I fell asleep several times watching Cruise running around in MI movies. That never happened with Craig's Bond movies.
Hasn't it? It sure has for me, well or rather I started checking my phone (I don't fall asleep in movies)
I'm British. I was raised on Bond movies. I disliked the MI TV series (albeit I didn't see a whole lot of it, unlike the Man from UNCLE).
I would say Craig's Bond movies are just flatly less fun movies and less exciting/entertaining than most of Mission Impossible. Casino Royale was pretty strong, but nothing after that has really been worth watching imho.
(Also, if we're going to be totally real, the MI ladies have been significantly hotter than the Bond ladies in the Craig era but I realize this is both sexist and controversial! Also there is some crossover - Lea Seydoux for example)
Re: Villeneuve, he's an extremely talented director but I have absolutely zero intrinsic interest in seeing his take on Bond, because frankly, his visual style and ideas are incredibly similar to how the Craig-era Bonds were. Which I presume is partly why they picked him.
However, I don't think he's a great action director. I don't think any of his films have particularly hugely compelling action (and yeah I'm including Sicario, I don't think that's making any "best action movies" lists on its actual merits, whereas Casino Royale would), I think he's a lot better at thinky and talky scenes, and honestly? I don't know if we need a whole lot more of that from Bond. I'd rather see him ski off a mountain and open a union jack parachute than have some kind of nuanced but ultimately extremely politically "safe" discussion of geopolitics.
I'll be happy if he does something great but I'm not really expecting it, and I'm now expecting we get some kinda jerky-in-a-churlish/cheap way (rather than a cool way) and slightly ugly-in-a-model-ish way Bond rather than someone who oozes style or the like.