Evolution of the Super-Spy

In the last year, only the controversy surrounding the production of 'United 93', and other 9/11-related projects, has come close in the film world to the scale of the media-storm created by the announcement of Pierce Brosnan's successor, to the role of MI6's least-secret agent. If the myriad websites that have sprung up over the past year are to be believed, Daniel Craig is too unsophisticated, too ugly, too small-time and just too damn blond to make James Bond his own. The critical backlash is unprecedented in the franchise's 44-year history, but the recasting of Bond spearheads Sony's apparent modernisation of the series. After Brosnan's last outing in 'Die Another Day', a film that set a new gadget-low with an invisible Aston-Martin, and showcased some of the worst visual-effects in recent memory, 'Casino Royale', based on Ian Fleming's first Bond novel, promises a return to grittier drama. Craig will play Bond as an MI6 agent newly-promoted to Double-0 status, and the latest trailer suggests drama with a firmer footing in the real world.

The reality is that Bond must adapt and evolve in order to demonstrate his continuing relevance in the post-9/11 world. Audiences are becoming far more accepting of the competition, to the point where questions are being asked as to whether indestructible super-spies have a genuine place in the world. The studios have attempted to update and Americanise the concept of Bond, with varying degrees of success. Perhaps the most overt of recent years has been Tom Cruise's 'Mission: Impossible' franchise, the third of which was released earlier this year. Sharing little in common with the original TV series, beyond the title and the name of the protagonist, Cruise is super-agent Ethan Hunt of the Impossible Mission Force. Indestructible, athletic and increasingly banal, what character there was has rapidly faded beneath the dazzling glow of Cruise's all-too-public movie-star persona. Far less successful, but dosed with more wit, was 'xXx' (marketed as 'Triple-X'), another multiplex-targeted, teen-friendly action-movie starring Hollywood beefcake and man-of-the-moment Vin Diesel (real name Mark Vincent). Beginning with the apparently symbolic assassination of an anonymous but tuxedo-clad spy, the film attempts to establish an extreme-sports star as a reluctant secret-agent, snowboarding (no, really) his way to victory whilst aiming to win the hearts and pocket-money of skater-kids everywhere. The film spawned a sequel but in the process lost its focus, and the franchise descended into generic, teen-friendly violence.

Perhaps the most potent challenge to Bond's supremacy has come from the unexpected success of 'The Bourne Identity'. Telling the story of an amnesiac CIA assassin going rogue in Europe in an attempt to unlock the secrets of both himself and the ruthless committee that created him, the story has some pedigree, its roots found in a Robert Ludlum novel of the same name published in the late 70s. The film is a back-to-basics, stripped-down affair, helmed by respected indie director Doug Liman, and starring under-rated Matt Damon as Jason Bourne. As a character, Bourne is cold, distant, calculating and unsure when it comes to interacting with other human-beings. In stark contrast to Bond, he is also bound by the physical laws of the real world, meaning the violence really hurts, he limps and he bleeds. The original novel is one of three; 'The Bourne Supremacy' has since become an equally-impressive sequel, and 'The Bourne Ultimatum' is due next year, both retaining Damon in the title-role.

With gritty action-sequences that feel more authentic, and a greater focus on character, it seems the success of the Bourne franchise has likely been a major inspiration for the repackaged Bond. Despite the grievances of many hardcore fans, Craig is a talented actor, perhaps the most versatile to ever have been offered Bond, and his work in the excellent British gangster film 'Layer Cake' shows he can handle this kind of character. Either way, after so much controversy, the eventual box-office reception of 'Casino Royale' will have a massive impact on the continuing evolution of the cinematic super-spy.