Unfortunately Bond films have not been very original lately
Not very. But how could they, after five decades? I´m very happy that the Craig era refreshed so much. A gigantic feat, IMO.
And which films do you consider very original?
There was a time when Bond was a trendsetter (let's say until the end of Moore era). Afterwards, films became less original but could be very good (LTK, GE, CR), but in regards of QoS and SF, I look at them as followers of what has been done elsewhere (Bourne, Nolan's Batman, Home Alone...). I cannot speak for Spectre but fingers crossed...
Enough with this "Skyfall - Home Alone" bullshit. I've been hearing it a lot since Skyfall's release, and I honestly see nothing similar between Skyfall and that piece of crap where a kid spends Christmas holidays on his own and sets some traps on his home to catch some thieves.
Bond took M to his home and armed himself with a shotgun while waiting for the villain.
YEAH, IDENTICAL PLOTS! Chris Columbus should totally sue Sam Mendes for ripping of his movie. What next, SPECTRE is a carbon copy of Fantozzi, because both feature a chase in Rome (except SPECTRE features cars instead of buses)? How much ridicolous can people be?
Let´s keep it civil, shall we?
Bond as trendsetter - that seems to be an unfair argument.
Let´s face it: Bond films could only set trends when there weren´t other spy-action-bonanzas around.
And this ended during the 60´s. One could argue that YOLT already repeated the TB-formula, OHMSS combined FRWL-seriousness with the TB-variation of having the usual Bond elements set in snow (not underwater or in a hollowed-out volcano).
The Moore era definitely had to face the problem of too many competitors, starting with a riff on the blaxploitation films (LALD), following with exploiting Kung Fu-mania. Trendsetting? That was over. Using current elements and adapting to contemporary successes - that was the way to go and to survive.
I would even argue that it is impossible for any film to be a trendsetter these days because everything has been done. Technical advancements may still set trends (CGI, 3D etc.) - but narratively, really, which film has been entirely original during the last twenty years?
As for the "Skyfall"-"Home alone"-parallel - c´mon, even Sam Mendes joked about it in the DVD-commentary. The idea of having to defend oneself with make-do weapons in your own home, of course, was done many times before "Home alone" (for example: Peckinpah´s "Straw Dogs").
But again, why should that be a cause for concern? Movies are a reflection of ideas, using them, twisting them, incorporating them within a (hopefully) new framework.
And if we go back even further - who could actually say that "Dr. No" was highly original? It was a mix of detective story and adventure pulp, done many, many, many times before. Only this time with its own panache.
