It's actually quite interesting how, ever since Connery left Bond, the franchise has been copying the styles of the popular, mainstream action films of their time; rather than trying to do something new. In some ways it's a shame, but in other ways it's pretty cool, at least to look back in a historical sense. One could kind of see the Bond franchise as a 50 year old constant in the blockbuster marketplace, that at the same time is a chameleon towards the fashion of the time. So if someone wanted to see the progression of the action movie, they need only watch the Bond films.