I initially had high hopes for him after Goldeneye but then the Brosnan films started relying too much on gadgetry and ridiculousness. Unfortunately, though, he hit the not-likable part a little too literally for much of the Bond viewership.įor me, the Bond films reached a franchise low-point with Pierce Brosnan. In many ways, Timothy Dalton got closest to the brutal edge that was the literary Bond. He’s got vices and few perceptible virtues.” He’s a blunt instrument in the hand of government. In Fleming’s own words, “I didn’t intend for Bond to be likable. He went about his business of killing with professional detachment, taking no joy in the act, but never shying away from it. Where Moore was quick with a quip or tongue-in-cheek comeback, Fleming’s Bond was often brutal and not into trading barbs of the verbal variety. But as I got older, read the Ian Fleming (and John Gardner and Raymond Benson) novels for myself, and had more Bond options, I realized Moore really wasn’t the best representation of the character.
