MOVIE NEWS – Charlie Higson harshly criticized Daniel Craig’s last performance as James Bond 007 and the film’s overcomplicated plot.

No Time to Die marked the end of an era for James Bond, as Daniel Craig hung up his tuxedo and gadgets after 15 years of playing 007. The producers are already looking for the next Bond actor and the script for the next film. But are they heading in the right direction? Charlie Higson, who wrote young James Bond novels, doesn’t think so. He thinks that No Time to Die and the previous Craig films abandoned the Bond formula and focused too much on the hero’s personal life. Higson believes that Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible films are much closer to Ian Fleming’s original vision.

The Sunday Times (source: Express) interviewed Higson, who said that he doesn’t want to overcomplicate James Bond’s character. He thinks that a Bond film should simply be about guns, cars, villains, women, M, Q, Moneypenny and of course Bond’s fist. But he thinks that these elements were neglected by Broccoli and co. in the past years, especially in No Time to Die.

“They totally got it wrong. I went to see No Time to Die with my oldest son, Frank, who is 30, and he said: ‘It felt like a Bond film made by people who are embarrassed to make a Bond film.’ And you had to watch two other films beforehand to know who such and such is and you think: ‘Oh, f*** off with that.’ Make it a new mission each episode and let him be Bond. They overcomplicate him. The best ‘Bond films’ nowadays are the Mission: Impossibles. There is no inner life, it’s just: ‘Wow! Look at that building – I’d love to climb it and blow things up!’” – said the writer.

Charlie Higson recently released his new book, On His Majesty’s Secret Service, which features an adult 007 in his mid-thirties. He was jokingly asked if this Bond is white. Higson avoided the answer:

“His hair is black.”

Clever!

By the way, Higson doesn’t mind if some fans find his 007 “a bit woke”. He thinks that younger people tend to be. He has nothing against being woke. He just regrets that they put too much drama into the Craig films, while the Bond stories are action thrillers. It is still a mystery who will be the next James Bond. The casting director recently said that they are not looking for a young actor for the role, because they need an experienced person for this tough job.

Source: Express