The End of James Bond

The last great James Bond movie was Casino Royale (2006) – the first with Daniel Craig as James Bond. With the next installment in the action series Quantum of Solace (2008) everything went the wrong way: the movie was an awful experience in every category. Skyfall (2012) gave hope for new and better James Bond movies, but the joy was only temporary, because with Spectre (2015) everything changed. That movie killed James Bond and today I’m totally done with this MI6 agent.

Everything wrong with Spectre

The only positive and original element in Spectre is the opening sequence which takes place in Mexico during the Day of the Dead celebration. It’s ironic, funny and entertaining to watch. After that everything is becoming non-sense and you have the feeling watching the work of a pubescent teenager. A short list of what is not working in Spectre:

Oberhauser, played by Christoph Waltz, is the worst James Bond villain ever.

• The plot: Spectre‘s biggest weakness is the story. It’s superficially and very predictable. The idea to connect all the movies from Casino Royale to Spectre is a mistake. This should create a big twist and give the story more depth, but the exact opposite is the case. Knowing that one villain was behind all the other villains in the movies is ridiculous and “invalidates” the other movies. On top of that this is the weakest and most harmless villain ever…
• The main villain: Franz Oberhauser, played by Christoph Waltz, is maybe the worst James Bond villain ever. Waltz is without a doubt a geat actor, but in this paricular role he is just average. And that’s not a surprise, because the character is very poorly written. No psychological deepth, no understanding of his motivation. Le Chiffre and Raoul Silva were on the contrary real antagonists. The audience could feel the danger coming from these villains. But Oberhauser remains completely plump. At the end the director tries desperately to give him a hazardous face, but it’s only a spectacular failure. The mise-en-scène with the drawings of all the villains from the past movies is just hilarious…
• Women: The portrayal of women in the film is so masochistic that all progress in the films before is forgotten. Who remembers the strong female character of Eva Green in Casino Royale? Well, Spectre shows us the oldest bond girl ever (Monica Bellucci, 50), but that’s by fare not enough. By the way the short scene between Bellucci and Craig is ridiculous: He safes her from being killed (after the funeral of her husband) and than they have sex. And that’s it. She is completely submissive. Bellucci and Seydoux are devoid of any personality and serve Bond only as a nice and horny pastime.

Only a reboot can save James Bond now

The actual James Bond is totally outdated, a relic of ancient times. It cannot work anymore in the modern world of today. And No Time To Die (2020/2021) is not going to change that. Maybe the movie will be a better one than Spectre, but that’s not going to save James Bond from dying. What we need is a modern reboot of series. And not another step back movie which did not want to stray from its iconic formula.

Now it’s Jane Bond who enjoys sexually with handsome “Bond men”.

Some ideas for a reboot:

• A new Bond: Daniel Craig’s time is definitely over, it’s time for a new Bond… the producers should pull themselves together and finally dare something! How about a black James Bond? How about a Jane Bond, a female secret agent? That would be awesome and help finding a new way telling spy stories. One could turn the tables: Now it’s Jane Bond who enjoys sexually with handsome Bond men!
• A new tradition: Forget the old features of Bond (cocktail, cars, gadgets etc.) and find something new, original and suitable. By the way, does it really fit that a MI6 agent drinks alcohol during work? I think a secret agent – male or female – could have a love for smoothies. Healthy, empowering & stylish! Or what about a more ecological Bond? He saves the world not only from villains, but also from polution! Whenever possible he chases antagonists by bicycle… (well, now that was a joke)!
• Better stories: Forget the steril secret agent action story setting. Create something with more atmosphere, more psychology, more setting. Take inspiration from True Detective. This series completely redefined the genre of detective crime series and movies. Make something similar with James Bond – try new ways of telling stories. Not always the simple, straightforwardly told A to B story. Break the codes.

Please, please – we need creativity and originality for James Bond to stay alive. We all owe this to the late Sean Connery! As long as there is no reboot, I will not watch any more James bond movies!