Craig. Daniel Craig.

I've always admired the qualities that make Bond who he is. His wits. His charm. His courage. His equanimity under pressure. His resourcefulness. His success with the fairer sex. His taciturn, stoic demeanor. His ruthlessly independent, self-reliant lifestyle.

Never before has any of that been so masterfully played out on screen. Daniel Craig is a genius. The man has ruined me for other Bonds.

Of course, Connery and Brosnon will always be great, and Moore and Dalton will always have their fine moments. (Lazenby, though, in his only Bond film, was pure excrement.) Craig, however, has entirely reinvented the character. Craig's Bond is more accessible. He has a genuine, human dimension that all previous Bonds have lacked. He is not just 007; he is also a man.

Craig doesn't have the detached insouciance of the old James Bond; he doesn't simply kill someone, straighten his tie, and walk away. He's more in touch with the gravity of his actions. Of course, he's still capable of turning off his emotions and getting the job done, but he's not as nonchalant as Connery, as artifically sophisticated as Moore, or as tight-lipped as Brosnon. Craig can show all of those qualities, but he picks the right moments for them. In other moments, Craig's Bond is more vulnerable - and therefore much more interesting - than previous Bonds. He's capable of showing emotion, and the audience is more likely to identify with him.

And for the first time, 007 actually gets the living shit beaten out of him once in a while, which is fitting in his line of work. The worst that would befall Connery or Brosnon was a sweaty brow and maybe a torn suit jacket. Craig gets cut, bruised, bloodied, and beaten. He bleeds and shows cuts and scrapes after fighting, which gives him an added, realistic edginess.

His look has also changed. Spies don't go black tie on every mission, you know. Craig is comfortable (yet still strikingly handsome) in a T-shirt or casual sweater, so when he wears a suit or the trademark tux it's all the more effective. And Daniel Craig is jacked. The man has powerful shoulders and a toned, muscular overall physique. His athleticism is immediately apparent; he looks like the fast runner and powerful fighter that Bond is supposed to be.

Finally, it's clear that Craig actually treats this as a serious acting role. He doesn't expect to let gadgets, cars, clothes, and women create the part for him; he's invested a great deal of creative energy into the character, and the fruit of his labor is a more complex and fascinating persona than I ever thought it possible for James Bond to have.

Cheers to you, Daniel Craig. 007 - status confirmed.