Is James Bond Losing His Cool?

Since the 1950s James Bond has been synonymous with the dapper ladies-man iconography we have come to know today and whether you’re a self-proclaimed fan or not, you’re bound to know your fair share of 007 trivia. Spanning books, television, gaming and film James Bond has always been the man of up-most sophistication and uncompromising cool…supposedly.

Although I can appreciate how incredibly successful the Bond franchise has been, I also cannot understand this world-wide deep attraction to such a shallow, two dimensional character. Bond has never been portrayed as having any real depth and for this I cannot emotionally connect with his storylines. From his superficial relationships with women, to his cheesy one-liners, it genuinely worries me that so many men (and women) think he is the ultimate man. 

With the franchises 25th film, Spectre, due for release this year and with Sam Smith just announced as the voice of the film’s highly anticipated single it’s set to be a box office hit, but undeservedly so in my eyes. I can’t help but feel that the producers of the Bond films are sticking too much to a certain formula when it come to production and casting; leaving an already drawn-out character becoming increasingly predictable. 

Idris Elba has been the fan-favourite rumoured to play the lead for the next Bond film for a long time now without any real progression, despite proving his ability to act in various impressive roles in recent years. But this isn’t just about the men as Angelina Jolie was asked to play the ‘Bond Girl’ in Casino Royale to which she thankfully declined, stating she’d rather play Bond. So is a female lead really out of the question? So far it has been yanked off the table so fast we haven’t really had a chance to think about it. But with the positive response to Ellie Goulding’s recent jest on her Instagram about being the next James Bond, I think the world is definitely ready to shake things up, after all like Bond says it’s “shaken, not stirred”.