The Dark Knight Returns

Rating: 6/10 (3 November 2012)

Before and during the "reboot", the problem with the franchise was the number of close competitors. It actually started with "xXx", but continued more obviously with Jason Bourne, Batman, Mission Impossible and to some extent even with the recent Judge Dredd. The solo hero, not well understood, effectively battling himself or versions of himself.
Sam Mendes had every reason to admire Christopher Nolan, and what he did with the excellent Batman movies. The problem with Skyfall is that Mendes has come to Bond as a viewer, maybe a fan, but not a director. He has produced a modern action film that takes elements of what he likes, but has utterly failed to churn out a Bond film.
It was rather strangely paced, and we know it was "fucked" by the writers strike, but Quantum of Solace was every inch 007. The very euro chic of an opera used as a backdrop to a perverted auction, the henchmen having just as much character as the villain, Bond following leads with varying success etc. And the presence of a fallen woman who isn't trying to be his mother.
Skyfall had all the elements in position at the start, but started to trade them away for gems from other films. A villain who thought he was the Joker, and in an Avengers plot. Hacking shenanigans from Die Hard, an ending from Home Alone. Even the classic pay off from someone using Dredd's Lawgiver.
The various plot holes which have been very well aired elsewhere were ultimately a product of losing focus because of so much borrowing. Mendes needs to stop being a fan, and become a director again. Apart from the lazy one note performance from Naomie Harris, there is no reason to assume Mendes cannot use his undoubted skills to work on a piece that fulfils the genre as well as innovates where it is required.