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Comments
I've always loved how White, the man who ruined Bond's chance to get an honest life in CR, inadvertently handed him the woman who made it possible for him to do just that all those years later.
Yes!
Her promotional still was very enticing.
I have to say she made quite an impression for someone who was in the film so fleetingly, and with only one line of dialogue. Good choice.
I'm always excited when I'm about to watch it and when I watch it.
Agreed, figured I was one of the only ones that saw that show. She's incredible in it (and gorgeous, to boot). Shame she had a much smaller presence in the second season.
The problem with SP is similar to that which plagued QoS: high expectations. The teaser and the official trailer seemed to get our hopes up that this would be a grand Bond, worthy of a place on the "best of" mantle. It didn't reach that bar and thus, initially felt like a failure.
For me, every Bond film is being plagued by the finale. Some finales are OK at best. So is the long underwater finale from TB not dragging more than the SP finale? Or what about the ridiculous laserfight finale from MR.
I can accept the last 30 mins of SP, because it's merely a Bond film :-): Ridiculous, crazy, larger-than-life, unrealistic, over-the-top.
SP probably should have ended at the crater base with an epic fight. Instead it limped on for a pointless and rather dreary further finale in London.
Also the bit just prior when Bond drives off in the Aston with Madeline. Mendes finally pulled the urinated filter, suggesting new beginnings. Plus, if I recall correctly, it looked like a fresh post shower day in London, also indicating the start of something new after the storm. I hope EON follow through on that premise.
This is the issue I've had with EoN post CR; in that they utterly waste the Bond girls. It's maddening. In any case the scenes between White and Bond is the only good thing about this movie for me.
I love it too, @RC7. I get chills when Bond "comes home," and I enjoy the situation of he and his team working together when they actually need to, and not just to have all the main players there. Add in the danger of SPECTRE swarming them, the maze of Bond's past horrors and Bond's race to save Madeliene, and you have a thrilling and tense time. I also really was surprised (in a good way) by the ending, where Bond actually puts aside his vengeance for the good of his service, a repeat of his QoS moment with Yusef, and leaves with Madeleine to find something more. Like many things in SP, it's an interesting and refreshing moment you wouldn't expect to work in a Bond film, but it does.
I like the rest, except the out of nowhere relationship that blossoms between Bond and Madeline. There is no effort put into making the audience believe they're growing close, they just all of a sudden care deeply for one another. I wish Bond would just steer clear of these love subplots. They really aren't good at them.
The film lost me with the torture scene. And then there is a rush to "tidy" things up. One can see how poor and lazy the writing was. Remember, writers/directors have options. And sometimes you look at what is on the page/screen and think, "THAT was the option you went with? Really?"
I wasn't thrilled with the torture scene and escape, but things got even worse in London. All Butterworth (he had dibs on final draft, I believe) and Mendes had to do was...
1. Not let Madeleine walk away. Or, rather, let Bond let her walk away, on a dark street, late at night, knowing there is "danger" out there. It is embarrassingly bad. Remember, this is a woman he supposedly loves. And the worst part is, it was 100% avoidable. Want to ramp up the suspense? Simple. Make a safe house not so safe because of the man who is "everywhere."
2. Not have Bond "kidnapped" in such a useless manner. In fact, if #1 is done correctly, then there is no need for a kidnapping scene. In some way, Bond sees something (perhaps a couple kissing in a dark corner, reminding him of White's line about, "he's kissing your lover.") and it strikes him: Madeleine is in danger. He runs back to the safe house and finds her gone. This separates him from the rest of MI6 and makes his mission about her and everything else secondary.
3. Resist placing photos in the MI6 shooting range. I mean, was this necessary? No. DC is a brilliant actor. Let him show us that the trek into MI6 is a trek into his past (and the franchise's past), with each step through a condemned building. In this case, less would have been more. DC knows how to tell us a story just by his facial expressions (see CR). Let him do what he is great at doing, especially here.
4. Create a final struggle. The helicopter fight in the PTS really should have been reserved for the final scene, one more fight, with HINX. Then let the crash go as planned, with Blofeld on the bridge. I have no issues with the way the film ended, because the bridge worked well, symbolically, and Bond acts as M described to C: "A licence to kill is also a licence NOT to kill..." So I agree with @0BradyM0Bondfanatic7 on this part.
OK. Peace out.
A very very good point.
Lazy writing strikes again.