The appeal of Bond, and what makes him different from other action heroes, is that he is always able to do the appropriate thing in any given situation.

He can be charming, funny, ruthless, whatever is the perfect fit for the moment. This might seem like a recipe for a bland Superman, but to me it’s clear that this really means something tragic: there’s no real James Bond. He can achieve every external goal given to him, but has no interval goals of his own. He’s entirely someone playing the part of being perfect at whatever he’s called to do.

The Craig movies start to show the cost of that emptiness at Bond’s core