10 Movie Franchises That Set The Bar Too High For Themselves

'A blonde Bond?! You what, mate?!'

This was the sort of sound coming out of most die-hard 007 fans' mouths back in the mid-2000's when Daniel Craig was announced as the next Bond.

2006's Casino Royale quickly put a stop to all that backlash when Craig was seen beating the p*ss out of goons and getting his balls smashed in by a rope. This new grittier iteration of Bond felt fresh and though Quantum of Solace (2008) wasn't much to write home about, the best was still yet to come.

When Skyfall hit screens in 2012, the series went from Jason Bourne 2.0 to Oscar calibre British drama as director Sam Mendes successfully assembled one of the finest movies of the decade (if not the century).

Giving us a Bond we'd never seen before - broken, not fit for duty and emotionally tortured by his past - Craig excelled alongside Judi Dench, Ben Whishaw, Ralph Fiennes and a chilling Javier Bardem.

Unfortunately, Mendes struggled to repeat the trick with Spectre (2015) and the sequel received mixed reviews upon its release. Not even the casting of Christoph Waltz as the legendary Blofeld could save the flick from feeling like a backwards step and the experience even lead to Craig at one point declaring he was done with the character.

2012's masterpiece changed the way we approach Bond and fans now expect more than just slick action and smooth one-liners from their 007.

Will the upcoming No Time To Die give Skyfall a run for its money? Or will it join Spectre in the mediocre sequel club?