Bond must never die Oh My

Rating: 7/10 (18 November 2015)

Reviewers notes humbly submitted:
1. This reviewer not only watched all the Sean Connery movies in theatres but read all the novels too. Does that date me?
2. The Biography Channel Special on Ian Fleming portrayed him as an ageing indolent frat boy who wrote his novels using a typewriter on the beach using the two finger method while cavorting. Hard to believe such innocent beginnings led to a franchise that just will not die.
3. Speaking of franchises, Hollywood is running out. Which is why Stallone was able to raise the cash to turn his C-rated Expendables series into an A level franchise. And why Fast and Furious -- which started out as a drama script not a special effects gimmick -- is the new Mission Impossible. So, against this backdrop, if you are going to do Bond, you do it big. At least that is what the producers thought. At 2 and half hours, however, the audience starts to wonder if .. maybe ... less is more?
4. Craig is good. Probably the best Bond since Sean. If only the writers and producers could support him the way he deserves.
5. The first reboot with Craig was the best, remains the best. The second was horrid. The bizarre entry which took place in his childhood home in the English countryside -- the one where a classic car was gratuitously machine-gunned for no obvious reason -- almost killed the franchise completely. This entry -- essentially a mishmash of Dr. No and the old Mannix TV show with a dollop of modern political correctness thrown in -- is OK, but will never make it to brilliant.
6. Times change, years pass. The gold standard for this sort of movie is the Damon/Bourne series, even more ironic because (so far) that franchise remains in limbo. The first reboot here was a close competitor. So far, no other instalment in this series has even come close.