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With two big franchise universe producers holding the reins, there’s a fair amount of concern about whether and how the James Bond movies will change. So far, it’s been encouraging to see Amazon MGM tap Denis Villeneuve (Dune) to direct Bond 26, from a script by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders). But even with that combo bringing arthouse prestige to mainstream genre, there are similar concerns that Bond 26 could take things too far the other way.
Here are 5 things that nobody wants to see from the next James Bond movie.
5) No Throwback Nostalgia
The modern James Bond films feel like they’ve run into a wall, so it would be understandable if the producers of Bond 26 look to the past. There’s a certain logic to reapproaching the Bond franchise as a period piece spy-action series, which recreates the glitz, glamor, heroic fantasy, and suave masculinity of classic Bonds like Sean Connery or Roger Moore, without the modern satirical edge of films like Kingsman: The Secret Service.
However, now is not the time to try and escape to the past. Modern times and modern geopolitics are at the forefront of most people’s minds, and a spy movie that revisits historical conflicts like the Cold War just seems outdated now. Bond needs to be redefined for the here and now.
4) No “Grounded & Gritty” Reboot
Been there, done that, don’t need to do it again. When Daniel Craig took over as James Bond with Casino Royale (2006), the franchise was retooled to fit the “grounded and gritty” trend of the 2000s. From Batman to Bond, all sorts of popular movie franchises were rebooted to deliver more hard-hitting and violent action, as well as darker, more complicated, and Noir-tinged takes on the heroes themselves. It worked fairly well for the five Craig Bond films, but that time has passed.
Nowadays, “ground and gritty” is seen as a pejorative term in Hollywood, as the trend was thoroughly overused by the 2010s. Part of what Steven Knight and Denis Villeneuve need to crack the code on is answering what kind of tonal influences should go into a modern Bond film. But in answering that question, there’s another potential mistake they must avoid…
3) No Franchise Cloning
When Casino Royale was released, there was some fair criticism that Bond was attempting to morph into being more like new-age spy-action franchises like the Jason Bourne films of the 2000s. That included dim-lit, close-quarters, quick-cut fight sequences that emphasized martial arts brutality and kinetic fury over traditional choreographed stunt action. To some purists, it wasn’t really in the spirit of James Bond; Daniel Craig’s dry wit, charisma, and subsequent films that injected more humor would save the stylistic borrowing from being a total mismatch, but it was a risky choice.
Nowadays, Bourne isn’t in fashion, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the John Wick franchise most certainly are. There is an obvious appeal to transform Bond films into stunt team showcases that utilize the “gun-fu” combat style of John Wick, but let’s resist that. The same goes for trying to blow the Bond spy films out into an entire “007 universe” of interconnected projects. No thanks. Let’s do something new or unexpected. This is a chance to see what a more grounded Denis Villeneuve action film looks like. The cinematic auteur doesn’t need any other film franchise to inspire his take – fans want to see what he cooks up.
