When I think of Bond movies, "Strong Female Character" is not a phrase that comes to mind. The series is rife with female characters who are only there to lust after Bond or for him to have sex with. In fact the very first Bond film begins with a woman at a poker game who is watching a mostly unseen Bond across the table. Soon after, she ends up in his bedroom, waiting for him, and the visual situation is reversed, everything but her leg hidden and the camera capturing him coming through the door across the room.
Both these sequences are so visually interesting, they offer the impression that she must be important. But no, she's not. She's just there to show he's that attractive. He has sex with her and then she's gone.
In other moments more significant female characters are introduced, but no matter whether they begin on Bond's side or against him, in the end they all end up having sex with him -- except for Moneypenny. Even the women who he assaults end up going from fighting him off to "enjoying it".
But there are some great female characters in the Bond films--and not just in the Craig films, which are in general far better in their writing of female characters. In fact one of my favorite Bond characters is the horribly-named Pussy Galore from "Goldfinger". Yes, she's going to end up with him, and there's going to be a truly painful moment where Bond explains her betraying "Goldfinger" as him "having appealed to her maternal instinct." Ugh.
But before that horrible but also status quo ending for the character, Galore is just tremendous. She has a great and interesting talent as a pilot, and also a flying business that employs other women. More than that she's got plans, things she intends to do. There's a great scene between her and Goldfinger where they talk casually about these things, and it's striking not only because it's this unexpected quiet moment between the villains, but because Goldfinger treats her as his equal. Just through that one choice, the film grants her a greater seriousness. It's a simple and yet very effective technique to have in your arsenal--Have others treat your character the way you want them to be seen by the audience.
(Granted, the idea that a female character needs to be considered serious by a man for us to take them seriously is ridiculous. That's a quality of the era in which this movie was made, and also of the Bond series, especially at this time, but the writing technique works regardless. We love Chewbacca more because Han loves him and Hot Priest because Fleabag loves him.)
Galore also has strong "Save the Cat, but for Villains" moments, like recapturing Bond after he's escaped, or organizing the attack with her pilots. Also, she is completely immune to his charm, nonsensical ending notwithstanding, which is another a fun technique to boost a character--Take your protagonist's compelling strengths and have your new character easily overcome them. It's a form of drafting on the audience's love of our protagonist, really--somehow because we love our hero, we will also love the person who is their true equal or better, even if they're a villain.
Your Turn
Read through a screenplay, whether yours or someone else's, and just keep track of how other characters respond to one of the leads--and if you're looking a feature, maybe choose a character who isn't the protagonist. See how people respond to one of their allies or enemies instead. And if you find there's not much work being done in this regard, see if you can't find a couple places where that kind of technique could be used.
