5 Iconic James Bond Clichés the Franchise Must Leave Behind in New Movies
The James Bond movies have a bunch of traditional tropes and tricks, but the next version of the franchise will have to get rid of at least these five to stay fresh and up-to-date.
5. Villains’ Faces
It’s pretty weird that the James Bond movies have been relying on facial disfigurements, of all things, to indicate that villains are villains. Even Daniel Craig ’s movies used this trope, and it’s long overdue its welcome: there’s no need to strengthen the prejudices against people with facial disfigurements. There are many other more reliable and humane ways to reveal someone’s crookedness.
4. “Bond Girls”
Alright, this James Bond cliche was almost wiped out by Daniel Craig’s movies — almost, but not entirely. The franchise needs to keep up the good work and completely avoid introducing female characters that are nothing but interchangeable love interests for Agent 007. There’s always more depth to discover, so why not make these characters actually interesting while you’re at it?
3. Supporting Cast
The trick with keeping the supporting cast between the iterations of James Bond won’t work anymore. Today’s viewers will immediately ask how in the world Q, for instance, did not address the fact that Agent 007 is an entirely different person all of a sudden. The only way to bypass this would be to acknowledge Craig’s Bond’s death and have the new Agent 007 as his replacement, but that would be too weird.
2. Love Interests
Nope, we’re not repeating ourselves. This isn’t about switching “Bond girls” for “Bond women” but about not killing them off for cheap drama. This plot device is as old as the world, and no one ever gets shocked by it anymore, so there’s literally no point in randomly disposing of Agent 007’s love interests. We’re sure that with enough research, the creators will find ways to induce drama beyond killing women.
1. Villain Lectures
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This one’s not even a trope at this point — it’s a running gag. Why does every James Bond movie need a villain with facial disfigurement who would lecture Agent 007 for an hour and a half, completely breaking the flow of the film? We have no idea, but it would be nice if this tradition was gone in the next version of James Bond. Or, at least, recognized for what it is now: a gag, not a serious trope.