Who was the best James Bond?

Timothy Dalton's Bond created a believable character

Question: Who was the best James Bond?
Position‹5 of 6›: Timothy Dalton was the best James Bond
Argument‹2 of 3›: Timothy Dalton's Bond created a believable character

Prior to Dalton's interpretation of Bond, the character was pure kitsch and lacked depth, humanity, and realism

The argument

Dalton's Bond showed a new side to the character, and the change was not cosmetic — it went to what the films had previously assumed about him. In License to Kill, Dalton's Bond goes rogue, hell-bent on seeking his own revenge for the murder of Felix Leiter. That premise alone represents a significant break with the Bond of previous films: this Bond is not executing an assignment on behalf of an institution but acting on a personal wound, which means the audience is watching a man rather than an office. The result is a more human, deeper character whose motives are legible in ordinary emotional terms. The break runs through the performance as well as the plot. Bond becomes colder, killing people in more ruthless ways — he kicks Everett McGill headfirst into a shark tank, and he sets a villain on fire with gasoline. At the same time he is far less composed: he pulled a gun by mistake on a small child with a bunch of balloons. Those two tendencies look contradictory, but together they are what makes the character believable. Someone in his line of work would have to be ruthless to survive it, and everybody makes mistakes by jumping to the wrong conclusion sometimes; a Bond who is only ever lethal and only ever poised is a fantasy figure, while a Bond who is both ruthless and fallible is a person. We even get to see Bond cry at the end of License to Kill, showing an element of humanity previously unseen in the Bond franchise and one that the earlier, more invulnerable portrayals had no room for. Dalton's Bond left a mark on the franchise precisely because it established that the character could carry this weight, and it helped shape the three-dimensional Bond character of today we all love.

Context

The Bond character of today is darker, deeper, more violent and introspective than the cheesy character of old. No actor contributed more to this shift that Timothy Dalton.

Premises

[P1]In License to Kill, Dalton's Bond goes rogue to avenge Felix Leiter, a significant break that showed a more human, deeper character. [P2] He is colder and more ruthless in his killings yet less composed, even mistakenly pulling a gun on a child, making him more rounded and believable. [P3] He is even shown crying, an element of humanity previously unseen in the franchise. [C] Therefore, because Timothy Dalton's Bond created a believable, three-dimensional character, he was the best James Bond.

Counter-arguments

Dalton’s human and “deep” portrayal of Bond robs the series of its trademark quips and fun. It makes it too serious. The car chase scene in The Living Daylights come across exceptionally flat without the humour and fun of previous Bond outings. Dalton’s delivery in combat makes Bond too riled up and angry to deliver humorous punchlines and jokes.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Bond wasn't supposed to be psychological and deep, he was supposed to be funny and enjoyable to watch