Being James Bond (2021)

What makes Being James Bond special is how it turns a pop-culture icon back into a person: Daniel Craig, candid and clear-eyed, looking back on the bruises, pressure, pride, and strange intimacy of carrying 007 for 15 years. Director Baillie Walsh lets the story unfold through Craig’s own voice and a treasure trove of archival footage, so it feels less like a marketing reel and more like a reflective backstage pass to an era of Bond that reshaped the character. The vibe is warm, nostalgic, and surprisingly intimate as Craig talks with producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli—people who’ve lived this machine from the inside—about what it takes to keep Bond alive. If you’re hoping for deep investigative critique or a comprehensive franchise history, this may feel narrowly focused, but if you’ve ever cared about Craig’s Bond even a little, it’s a satisfying, human coda worth your time.

Being James Bond is clearly trying to be a warm, reflective curtain call for Daniel Craig’s era, stitching together archival footage with an intimate-sounding chat between Craig and the producers. The catch is that it plays more like a polished promotional featurette than a probing documentary, so if you’re expecting hard questions, fresh revelations, or a deep dive into the messier realities of the franchise, you may feel short-changed. It’s best suited to fans who simply want to bask in highlights and hear Craig’s measured, personal perspective rather than get new information. The redeeming value is the access and nostalgia—when the clips hit, they remind you why this run mattered, even if the film itself stays safely on the surface.