In the final moments of Casino Royale, a piercingly blue-eyed Daniel Craig holds the conniving career criminal known as Mr White (Jesper Christensen) at gunpoint on the steps of his Lake Como villa. “The name’s Bond,” the spy says coolly to his captive. You can probably finish the rest of that sentence.
Despite the intense scrutiny Craig endured prior to its release, the 21st entry in the 007 franchise would prove to be an era-defining take on a truly modern-day Bond. If past iterations saw him reduced to a smattering of cliches, all parodied to death over the years, Craig’s debut as the suave secret agent was lauded for being a stripped-down, back-to-basics approach to a character audiences were already familiar with.
