5.
Richard Linklater
Responsible For: Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Dazed and Confused, School of Rock
Linklater is easily one of the best writer/directors in the business today, primarily because of his ability to make characters natural and realistic. You might be thinking to yourself, "I don't need a Bond that's 'realistic,' I want classic Bond." And to that, I agree with you. See, I don't think Linklater could do good with just Bond, but that he could work wonders with the supporting cast as well. The best Bond films are not when the super spy goes solo; they're when his supporting cast really gives him a killer run for his money. I've yet to see Linklater's action-chops, but the man knows how to pace a story, direct a tone, and get killer performances out of his actors. And I'll just throw this out there: If Linklater's newest "Before" movie is as good as
Sunrise and
Sunset, then his trilogy will be the greatest of all time.
4.
Alfonso Cuarón
Responsible For: Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
A director with a sense of profound playfulness (if there is such a thing), Cuarón has the incredible ability to inject new life into old premises. HP:atPoA is easily one of the best Potter films in the franchise of strong movies, and it's because of the livliness that runs throughout. On the other end of the spectrum, the director delivered a hell of a bleak endeavor with incredible camera work and strong direction in
Children, rightfully earning him a spot to take the director's chair for a new Bond movie.
3.
Steven Soderbergh
Responsible For: Traffic, Ocean's 11-13, Haywire, Contagion
One of the most stylistic directors of all time, Soderbergh has already dealt with all the Bond elements before; drama in
Traffic, spice, humor, and wit in
Oceans's (1,2,3), large scale disasters in
Contagion, and bone-crunching action in
Haywire. It seems to me that the man is desperately looking for an outlet for all of his talents, and I'm fairly certain a Bond story is the way to go.
2.
Joe Wright
Responsible For: Hanna, Atonement, Pride and Prejudice, The Soloist
A new, but already well-accomplished director, Wright is no stranger to the British elite and could really bring a sense of high class to the Bond franchise, as well as some neat stylistic choices in the vein of his action film
Hanna. Wright has a sensational ability to direct his actors (Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx got fairly gypped for their performances in
The Soloist) and a neat vision for action, allowing his performers to show their stuff.
1.
Christopher Nolan
Responsible For: Some angry/praising statements in the comment section
In all honesty, is there a better fit? Nolan succeeds in one thing, especially, as a filmmaker: practicality. The stunts that he directs in his films will stand the test of time because he doesn't cut corners. As a writer, Bond is everything Nolan could ask for.
Nolan's weakest link lies in his female characters; in almost every one of his films, they are double-crossing, flat, expendable characters that never go through any sense of development that isn't just outright said by another character (Mal in
Inception, Talia and Selina in
The Dark Knight Rises, Rachel in
The Dark Knight, Natalie in
Memento, Julia and Olivia in
The Prestige) which could not be more perfect for a Bond film. Nolan's films follow villains with blown-up and sensational ideoligies that never back down and keep tricks up their sleeves, something the Bond films are in current desperate need of. And then, of course, Nolan also gets to return to the fact that, since Bond has money to his name backed by the British government, he can solve many of his problems simply by being rich (
Inception,
The Bat Films,
The Presitge).
Could Nolan not be begging to do a Bond film in his filmography already? I'm interested to hear your thoughts. And who would you like to see suit up next to be Britain's favorite super-secret agent?