PIERCE BROSNAN believes James Bond has lost some of the humour that made the franchise popular in the first place.
The Irishman's four outings as 007 featured many an outlandish action sequence involving everything from invisible cars to female assassins with thighs of steel.
And, according to Brosnan, the far-fetched nature of the films, complete with inventive gadgets and amusing innuendos, was part of their appeal in the first place.
Speaking in an interview with The Rake magazine, the 65-year-old argued that the franchise has lost its way after it was forced to reinvent bond as a "more muscular" brooding character.
The move came in the wake of the success of Matt Damon's Jason Bourne spy movies - but it's one Brosnan feels was wrong for Bond.
"There had to be humour, I felt," he said.
"It is different now. They had strong competition and they haven't reinvented it but given it a much more muscular, dynamic twist.
Sir Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan together in 1995 at the premiere of GoldenEye. Picture: Keith Hamshere/Getty"When I played him you have to let the audience in that this is a fantastic joke - this man, jumping off a motorcycle and catching up a plane, is completely preposterous. But for me, you had to let them in.
"That's what I was brought up with. Sean (Connery) did it, Roger (Moore) did it par excellence."
Brosnan's last James Bond outing, Die Another Day, came back in 2002 and, despite faring well at the box office, was lambasted by critics for its overreliance on computer-generated effects.
Craig is set to portray 007 one more time in a new James Bond film directed by Danny Boyle.
Idris Elba is the current favourite to replace him as the world-famous spy.
