From Russia with Love (1963)
From Russia with Love is James Bond's sophomore cinematic outing and after not being the hugest fan of Dr. No which came out the year prior I didn't expect much considering much of the same crew was returning for this sequel. Replacing the mess of camp and seriousness that muffled the first film, From Russia with Love thankfully finds its footing not only impressing me in contrast to Dr. No but becoming an actually engaging and well-crafted spy film that I was hoping we would eventually get in this series. After killing Dr. No, James Bond (Sean Connery) has found himself on the radar of international criminal organization SPECTRE who set out to kill Agent 007. Using a mixture of dangerous agents like Donald "Red" Grant (Robert Shaw) and a larger plan to turn British and Soviet intelligence against one another in hopes of getting their hands on a powerful Lektor cryptography device.
Already it should be clear that the plot of this film is way stronger and more interesting than that of Dr. No. The twists and turns that this movie provides mixed with this already interesting and engaging plot leads to a film that kept me fully engaged and on the edge of my seat. It was very smart to get rid of the camp of the first film and embrace a more serious style of filmmaking, though that doesn't mean the movie isn't fun. There still are fun lines and the general Bond cliches that keeps the film entertaining, it's just that the plot is much more focused and not as over the top campy as in Dr. No though plenty of that came from the environment it took place in. The action is also pretty fantastic in the movie, instead of huge dragon tanks there is a lot more hand to hand action that sure didn't look the most realistic but still was overall effective. I will say quite a bit of this comes from the camera work from Ted Moore which is actually quite impressive, a lot of these sets do not give him a ton of room to play around with but he is always able to get us into the action and shoot it in a dynamic way that visually keeps us interested.
The acting also really shines here, similar to the confusing style and tone of Dr. No it seemed like Sean Connery was still figuring out what he was supposed to be performance-wise. This makes total sense considering how weird the setting and story was at times, but here he really breaks through and gives a memorable badass performance as James Bond. He comes off as cunning and smart while also being charismatic and likable, he is the perfect mix of fun and badass that the character calls for and it is easy to see why he left an impression on so many. If anything would be the issue here it would be some of the pacing, I do feel like this film could have had a bit more energy to it here and there as some scenes started to drag a bit especially in the first half as they are setting up this big story.
Overall though I would be lying if I said I didn't have a good time with this film, this was what I was hoping for when I decided on James Bond as a subject for this series. It is the mix of cliches, interesting stories, good action, and pure charisma that all blend together in a way that defined a genre that would never be the same after. If you haven't seen old school James Bond this is not at all a bad place to start and hopefully, this will be the start of a series of great Bond films featuring these actors and crew. Hopefully, Dr. No was a one-off and they don't return to that confused camp comedy type film that just didn't work especially in comparison to something like this.
Overall though I would be lying if I said I didn't have a good time with this film, this was what I was hoping for when I decided on James Bond as a subject for this series. It is the mix of cliches, interesting stories, good action, and pure charisma that all blend together in a way that defined a genre that would never be the same after. If you haven't seen old school James Bond this is not at all a bad place to start and hopefully, this will be the start of a series of great Bond films featuring these actors and crew. Hopefully, Dr. No was a one-off and they don't return to that confused camp comedy type film that just didn't work especially in comparison to something like this.