An Open Letter to EON Productions

 To Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson:

Can we have a little talk about the future of OO7? I know I'm a cranky old man who technically isn't the target audience for movies anymore, but I've been a Bond fan for most of my life. I've seriously watched the movies for almost 45 years and I'm only 50. I'm not the only old Bond fan out there. You'd probably be surprised at the number of us old heads there are who still go to these movies. I have one friend older than me who only goes to the movies when it's a new Bond film. So, yeah, there's quite a number of us out there.

So you've done your Daniel Craig miniseries of Bond movies. All in all, Craig was plenty good as Bond. A couple of the movies were really terrific, too. Casino Royale was the best, and oddly the one that most felt like old school Bond. Probably because it was actually based on an Ian Fleming book. Anyhow, Craig is done. You brought an end to the story. I wasn't initially happy with the ending, but I'll get over it. I'll give it another chance and end up buying the Blu Ray when it comes out. I buy all the Bonds, even the ones I initially don't like, and give them a second chance. But now that the Craig run is over, you're going to reboot the series again. So let's talk about this for a moment.

First off, don't do like Spider-Man or Batman and have another origin story. Bond doesn't need an origin story. Casino Royale didn't need to be an origin story. Just because it was the first book doesn't mean it was an origin. Bond in the book was already fully formed. Bond in the Dr. No movie is also fully formed. He can just be James Bond without an origin. Actually, no origin makes him more mysterious and interesting. So let him just Be James Bond. He drinks vodka matinis shaken not stirred, he drives fast cars, he has a license to kill, the whole nine yards.

Second, can we please please please drop the "this time it's personal" angle? The character existed for 27 years before doing a personal story. The problem is, every film has been personal since then. Simply have a villain out to take over or destroy the world like OG Blofeld, Goldfinger, Largo, etc. He has a large henchman like Oddjob or Jaws who gives Bond a hard time. Bond is literally the only person in the world who can stop the villain. He meets some women with hilariously inappropriate names like Pussy Galore or Holly Goodhead along the way. Maybe even give him some crazy gadgets. Certainly give him some crazy stunts.

I'm talking about the Goldfinger formula. The formula that Cubby Broccoli followed for years. I know, I know. Some crazy SJW is going to scream that you can't do Goldfinger anymore. Yes, you can. Know why? Because people still love Goldfinger. People will still go see Goldfinger and enjoy it. Revival showings of that movie and Thunderball are always popular. Yes, you're going to have an SJW or two howling on the internet, but they won't keep the real fans away.

You almost had the Goldfinger formula right in Spectre. It had all the elements up until "James, I am your brother". Take that goofy twist out and you've got a classic Bond. And guess what? Spectre is actually a pretty damn good entry in the series. I liked Christoph Waltz. I loved Bautista. I just hated the unnecessary twist.

By the way, you might consider dumping Purvis and Wade: Richard Maibum they aren't. I know that you try to be loyal, but all these guys do is borrow material from the earlier films without doing it justice. It's one thing to follow a formula, it's another thing to just keep recreating scenes like a cosplayer. And get a director who is more respectful of the legacy of the series than Cary Fukunaga. I mean, seriously, you've had American directors like Spielberg, Scorcesse and Taranatino ask you to do a Bond film--guys who genuinely love the series--but you let the first American director be a guy who disses Sean Connery's Bond as a rapist? Do better, guys.

Bond is a legacy. He's gone longer than any other movie character except for Godzilla. And his movies have been a heck of a lot better than Godzilla. Live up to that legacy. You Can do this: I've seen it. Goldeneye is wonderful. Casino Royale is wonderful. Spectre is almost wonderful.

By the way, can we pick up the pace of release again? Cubby got them out basically every other year. Roger Moore did 7 films in 12 years. Craig did 5 in 15. Four to six years between movies is a LONG time. Even if you can't do every two years like Cubby did, at least go for every three. 

One more thing: whatever else you do, don't reboot the series again when the next guy leaves in two-five movies. One thing Cubby did was make it all one guy. All one guy in a floating timeline works. It worked for 40 years. It can work again.

Spectre (2015)

There's two things keeping the 24th James Bond movie from being a total classic: the worst theme song since The Man With the Golden Gun and a plot twist that is so unnecessary as to be pointless. That said, not only is OO7 back, his greatest nemesis is back, too. And it's about time.

Long time fans of the series will remember the terrorist organization SPECTRE and their leader Ernst Stravo Blofeld as the big bads that bedeviled OO7 throughout the 1960s. Due to a complex legal situation, the last audiences saw of them was 1983's disappointing remake of Thunderball, Never Say Never Again. Spectre updates the terrorist group for the 21st Century. Instead of trading on 55ththe 1960s fear of nuclear war, this time Blofeld and his cronies are out to conquer the world Big Brother style.

The movie starts off with a thrilling and humorous sequence with Bond tracking a terrorist in Mexico City during the Day of the Dead festival. After blowing up a building and getting involved in a fight in a helicopter that sends panicked revellers running for their lives, Bond gets chewed ot by M (Ralph Fiennes). Seems his mission was unsanctioned and touched off an international incident. Oops.

We come to find out that Bond went after the terrorist on the orders of his late boss. His major clue involves a ring with an octopus insignia on it. Guess where the ring ultimately leads to?

What follows is most of the ingredients of vintage, Bond: gorgeous women, a big silent henchman who gives Bond a hard time, wild chase scenes, impossible escapes, and some much missed humor and gadgets. The latter is highlighted in a crackerjack chase through the streets of Rome. There's also a wonderfully destructive fight on a train between Bond and the aforementioned henchman (Dave Bautista) that recalls a similar slugfest between Bond and Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me.

All things considered, SPECTRE is a return to form for the series. By that I mean its a return to the sense of fun the movies once had. Some critics have griped that this is a Roger Moore Bond film starring Daniel Craig. That's not a bad thing, however. Bond has always about escapist fantasy and works best that way. Even the more grounded entries have a sense of humor about them. So it's great to see the series lighten up again.

In fact, except for the rotten theme song, the only thing really wrong with Spectre is the completely pointless attempt to make it personal for Bond again. The twist is a slap in the face of both Fleming and the series in general. Take it out and you have the best SPECTRE on film story yet.

Despite that, the OO7 of the 60s is back and man, is it great to see him again.