In Skyfall, Bond’s night of binge drinking and the scorpion drinking game offered a rare glimpse of 007 as an anonymous civilian rather than a secret agent, even though the CGI scorpion was hardly convincing. The same applies to No Time to Die, where Bond’s quiet life in Jamaica, sailing and spearfishing, felt refreshingly authentic. These little moments add a layer of humanity to Bond that I always enjoy. There’s definitely a balance, and I wouldn’t want to go overboard, but a little more double-O downtime goes a long way.

A witty exchange with a fellow bar patron or a brief display of Bond’s spearfishing prowess in either movie would’ve been far more engaging than a detour to a booby-trapped childhood home or an anecdote about Dou-Dou the stuffed rabbit, that’s for sure.