The Franchise returns to standard format

Rating: 7/10 (5 November 2012)

Ian Fleming's Bond was a cold, calculating, ruthless killer, who showed little in the way of emotion, instead turning to alcohol, cigarettes, women and gambling (both with money and danger) as a means of dealing with his job.
The first James Bond movie, Dr. No in 1962, made a good compromise between the book and presenting a suspenseful thriller with some sci- fi/action thrown in. Bond delivered a handful of one-liners but the humour was completely black. The movie suffered from some very average special effects and acting, but it was a good start to the franchise.
After this the movies increasingly diverged from the books sometimes they just borrowed bits of the plot, sometimes just the title! The characterisations they touched on in Dr. No were abandoned and increasingly implausible plots became the norm. We were fed a diet of non-stop action, (especially car chases), gadgets and cheesy one-liners. This was particularly true when Roger Moore took over. The exception to the general trend, was the George Lazenby experiment - On Her Majesty's Secret Service, which was pretty faithful to the novel. This attempted to be a slightly more meaningful movie, however Lazenby didn't come close to possessing the acting skills. Bond movies after Dr. No were never more than light-hearted entertainment.
But then along came Casino Royale and changed the rules. Ian Fleming's Bond exposed for the first time in film. This was a film that was seriously dark at times, and Daniel Craig delivered the performance that may have been asked of Lazenby, with the exception that Craig delivered brilliantly. We see the ruthless killer, but still with a human-side (he is new to the 00 scene after all). I fully expected the human-side to be diminished with Vesper's death at the end of Quantum of Solace and eagerly awaited Skyfall.
Skyfall spectacularly failed to deliver though. Right from the word go we have a reality-failure with a car-chase that reminded me of some of the less plausible Roger Moore shenanigans. With Skyfall, we have a return to the old blend of action and cheese - all attempts at delivering anything deeper have been abandoned. This movie and Bourne are frequently mentioned in the same breath - you have to be kidding me - Skyfall is entertaining and pacey - but don't expect any substance - If you liked Roger Moore as Bond you'll probably love it. If you liked Casino Royale and expect more of the same here, you'll be disappointed.