James Bond is back - but injured

James Bond star Daniel Craig talks to the Shropshire Star’s Sunita Patel

Daniel Craig is sitting in a London hotel with his right arm in a sling.

It’s hardly surprising given he insisted on doing as many stunts as possible in the latest 007 adventure, Quantum of Solace.

Is Carl shaken or stirred by Bond? Watch our video review here

Gone are the high jinks plots and gadgets. What we have instead is a ruthless, killing machine.

Bond is back with a vengeance – and Craig’s injured right shoulder is testimony to his dedication to meet the toughest of physical challenges to deliver his more gritty reinvention of the iconic character.

But the blond, blue-eyed, burly star– whose dad Tim lives in north Shropshire –- plays down his on-set heroics.

“The action is central to who Bond is. It is a huge part of what a Bond film is. You can’t have one without the other.

“I didn’t push myself any further. I was involved with the action sequences of this film a lot earlier. We had to rehearse them for about two months before we set up, but only because I wanted to get them right. It wasn’t harder, in certain aspects it was easier because I kind of knew what I was doing.

“But we had time constraints on this film. We had to finish on a certain date. There was a potential actors’ strike happening, so I had to film and then in the evening rehearse, so that was what made it more physically challenging than the last one.”

The new movie picks up immediately from where Casino Royale left off and sees Bond take on an environmentalist who discovers an invaluable natural resource in the middle of the Bolivian desert.

Craig’s brooding 007 is a secret agent suited to this generation, for the world has changed. It is a darker and more dangerous place.

No-one can be trusted, and nothing is going to stop the new bullish and brutal Bond in his pursuit of the killers of his lover Vesper Lynd – and the powerful, secret organisation they work for.

This introspective reincarnation of Bond delves into the super-spy’s psyche and his bleeding heart.

He is still fantastical, but his inner emotional turmoil is there for all to be seen for the first time, AND he still doesn’t care if his vodka martini is shaken or stirred.

Craig explains: “I just think it just makes for more interesting viewing. I kind of nicked a lot from Ian Fleming. Bond is very psychological, thinks about things. He is morally ambiguous. He is an assassin, he kills people for a living, but he always gets his man. He always goes after the bad guy.”

Scarred by Vesper’s betrayal and, as M puts it “blinded by inconsolable rage”, Bond struggles to tell his friends from his enemies.

The latest instalment explores their prickly relationship further.

“I think it is a really important relationship,” says Craig. “Certainly what we took on from Casino Royale was this whole theme of who to trust, who your allies are and who your friends are. Felix Leiter and M are the Bond allies we know, so solidifying those relationships was very important and I think we have got to a really good point now where anything is possible.”

Despite the war cries from Bond purists that the 40-year-old would not survive the first movie, the gamble has paid off.

He is committed to two further Bond films.

So what next for the British super-spy? Does he continue with the same steely resolve? Or do we head back to the Bond we have grown to love over the years – oozing wit, charm, cheese and sex appeal?

“I am certainly not going to get the blue swimming trunks out for a giggle,” quips the star, referring to what has become an iconic scene from Casino Royale.

“I am enjoying playing him. There is the potential to do anything in the next Bond movie. We can introduce Moneypenny and Q back into the roles. I just think we have got to offer them to the best actors we can find and ask them to do the best job. 

“It is hard to believe that there is a generation of people who don’t know Bond movies. They have never seen them, they don’t watch them, they don’t watch them the way I’ve watched them growing up.

“Just saying the lines and introducing the characters and expecting them to understand who they are I think is the wrong thing to do. We have to re-introduce them and earn the right to have them. That is the way forward as far as I am concerned.”

A Bond production crew showing up in the West Midlands is another distinct possibility.

The latest flick was filmed in more overseas locations than any other movie in the franchise’s 46-year history – including Panama, Chile, Mexico, Italy and Austria.

Asked if he would like to see Bond appearing in more British cities like Birmingham, he replies: “Yes, of course I would. If you find a location that looks right then who knows? We could shoot anywhere. There are plenty of places in the UK that we could utilise. If the credit crunch hits the movie business, who knows?”

In the meantime, Craig plans to put his feet up and among other things, watch Shropshire’s Oscar-nominated movie star Pete Postlethwaite tread the boards in King Lear at Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre.

“Everybody is really excited about it but you can’t get tickets for love nor money,” he enthuses.

Surely James Bond could pull a few strings?

“Oh. I don’t know. I don’t have the contacts I used to,” he laughs.