Some tips on how to screw the most successful film franchise.

Rating: 5/10 (15 November 2008)

1. Take away the gun barrel sequence from the beginning of the film and show it at the very end of the film when people are standing up ready to leave the theater. 2. Choose a song with bad music, for the title sequence and make sure that the name of the film is not included in the lyrics. 3. Remove the character of Moneypenny from the film together with the flirting sequence between her and Bond. 4. Remove the character of Q and remove the technical briefing sequence and the handing over of the gadgets altogether. 5. Replace the exotic locales with some locations that have nothing special about them. 6. Change Bond's persona from one of a stylish gentleman who orders vodka martini shaken not stirred to an alcoholic who drinks six martinis in a row. 7. Also make sure that Bond doesn't make love to any of the Bond girls. 8. Last but not least find a director who only directed 7 films before this one, non of which is an action film, and ask him to direct the film.
Unlike other films, the James Bond films have a ready audience that became larger and larger during the 46 years of the series, and there are basic things that together form a tradition, that this audience expects to see in every Bond movie and these are not to be ignored in any form or manner.
The characters of Moneypenny and Q and the scenes associated with them are essential in every bond film. They were absent from Casino Royale and although the film was a big success it doesn't mean that their absence should become permanent. (I thought that John Cleese was a successful replacement for Desmond Llewelyn).
From the first moment some thing was not quite right about this last film. The absence of the two white dots followed by the gun barrel sequence, the pre-title sequence which, like most of the action scenes in the film, is made of very short and random shots; the film song during the title sequence is awful and does not set the mood for a Bond film.
The only connection between this last James Bond movie and the previous movies of the series is that the main character in this film is called James Bond. The writers, who wanted Bond to appear as a seeker of justice more than the body of a beautiful woman, simply missed the point and turned this movie into an action movie just like any other action movie and if this trend continues it will bring an end to the longest running most successful film franchise in the history of film making.