I would feel this way:
I think that it's a neat way to start the film: the challenge of Bond reclaiming his position. I would think that it's a little worn out since they've done this before. Licence to Kill has him going rogue, Die Another Day has him disavowed, and Skyfall has him feigning his death for some scorpion-based drinking game R&R. Nevertheless: if a film starts with Bond retired and somebody else as 007, it sets up a goal for the film: how will Bond reclaim his mission and realise his purpose again. It's a good goal for a character to have.
By the end of the film, I would expect James Bond to once more be 007, ending the film on a note of excitement as I anticipate the cool adventure that will come up in the next three (or so) years.
So, the thing is, if the film ended with James Bond hanging up his hat permanently and this new character being 007 for the next films, I'd basically go, "Huh. Well. I don't care about those movies." Bottom line is: if EON replaces James Bond the character with another character, I probably won't be interested in more films. Never say never, of course - the new character might be great, the new movie trailer might hook me, but in all likelihood, I wouldn't care.
Let me put it another way: I never watched the TV show Gotham, no matter what the reviews were. Its premise was basically "Batman without Batman!" and I remember thinking, "I don't really care about the city; I care about Batman". James Bond without James Bond is not something I'm interested in.
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Threadkiller (2951)
5 years ago
I don't have an issue with the general idea of Bond reclaiming his position and status but this could have been achieved without this casual shuffling around of the 007 codename which is synonymous with James Bond. I'd say there is zero chance of this or any 007 stand in character taking over to star in future films. It's a one off gimmick.
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Ace_Spade (9336)
5 years ago
If it's a one-off gimmick and Bond is 007 by the end of the film, I'm fine with it. It feels a little tired (it's been done before) and pandering to the moment (ala Moonraker's "timely" mimicry of Star Wars), but it shouldn't be able to kill the whole movie from just that alone.
What would kill the movie was if they were bringing up the social justice significance of it over and over again - making Bond a bumbler or inferior to the "new" 007 to stage some political point will produce an eyeroll from me every time, so if there are too many of those moments, it will remove me from the film, de-invest my attention, and fail to suspend my disbelief or hold my imagination - crippling the film overall.
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