a review of 007之诺博士

I saw a screening of it once in college, and I remember being kind of enthralled by the idea that it was a back-to-basics/no-bullshit Bond movie where the only extra gadget is a geiger counter. On this watch, I'll admit to feeling a bit restless for most of the running time, until we actually get to No's HQ which was cool and basically everything I want out of a villain lair, and then the movie just kind of ended five minutes later. I'd forgotten how this first movie actually sets up the threat of SPECTRE in Dr. No's monologue; For some reason I'd always assumed that was something that was made up for the later movies once things got rolling. I'd also forgotten that this was a Bond movie that was made early enough to include both a stereotyped Afro-Caribbean comic relief sidekick and two notable examples of obvious "yellowface" casting with Ms. Taro (canonically the first Bond girl), as well as the title villain. The musical choices in this movie are a bit wild and feel more generic tiki-lounge than appropriately Bond-esque, but I guess it took some time for the spy-jazz aesthetic to take.