Wake Up Dead Man (2025)

The third in the Knives Out series surrounds a murder in the ranks of a parish when a young priest butts heads with the thorny Monsignor. It's a locked-room ("impossible crime") mystery where Benoit Blanc attempts to prove innocence and clear their name. Daniel Craig settles into the role like an old comfortable shoe, while the film itself feels tonally different from the rest, but it's very much worth a spin in all of its complexity and density. I hope Rian Johnson keeps making these films forever because he has a real knack for the genre.

3½ roads to Damascus out of 5

Glass Onion (2022)

Rian Johnson follows up the successful Knives Out with another Benoit Blanc murder mystery that feels drastically different from the first. Taking place on a remote private island, it's a vacation mystery filled with high-tech gadgetry and hidden motives. Daniel Craig remains, but the rest of the cast changes, positioning him to become the next Hercule Poirot. It's an often convoluted puzzle box with the answers hidden in plain sight, which might detract from some of its thrills, but it's still worth the cost for all its opulent splendor. Craig is so great in the role, it might be the part he's remembered for over Bond.

3½ hourly dongs out of 5

Knives Out (2019)

Who killed Christopher Plummer? Rian Johnson writes and directs this twisty whodunnit where solving the murder is only half the story, and like all great detective fiction, there are layers to the mystery which keep you guessing. Daniel Craig (donning a thick Southern drawl) heads the investigation as famed detective Beniot Blanc, the Poirot of the South. It's an enormously entertaining ride, filled with twists and turns, humor and heart, and a deeply tangled web, featuring an all-star cast all on their A-game. Satisfying from top to bottom.

4 donut holes out of 5

Queer (2024)

Based on the unfinished novel by Naked Lunch author William S. Burroughs, Queer tells the tale of Lee (Daniel Craig), an American expatriate who putters about Mexico looking to get laid. He becomes infatuated by a much younger man and begins a lopsided, emotionally distant arrangement. As deeply uncomfortable as the material is, the fun comes in the final third of the film via hallucinatory imagery brought on by an ayahuasca trip. Kind of makes me wish I could have fast-forwarded past the first 90 minutes to get there quicker.

3 centipedes out of 5

Road to Perdition (2002)

RtP is adapted from a graphic novel of the same name by Max Allan Collins, itself inspired by Kazuo Koike's Lone Wolf and Cub manga. The importance of the father and son relationship in both books is maintained throughout.
It's set in 1931, Illinois. The father is Michael Sullivan Sr. (Hanks), a man who goes to great lengths to keep his sons from becoming aware that his boss, John Rooney (Newman), is the head of the mob and that their father is his best enforcer. But Sullivan's methods create a gulf between him and the boys.
With that established early on, the remainder of the film addresses it, but not in the way you might think. Through moments of tragedy, circumstance and sincerity, carefully distilled with shadows and light, we're drawn into their story, into the era and, if you're sympathetically equipped, into the understanding of why the swallowing of emotions that's sometimes necessary to get the job done isn't always the best course of action for either party.

4½ accounts settled out of 5

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)

LC:TR is a typical summer actioner, but unlike some of the other video game adaptations it at least makes an effort to reference its origins: the Manor, exotic locations, jumps that require crucial timing, puzzle solving and gun-play are all reminiscent of the games that inspired it.
Angelina Jolie isn't a dead ringer for Lara but she’s not too far removed either. Moreover, it was made before her arms got worryingly thin, so she’s believable as an action star.
It would've made sense to cast a British actress to play a British role, but that kind of logic is perhaps too much to ask of the suits that front the money for this kind of thing.

2 halves of the triangle out of 5

SKYFALL [2012]

Daniel Craig returns as James Bond in director Sam Mendes' first journey into the world of 007 for Skyfall.

Craig takes the role of Bond and makes it his own, adding layers of varied emotion and vulnerability to the character that's been mostly absent in past incarnations.  While Javier Bardem is able to ham it up a bit, seeming more like a Nolan Batman villain rather than a Bond baddy, with his motives and cunning ideals.  Thankfully, Mendes is concerned with building up character arcs just as much as he is with throwing some extravagantly entertaining action pieces at us as well.  Skyfall does threaten to fall apart under it's own weight near the end but wraps up nicely as it looks back at it's roots.

3½ wastes of good Scotch out of 5

The Golden Compass (2007)

I thought the book that GC was based on was highly overrated; the film isn't any better. It’s a colourful mess that oozes money but lacks soul. It feels rushed and unloved. The awful set-up for the sequels that never came is embarrassingly unabashed. Dakota Blue Richards impresses as Lyra, but the character is, like the world she inhabits, much too underdeveloped for us to connect with. The danger level stutters along at a weary pace, never reaching a level where we begin to doubt that the good guys will win. It’s a children’s adventure story so perhaps the very young, the real target audience, will be more forgiving than I am.

2 bears with no hangover sore head out of 5

Layer Cake (2004)

A successful drug dealer who likes to keep the lowest of profiles gets an order from his boss to do a dumbass task, one that will put him squarely on the radar of the kinds of people he hates. It's a British crime drama with too much unnecessary plot that leads to a pointless ending, but the journey to get there is fun. Michael Gambon is fantastic and it's the only time I've ever enjoyed watching Daniel Craig act.

3 make hay while the sun shines out of 5

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN [2011]

Based on Herge's Belgian classic comic book series, The Adventures of Tintin unites director Steven Spielberg, producer Peter Jackson, Shaun Of The Dead writer Edgar Wright and Doctor Who writer/showrunner Steven Moffat. With this many creative minds stirring the pot it's bound to be a bumpy ride.
It might not be smooth sailing all the way through but Tintin is certainly an entertaining computer animated adventure that has some great action pieces and colorful characters. Starring Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig and some very entertaining performances from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, Tintin is nothing but a good-spirited, wild ride with an enthusiastic imagination spilling over the sides.

4 comic book likeness cameos out of 5

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO [2011]

Why make a film that's all ready got an amazingly perfect adaptation made only 2 years before?
Director David Fincher does his own thing with Stieg Larsson's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and if not for the strongly written characters, it'd be almost unrecognizable compared to the Swedish film version. Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara do a fine job in their roles (in fact they were perfectly cast) but being a dedicated fan to the original film I feel they can't compare to Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace.
It's more faithful to the novel than the Swedish film and goes into greater detail but makes some slight changes here and there that might anger the dedicated fan.
If you hadn't seen the Swedish version than this would be an excellent introduction...if you have, than it might pale in comparison.

4 Orinoco Flows out of 5

Dream House (2011)

Daniel Craig stars in this fascinating psychological thriller that blindsides you with a twist about halfway through and throws you for a loop as it enters mystery territory. Ultimately disappointing, but there are a lot of good ideas here. Could have been so much better.

2.5 The Shining-esque daughters out of 5