007 First Light’s James Bond character feels very different — on purpose

To begin with, this is a young Bond. 007 First Light is an origin story that starts with the character as a Navy Airman and follows his induction into the secret service. The usually cynical and worldly character is quite chipper and even idealistic in this version. He chats away to himself and his handlers in a manner that even Bond’s smarmier movie incarnations — as played by Roger Moore, say, or Pierce Brosnan — would frown at. He is sincere and unpolished. To me, he seemed more Nathan Drake than James Bond, or perhaps like a sunnier version of Jack Lowden’s character in Slow Horses.