He never ages, he never gets seriously injured, he never stops drinking or chasing skirt, he never settlesfor anything less than the best cars, clothes,accommodation and weapons, and he never takes time off from saving the world from disaster.
Bond has certainly been an economic lion. MGM/UA, the company that releases the Bond films in the US, virtually stays in business for that sole purpose. In late August, Wall Street analysts upgraded their rating of the company's stock on the mere basis of seeing some footage of the next Bond film which isn't due in cinemas until late November.
But something other than money, even vast piles or it, keeps Bond going.Although he has seemed to stay Frozen in time, Bond has actually undergone a series of very subtle transformations, via the variety of actors who have played the role and the relation of the movies to the culture and politics of the real world.
Perhaps it was because he was so much older than Connery, the ever first Bond; perhaps because his films depended less on what he brought to the part than what was happening around him. Moore was always slightly out of touch,distinctly self-satisfied, standing like a beauty queen or a game show contestant waiting to be crowned.
The Bond franchise was next put into the hands of an actual actor, the impossibly handsome Shakespearean actor Timothy Dalton. Dalton's debut gave the film-makers the opportunity to steer the character back to Fleming's vision of bare knuckles and high living. And Dalton, being a proper actor, played the role as written: hard, violent, mean.
Like Moore, Brosnan had once lost the role to the previous fellow and was best known for his television work. But Brosnan had glamour, there was no denying it. And he had the look and the wit and even the acting chops.
The public at large deemed him a perfect Bond. His first three outings-Golden Eye, Tomorrow Never Dies andThe World Is Not Enough-all grossed US$350 million worldwide, the most in the history of the series. Brosnan's chief strength is his ability to play straight and wink at the same time-in this capacity he is arguably the best Bond of all.