After his Bond movie, Daniel Craig is making a splashy comeback. His latest Belvedere Vodka ad with Taika Waititi (director) is great fun. No, it’s not because Craig is selling us vodka, but because of the sheer brilliance of what the ad stands for: the many possibilities of what the former Bond can do.
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The commercial is a classic example of setting Craig’s future image that is so far closely associated with his Bond persona. He was so impressive that many people cannot name the 007 films as his films. This is quite a shame. Craig has appeared in Lara Croft. Tomb Raider and Cowboys and Aliens. He also starred in Logan Lucky and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Although his roles were mainly of serious characters they weren’t as stoic like the 007 agents.
Craig is facing a huge challenge with Glass Onions. Every franchise actor must face this challenge: forge a path to their father, and away from the most beloved character they played. Sean Connery had to face a similar problem before he found his voice outside of the Bond era. His talent became more appreciated and he rose to fame with his works such as The Man Who Would Be Kings, The Russia House and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
This problem isn’t limited to Bond movies, but can be applied to any pop-culture franchise. A few examples would be the original Star Wars, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, The Lord of the Rings, or Marvel and DC superhero movies, where the protagonists’ performance is so enchanting and well-known that the audience only remembers them for that film. It all depends on the actor. The process can seem painful when you look at it from the sidelines. Craig, despite the difficulties, will succeed at shedding the Bond suit as he did here. I’ll tell you how.
And again… pic.twitter.com/bIR4ATSnkH
— VictoriaMeldrew (@magpie_417) November 15, 2022
The opening sequence is what makes Craig’s 007 era seem to have ended. Craig enters his limousine dressed in his white suit and exits looking like a lead singer from a rock band, or George Michale. This allows one to see the actor differently: he is a hard-core, fun-goer and a 180-degree change from his usual furry-browed, broody self.
I love this era with Daniel Craig.
— Donald (Checkmark) (@ItsTheBoat) November 10, 2022
But that’s just the beginning. Craig is known for his dance moves. He can strut, dance, dry humps, and even smile. It is both incredible and surprising at the exact same time. It’s hard to digest because we don’t expect someone like him to do all this, and that’s where the beauty lies. Craig and Waititi are consciously targeting his “macho man” image, and the best way to do that is to make someone like him look and dance the opposite way. Some Twitter users even called his entire look “gay”, which I feel works for his next film, where he plays a queer detective. The commercial gives us a glimpse into what one can expect in Craige’s next venture, and from the looks of it, it’s everything we love.
Dearly loved: Daniel Craig created a BRILLIANT and HYSTERICALLY FUNNY ad to promote Belvedere Vodka. That is what I would call it. Those who don’t get it are very sad.
— Barbara Emanuele (@xenobia219) November 10, 2022
Many have also noted that Waititi seems to be paying homage to Spike Jonze’s video he created for Fatboy Slim and Bootsy Collins’ Weapon of Choice. The footage shows Christopher Walken, formerly dressed, moving through an empty hotel. But to me, it resembles John Travolta’s moves from Saturday Night fever, and Craig seems to be doing a rendition of those iconic movies for his modern audience.
Waititi’s choice to shoot the commercial is quite extraordinary, as the director pops up in the ad to tell Craig to “just” be “himself”. Now, what it means is entirely up to the actor, who says “finally” after the shoot is wrapped up. It remains to be determined if it means that Bond is done with the Bond era, or if it is a sign of his newfound fervor in dancing as well as killing people. But one thing Waititi did right was to lift the veil from the audience’s eyes: actors are changing beings, and pigeonholing them for one role is no shorter than being blasphemous.
The daniel craig vodka ad is the best thing taika ever directed
— massage gun kelly (@treswritesstuff) November 11, 2022
The moral of that Belvedere vodka advert seems clear: “get drunk on this booze & you’ll embarrass yourself in public and Dad-dance in a way not even Daniel Craig can make look cool”.
— Adam Roberts (@arrroberts) November 14, 2022
A short commercial that can boost an actor’s image to this extent has been a revelation. What Craig has in store for his career remains a mystery, but it portrays the actor’s immense potential to pursue whatever he likes, including a musical with those groovy moves! It’s inspiring to know that at 54, Craig is ready to experiment with his career yet again, a choice many may not take head-on.
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Craig has already established himself as a Hollywood star, but now, it’s his time to stretch those boundaries a bit further and grasp the distant opportunities that will make him an icon, much like his predecessors like Robert Di Nero and Al Pacino. We can be content with the fact that he doesn’t care what others think. He is always pushing his limits and this shows us that he is capable of doing more than he believed.
