007 First Light Reverses Bond's Biggest Craig-Era Change

3 hours ago 8

Published May 30, 2026, 11:00 PM EDT

Ben Brosofsky has been writing for Screen Rant since 2022 and editing since 2024. He graduated from Vanderbilt University with a Bachelor's in Cinema & Media Arts. Writing serves as a much-needed distraction from tackling a backlog of Steam games that will never be surmounted.

The Daniel Craig movies were a huge reset for James Bond, and 007 First Light is now upending things once more. When Casino Royale landed in 2006, it represented a wildly different approach from the preceding Die Another Day. Throwing out most of the franchise's campy absurdities, Casino Royale grounded Bond in a more restrained, human story, setting the tone for the Craig movies that followed.

007 First Light Shifts The Tone Of Bond

007 First Light takes a while to get going, with the 15-hour game spending several hours simply setting up the story, but it doesn't take long to catch the core of its vibe shift. The new Bond is young, energetic, and optimistic, traits that set him clearly apart from Craig's hard-edged take on the character. While that much was known well before the game's release, the real surprise comes from how much it moves the needle for the tone of the entire game.

To be clear, 007 First Light still features more weight than the older Bond films. Like the Craig movies, it reflects on what it means to be a spy in the modern world of tech-based surveillance, and Bond deals with real personal and emotional stakes in a story where the lives lost aren't simply brushed aside. Within that, though, 007 First Light isn't afraid to be silly.

One huge change is the reintroduction of an old-school Q branch. MI6's resident genius is once again surrounded by a comical array of gadgets, shoving exploding pens and miniaturized smoke bombs at Bond in a chaotic lab reminiscent of the Brosnan films. Coming off of the Craig films, where Q mocks the very idea of an exploding pen (well, before giving him an exploding watch in Spectre anyway), it's quite the turn-around.

First Light Does What The Craig Movies Couldn't

Bond and Greenway dangling over a pit of crocodiles in 007 First Light

As 007 First Light's story ramps up in intensity, its willingness to go old-school only increases. By the midpoint, Bond is being dangled over a pit of crocodiles by a pirate king. Before the end, he's being strapped to a death trap reminiscent of Goldfinger's laser table. What's miraculous is how natural it all feels, slotting into a larger-than-life narrative buoyed by the new Bond's endless energy.

Comparing 007 First Light to Spectre, the silliest Craig movie, makes it clear just how well 007 First Light is pulling it off. While Spectre features plenty of strong points — the quiet, wry pathos of the scene between Bond and a mouse is an easy standout — it's attempts to go more old-school fall apart at the seams. Blofeld's classically ridiculous schemes are distractingly illogical, and the attempt to wrap a pretty bow on the narrative feels at odds with the overarching narrative of the Craig era.

I was never one to complain about the seriousness of the Craig films, and it's easily my favorite era of Bond overall. All the same, it's refreshing to see just how well 007 First Light splits the difference. This new Bond is a real human in a world of real stakes, but he's also an echo of the sillier Bonds of yesteryear. In tackling the difficult task of following up Daniel Craig's run, 007 First Light might have miraculously found the perfect balance.