Not too long ago Bond fans were treated to a poolside photo of Daniel Craig, which was supposedly from Bond 23 Skyfall. It was something of a head scratcher. It wasn’t exactly the typical 007 image fans are accustomed to seeing. Where was the tux, the gun, the martini? All we got was a glimpse of Craig’s rump.
Well, now 007.com released this new image of Craig in a bit more of classic Bond pose from Skyfall. He’s got his Walther and looks to have a very serious ‘I mean business and are ready to take out some bad guys’ look on his face. This is the stuff isn’t surprising to see.
The one thing that is however is Craig’s apparent beard he’s sporting. It’s very unlike Bond. So it makes you wonder – what the heck is that about?
As one fellow Bond fan pointed out already, the last time we saw 007 with a beard was in 2002’s Die Another Day on Pierce Brosnan. It was meant to represent a long passage of time while Bond was being tortured. The beard quickly disappeared with the help from one of the films sponsors and along with the loss of the beard Bond’s physical and mental torture vanished too. Pretty convenient.
I’m getting off topic, so what’s with Craig’s facial hair? I know they want to limit the gadgets he’s given nowadays, but surely they’d allow him access to an electric shaver!
I’m pretty sure Craig’s stubble won’t be hanging around for too long and he’ll be back to his clean shaven 007 that we’ve seen in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. In fact some on set pictures have surfaced that show Craig walking around stubble-less.
I’m clearly over analyzing things here, but that’s what Bond fans do or any kind of fan in fact that you give a tease for something they’re highly anticipating. We start studying as if it were the Dead Sea Scrolls.
In all honesty, I would be content to not know anything about Skyfall and just go see it opening weekend without any idea what to expect. No sneak peaks at press photos or trailers, no inkling of what the story might be, what action set pieces I can expect, who are the characters that will be popping up.
But that’s kind of difficult nowadays with movie gossip that can travel much faster and easier than ever before. Plus the fact, that despite my noble declaration….I always seem to fold and just feel a compulsion to look or read anything about Bond. It’s a vicious cycle….
But back to the photo, I really can’t think of much to say about it or even have much of a reaction to it. I suspect it might be a scene from the opening of the film perhaps, the pre-credits sequence. The image does kind of make me think of a Mission: Impossible film in a way, I think it was the second one where Cruise was breaking into some high tech skyscraper. Maybe it’s the electronic lights in the background that’s causing me to make that connection.
One thing about this photo and the on set one, is that Craig is looking a bit tired in both pictures. It looks like I can see the four years worth of age on his face since his last Bond outing.
Craig has always had a very distinctive, rough looking face, but it seems like those lines that gave him that look have gotten longer and deeper. In the official photo it even took me a second to recognize that it was Daniel Craig. He looks somewhat different there. Hmmmm maybe it’s just me or it could just be the tense face he’s got in the photos.
So there’s a bit of a Skyfall update. This past week I was thinking about the Super Bowl and started to hope that maybe we could get some kind of short teaser commercial for Skyfall. I really would like to have some kind of commercial I’d be really psyched to see to make it worth my time to tune into the game. But I think it’s still way too early for it and we’ll just have to be happy with the images they’ll release sporadically.
Maybe before summer we’ll get the first teaser trailer for it. So I think we still have a decent wait for that.
You want to talk about aging 'Bonds' in a short period of time. Check out 1971 'Universal Solider' with George Lazenby. The man was in his 20's when he did 'OHMSS', but then he did 'Universal Solider' he has so much hair and stash; it makes him look 40. Wow! I'm like you. I don't want to see or hear about spoilers. The one thing I been keeping up with is the 50Th plans they are making. The Blu-rays, watches, reunion, card game, car museum exhibit in London, clothes, and so much more. They seem to be making up for the mistakes you pointed out with 'Die another Day'. Now I know, you still want a good Bond movie, but I'm really excited by all these events that I hope lives up to what the movie promise. If you interesting check out 'The Cinema Snob' 'Universal Solider' review online. Really interesting.
I think we all need to keep our expectations in check. This is the 23rd film in a series. I'm not sure if 'Skyfall' is a departure, or not, from the original idea of a trilogy of reboot films establishing Bond ultimately to the point we were familiar with in the first series. I have issues with the reboot films so far, but not with Craig himself, but it's too early to call him the 'best' Bond.
My two cents on this is that if it's true that Craig is signed up for five more films, bringing him to a total of eight, the studio will nonetheless pull the plug because he's not looking good for his age. He's younger than Moore was on his first film but already looks much older. I guess it's possible five films could be released in quick succession, I guess he might have plastic surgery or he might start to look good for his age again like Connery did after looking older than he was.
Future Nemo here.
The irony is that image was not used. Or should I say, massively touched up.
They spent a fortune on that scene alone removing the gloves from his hands because of the signature gun gimmick.