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I can happily watch the film and really love certain elements, but that whole angle is unforgivable and indefensible.
Published on Instagram by Land Rover Netherlands, then deleted after some 15 min. Wonder why.
Agreed.
Yeah, definitely. Either have Blofeld rot in prison or make him escape and have Bond kill him.
One more video from Matera
https://www.facebook.com/TheLocalItaly/videos/2487220741513440/
Goodness. Hope everyone's OK.
My bet is he escapes imprisonment and that’s the last we see of him in the film, leaving it open for future films to bring him back should the filmmakers want to use him again.
If Blofeld has to die, I rather they do a faithful adaptation of YOLT’s climax with Bond sword fighting him under the burning castle.
I'm not ignorant, but only posting my humble opinion.
The weight of the brother-gate angle has been blown way out of proportions by the majority of the Bond community.
Crazy. I hope everyone is okay there. Most instances regarding NTTD’s production are about misfortune, but it is quite fortunate the crew didn’t have to deal with that.
Hope things get better soon there.
This mirrors my opinion of Spectre almost exactly. Still really enjoy watching the film.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2019/07/16/james-bond-must-not-become-morality-tale-toxic-masculinity/
As a lifelong Bond fan, my heart sank when I heard the recent developments from the set of the 25th instalment in the series. One insider told the Daily Mail about a “popcorn-dropping” moment, when it is revealed that Bond has retired and a female MI6 colleague, played by Lashana Lynch, has inherited this all-important codename. The source gushes over “a pivotal scene at the start of the film” where M says “‘Come in 007’, and “in walks Lashana who is black, beautiful and a woman.”
We learn that Bond must navigate “the world of #MeToo”, and the film seems to position him as a Weinstein-like figure. “Bond, of course, is sexually attracted to the new female 007 and tries his usual seduction tricks, but is baffled when they don't work on a brilliant, young black woman who basically rolls her eyes at him and has no interest in jumping into his bed.”
(FILES) In this file photo taken on February 27, 2019 English actor Lashana Lynch poses upon arrival for the European gala premiere of the film "Captain Marvel" in London. - British actress Lashana Lynch, who recently played Maria Rambeau, Captain Marvel's best friend, has been chosen to play Her Majesty's new agent using code name 007 in the latest untitled James Bond movie franchise. (Photo by Tolga AKMEN / AFP)TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images
Lashana Lynch poses upon arrival for the European gala premiere of the film "Captain Marvel" in London
The announcements suggest PR dark arts at work to rescue a production that has suffered its share of setbacks; directors and actors walking away, the producers drafting in script doctors, injuries and accidents on set and controversy over its title. With Bond having already left MI6, the assignment of 007 to a female agent will presumably mean her character is killed off at some point, enabling Bond to resume his role, or else we’ll be in reboot territory yet again. But the stamp of identity politics is unmistakable.
Why does this matter? Audiences don’t go to Bond to be reminded of the perils of toxic masculinity - they go for escapism. Of course Bond shouldn’t remain frozen in time, but the series already shows how to update and critique his character without emasculating Bond or making him and the role obsolete. Think about when Judi Dench's M skewers Bond as a "sexist, misogynist dinosaur, a relic of the Cold War”, or how, long before the advent of #MeToo, Timothy Dalton’s Bond took a far more respectful approach towards his love interests.
Yet recent versions have featured Bond’s inner torments so prominently that the writer’s hand on the scales is painfully clear - and there are consequently very few laughs. Who wants an introspective Bond? Many highlight the flaws of Roger Moore films; the gags and silliness, the feeble attempts to make us believe that a near-pensioner is executing the extraordinary stunts. But ultimately they are far more fun, and recognisably ‘Bond’ than several of his recent outings.
Granted, some of the greatest Bonds go ‘off piste’. The woefully under-appreciated Licence to Kill follows a vigilante plot, in which Bond ditches his 00 badge and arguably the only thing that ever meant anything in his life to avenge his friend Felix Leiter. In Casino Royale, Bond similarly abandons his MI6 career to travel the world with Vesper Lynd. These were powerful, emotive moments. But the trouble is that every film since Casino Royale has scorned recognised Bond formulae, and the alleged ‘novelty’ is wearing thin.
Pre-Craig Bond films were self-contained episodes which occasionally referenced Bond’s tragic past in subtle fashion, as in For Your Eyes Only, when Bond delivers flowers to the grave of his murdered wife. But following the rebooted Casino Royale the series has never quite returned to ‘business as usual’ - and seems overburdened with emotional baggage.
Skyfall saw Bond blowing up his entire family home in an effort to cleanse himself of the past, but even this was not enough. Spectre, enjoyable for much of its run time, ended with a ludicrous backstory that sought to tie all the previous few films together - and the news that Christoph Waltz will reprise his role as Blofeld in Bond 25 means we can expect this tedious thread to continue. Lea Seydoux’s return as Madeleine Swann also breaks a convention observed since Goldfinger of not recalling the same love interest twice. Despite the lack of palpable chemistry between the pair in Spectre, there are even rumours of an on-screen marriage in the latest instalment - though the bride, predictably, will be keeping her own name.
Judi Dench.jpg
Judi Dench in her first outing as M in Goldeneye (1995)
Recent filmmakers have tried consistently to derive deeper meaning than being “just a Bond”, in scorning traditions like one-liners and fiendish inventions dreamt up by the tekkies back at HQ. When Bond laments the absence of gadgets in Sam Mendes' Skyfall, Q replies, “What did you expect, an exploding pen?” Many loved this homage to fan-favourite Goldeneye, but I read it as a smug put-down of a far superior ancestor.
Eon Productions should be careful to avoid torching too much of Fleming’s raw material. Recent YouGov polling found, unsurprisingly, that tinkering with the core elements of the Bond line-up, introducing a female Bond, gay Bond, non-British Bond and so on, registers much less favourably with long-term fans than occasional viewers.
The direction of the Star Wars series under Disney, and particularly the divisive Last Jedi, which sacrificed plot consistency for 'woke' political messaging, should remind filmmakers of the risks of trying to appeal to the right-on commentariat rather than giving fans at least a little of what they want. Critics loved The Last Jedi; Guardian reviewers praised its feminist credentials. But these are not the people the series needs to impress. They are not the fans who turn out in their droves, buy the merchandise and pass on their love of Bond to the next generation.
When it came to the next Star Wars feature, Solo, millions voted with their feet and stayed at home. I fear the same may happen to my beloved Bond if filmmakers continue to portray him as a problematic character to be pitied, not the flawed, but undeniably seductive, powerful and enviable figure he is.
Would have been a disaster for the production.
Unfortunately true, and by writing this article she gives the rumors that she's so opposed to more weight ironically.
Some can deal with it others can't like me, I hate the bloody film and there are plenty of reasons for this but that moment is like @RC7 say indefensible.
I loved this era up that film, as massive advocate of Daniel's appointment, yet that film made me even think it was time for Craig to go and the series reboot.
Also that bloody car chase if you can call it that was a huge disappointment.
The QOS one was visceral and exciting the SP one was the complete opposite.
Trying to put Craig in a Moore/Brosnan adventure was a big mistake.
Although Mendes couldn't just go with that he had to have the personal element that should have reached its conclusion with SF. The film is jarring mess at times.
At times it's trying to be like a Moore/Brosnan film yet it still wants to mix that with the DC era personal element and making Bond and Blofeld connected is just unforgivable.
I imagine they'll pay the whole Bond and Blofeld element right down in NTTD and it looks like Bond won't even meet him, it will be Madeline.
All I've seen of NTTD it looks like it will leave the nightmare of SPECTRE behind.
Leaving aside that I have no idea how that logically joins up (feminists don't buy merchandise? Eh?), I couldn't help but check that little bit about Guardian reviewers praising the feminist credentials of The Last Jedi. Well, I found two reviews on the Guardian site of that film but blow me down if I couldn't find a single mention of feminisim in them:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/12/star-wars-the-last-jedi-review-episode-viii-rian-johnson
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/17/star-wars-the-last-jedi-review-force-is-strong-with-this-one
I have no option but to conclude that it's barely literate (why does she keep putting words in inverted commas?), ill-researched and not-at-all-thought-through bollocks.
I think she was saying critics don’t buy merchandise.
You might be right; she's a terrible writer so it's hard to tell! :)
That said, the article seems to be alarmist about nothing at this stage. I'll give it this, though: it is true Spectre felt like a confused followup to SF, and I do agree that the progression of the Craig era is leaning far too heavily into making the stories personal. I just want NTTD to come out so I can wash away the bad taste from SP.
Range Rover promotion.