h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have always thought that this actor brought more depth to a rather cartoonish superhero that this series has turned into. I think all the silly gismos and stunts just keep the spectator distracted from the basic fact that Bond is a government sponsored executioner. I just am not keen on this. Drones are no better to be sure, and I suppose there is more Klingon type honour in looking at the person you are murdering but I am not keen on it. Not human beings at their best, and depressing in its popularity.

I completely understand where you're coming from - Bond is potentially a nasty piece of work (when he's played 'for real') in the middle of what are generally quite silly films. But I think the fantasy of the films is usually enough to compensate for the hard edges of the central character, and vice versa. It's a difficult balance to get right, and even when they do I understand it may not be for everyone. At least the current films are intelligent about how they handle the moral ambiguities of Bond and his world.

I do find it hard too. In the books Bond, avoids killing anyone not directly between him and his target. He is far more surgical in his assassinations conveying a strong sense of the nastiness of the job. In the films death is delivered to anybody who is familiar with the bad guy.

So, I pretty much agree.

On the other hand I loved most of the film and was glad to have seen it on the big screen.

Hmmm, but then again in the books Bond is a fairly vicious racist on occasion. There are fairly few outright assassination missions in the books, probably because it is hard to make a cold killer appealing as a protagonist (cf. the written version of Living Daylights, where Bond refuses to kill his assigned target).