Not necessarily. I think the Bond films have gotten more interesting over the years, particularly as being sequential story telling. I know I'm stretching the years just a little here, but Mel Gibson's Payback I think is a great example. There is this thin gangster underworld going on and you dont mind it not being expanded on because the characters are written in a quirky way. The charisma is coaxed out of the actors as the cleverness unfolds in the writing. Batman films are very inconsistent when it comes to a compelling and interesting story telling, but they do achieve it, particularly in the last 20 years.
Run of the mill thin storylines overshadowed by action is the template. The great films tend to break the mold. John Wick for me is like Stephen Segal; Millennial edition.
