fall of the Berlin wall – appear to have finally overcome the Cold War paradigm that has been a staple of the series since it began in 1962. Admittedly, some of the challenges that Bond now faces – such as global terrorism, financial and economic instability, the effects of climate change and, in the last feature explicitly, the exacerbating tension over scarce water resources – are not entirely new to the series. But, crucially, such themes are no longer linked to the geopolitics of the Cold War and the franchise is now set within a new world order of asymmetrical threats. As well as reacting to the new global situation, however, the franchise was also required to compete with a rising number of spies and assassins in the cinema and, more particularly, on television. Many of the changes – including narrative structures, dramaturgical strategies and character development – appear to be inspired by other media images and trends, most notably ‘quality’ television series with budgets equal to many medium-sized cinema productions.