Is Daniel Craig the best James Bond ever?

Does the actor live up to expectations for the spy film franchise's leading man?

In Casino Royale and the upcoming Quantum of Solace (click here for Columbia Picture's trailer via YouTube), actor Daniel Craig has redefined the James Bond character, said Glen Scanlon in CNN.com. “Craig's Bond is not keen on the cheesy comic turns of Roger Moore or Pierce Brosnan's smarmy charm.” The new Bond is “a cool killing machine" who also happens to be, “frankly, sex on a stick.”

Too bad his sex appeal goes wasted, said Neil Chandler in the Daily Star online. Daniel Craig is a “flop between the sheets.” He “has the least sex of any 007”—he’s “only romped three times in two films, or 1.5 girls per mission.” Previous Bonds “bedded girls as quickly as they downed Martinis.”

But Craig “looks every inch a modern, 21st-century Bond,” said the Telegraph online. “Yet paradoxically he is also a throwback, all the way to Connery.” It’s this combination that makes the new Bond work so well. But to be honest, Timothy Dalton was “technically the most gifted actor” to ever play the character.

If only we could go back to the good old days, said Richard Brooks in the Times Online. In Quantum of Solace, “Bond is a boorish oaf who simply rushes from country to country with the manic speed of Jason Bourne.” This film is shorter than most Bond adventures, but “somehow it felt longer.”