Bond

Daniel Craig revolutionized James Bond. Casino Royale reminded the world that secret agents must often be muscle-bound badasses. And while they might look good in tuxedos and wear them when they have to, just as often they’re covered in blood after beating the shit of someone with their bare hands.

Casino Royale makes that claim right from the start. During the opening scene in Africa, Bond goes after a guy whose parkour is so good it makes him look superhuman. But Bond chases him down, punches the crap out of him, causes his leg to be shot, and finally blows him away execution style on camera and in front of some kind of ambassador. If that weren’t enough, there is also the most painful looking torture scene in modern film. The bad guy puts Bond in a chair with the seat mostly cut out and then proceeds to bull-whip his testicles with a massive, heavy rope. Bond, clearly in pain, still refuses to divulge valuable information and even laughs at his torturer.

Perhaps Casino Royale’s rougher take on Bond was in part a response to XXX, where a ripped and stereotypically masculine Vin Diesel plays a secret agent. One particular scene of that vastly different take on international crime fighting draws the comparison. There, an incompetent agent sticks out like an Isaac Mizrahi-clad Natalie Portman on the South Side of Chicago. He’s wearing a black and white tuxedo to a gathering of hardened, tattooed, underground criminals who make a living by trafficking in drugs and weapons. Not only does he fail in his mission and find out nothing, but he also gets his ass kicked in the process. The scene suggests that the days of slick, tuxedo-wearing, martini-sipping secret agents are over; now, the government needs ex-criminal tough guys like Vin Diesel to accomplish any real international crime fighting. If such a thing demanded a response, Casino Royale answered the call.