The producer behind last week's gritty Power Rangers deboot is back with a rough animated look at a retired 007, scrounging for purpose in today's internet-obsessed society. Is it dark? Well, he's trawling Silk Road for work, so...
Warning: In Service of Nothing isn't a slick finished product like Power/Rangers was. This is a pre-visualization (essentially an animated storyboard) for another entry in Adi Shankar's Bootleg Universe project, one that sets up camera angles and pacing. It takes a while to get going but the story's all there. And, yeah, it's depressing. James Bond getting flashbacks to his glamorous world-saving past while people take selfies at the latest hot club may not sound like much, but once you see where he goes to get the old thrill back, it'll be hard to forget. Now, I understand why the people in charge of James Bond—who've signed off on some pretty grim films in the official canon—don't let him get old. They probably won't like this short, either.
Contact the author at evan@kotaku.com.