In the long term, and as somebody whose stake within the Bond films is predicated purely on my enjoyment of watching them, this has turned out to be the best of blessings.
Think about that one of many barely hid secrets and techniques of the James Bond flicks is that till Craig bought behind the wheel of an Aston Martin, there was nearly no continuity between installments, and lots of the films shared almost an identical plots. It is perhaps a surprise even that Bond himself by no means appeared to clock that two years after assembly a megalomaniac who needed to destroy the world and pressure everybody to dwell below the ocean (1977’s The Spy Who Cherished Me), he met one other bloke with just about the identical thought, besides now he needed to select the survivors for his eugenics colony in house (1979’s Moonraker).
The plots, after all, had been not often the purpose. Actually, quite a lot of the pleasure in watching a very good James Bond film is the sense of familiarity. Getting a correct Q scene, full with a pair witty aspersions between Bond and the nice quartermaster (ideally performed by Desmond Llewelyn), adopted by photographs of unique vacationing whereas “on the job,” after which the compulsory double entendres reverse ladies of equally relaxed advantage is all half and parcel with the package deal. The identical approach a theatergoer expects an overture when the curtain rises on the opera, Bond followers anticipate the automotive chase, the devices, and the megalomaniacal speech.
Even because the Craig period started by intentionally deconstructing or subverting these expectations in On line casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, one of many joys in his later efforts, notably the extra common installments, was how Eon introduced again one after the other the weather they’d stripped away in 2006. The ceremonial construction of the Bond films is certainly one of their most rewarding options—particularly when you have got gone years with out attending this approximation of a vodka-soaked communion. Distance makes the guts develop fonder; it additionally makes what would possibly in any other case be perceived as a limitation develop into a advantage. That’s refreshing to consider in 2024.
Whereas the Bond franchise has staved off inquiries into “increasing” its universe on the small display, so many youthful however nonetheless pretty gray-haired franchises of yesteryear have given into the temptation of going supersized. Granted, it’s been a noticeable 4 and a half years for the reason that final Star Wars film, however that pause hasn’t been from an absence of attempting on Lucasfilm’s half. The Disney subsidiary has didn’t get a brand new film set in that galaxy far, distant off the bottom, however they’ve completely flooded the market with a glut of Star Wars TV reveals for the streaming service Disney+.
When it began, that was a novelty too. Star Wars followers had been over the moon in regards to the first season of The Mandalorian being a part of Disney+’s maiden voyage. They had been ecstatic about The Mandalorian Season 2 as properly. However rather less so for The Ebook of Boba Fett, regardless of that present additionally turning right into a covert third season of Mando. The precise third season of Mando, in the meantime, got here and went, as did the genuinely very good Andor. And these days, new Star Wars “content material” that Disney may spend an eye-watering $180 million on, like The Acolyte, has develop into such a non-event to subscribers that Disney felt compelled to cancel the collection.
