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If you compare it to Avengers Endgame, Tony Stark *chose* to sacrifice himself to save the day and thwart the villain. Thanos died knowing he was defeated by Stark and his plan failed. Stark beat Thanos.
In NTTD, Bond getting shot by Safin while running across the room isn't heroic. Safin died knowing he succeeded in keeping Bond separated from his family. Bond didn't choose to die, instead he was bested by the villain. Accepting his fate on that rooftop wasn't an heroic act of self sacrifice.
On the other hand, if the ending of NTTD involved Bond *making a choice* to defeat Safin by heroically sacrificing himself to prevent millions from being infected, that would have been a more satisfying and appropriate death. Bond could say to Madeline that he truly wants to be with her and their daughter but he is ultimately a servant of queen and country and must die to prevent millions of other from dying. That would have been so much more palatable, true to his character, and also still give Craig the opportunity for a poignant end scene.
As it is, when Bond sees the blast doors closing, he doesn't realize at that point he is going to his death. It isn't a sacrifice at that stage. That opportunity for sacrifice was taken from him because Safin beat him.
I didn't want Stark to die in Endgame but they pulled it off perfectly and I was very satisfied by that writing. It was a very fine line to walk and I don't think the writers of NTTD were able to do it.
The hero making the choice to sacrifice themselves for the greater good versus being suddenly gunned down makes the world of difference.
I mean.... he did save the world.
Wonderful review!
I want to just add that I felt Lea was much stronger in this one than in Spectre, and her choices as an actor were so very good throughout the film. Even just that moment in the car, as the bullet proof glass is finally starting to crack under assault, that look and gesture of her face - as she looked unwaveringly at Bond, asking him to do something - were perfect, so real and just gritty; believably in the moment. Not one ounce of "pretty Bond girl in peril" as we have had many times before; just real.
Bond getting grazed by a bullet in the PTS (this was part of the clip shown on Fallon, apparently, though I deliberately avoided that at the time) and barely flinching.
The way the interrogation of Dr. Dickwad (his character's name is like the one big detail I forgot about NTTD, but the scientist guy) on the ship escalates and escalates and how Billy Magnussen gets to ramp up his performance until suddenly the gun comes out
We had something a little more original here. As Safin described he had similar motivations to Bond, eliminate SPECTRE and live his life out with Madeline. In that respect Safin didn't particularly 'beat Bond' as he he suffered the same outcome as a result of being poisoned.
Consequently I'm a little unsure yet as to whether Safin deliberately broke the phial or whether it was a consequence of their tussle. Makes you think of Bond's fight with Chang in MR in which the glass phial in his breast pocket miraculously stayed intact or otherwise Bond would have died immediately.
He sort of deliberately smashes it against the side of Bond's temple, doesn't he?
Ah thanks. Will look more keenly for that next time round. In which case Safin sealed his own fate then and there.
I found Safin an interesting villain overall. I prefer the underplayed performance style to the OTT nature of Silva. There's a sense of sorrow to Safin. First villain to elicit a little sympathy from me since Sanchez.
No offence meant but your last line is bonkers!
Seeing as he didn't survive how can Craig have done what you claim? Bond needed to evolve to survive... but he died so how has he survived?
Your comment is completely paradoxical/nonsensical.
You can be unformulatic at times and still not kill of your main character.
Bond is the ultimate survivor and to see him accept his fate, felt like betrayal of what James Bond is
Also @Pierce2Daniel even though I don't agree with every point, that was fantastic review. Really great post
The Dr No homage in the credits, and I think a little of the Casino Royale credits in there too.
And three moments, all to do with the Logan Ash character:
1 - when they are in the boat and Bond wonders how Spectre knew he was in Cuba, then he realises and looks to Ash who changes from amiable and harmless to a killer.
2 - in Norway when he's on the phone to MI6. They said Nomi is tracking Ash and sends him her location. He sees it's close by and says something along the lines of "I thought you said she was tracking Ash, not me." And then the penny drops. I love that moment.
3 - Ash under the car and Bond helps it fall on him like in FYEO.
My feelings exactly, my dear friend.
I've said this before but I really loved his little laugh after Valdo passed him the gun.
There's a few things that really get under my skin with NTTD, the more I think about them.
One in particular is...
Of course it's heroic.
Bond could have shipped away with Madeleine and Mathilde and let Nomi do the rest.
But he decided to stay and do it himself.
I applaud them for making bold choices but bold choices alone don't make a good movie. I was actually getting increasingly anxious towards the finale and I found it exhausting.
And some of the dialogue. Christ. Not good.
I agree with you @Jordo007. Though as an idea I don't particularly mind it - it's just that the needle drop and the delivery by Seydoux was just really poor. I know what they were trying to do, but it just left me quite annoyed.
That's interesting. I felt it so belonged there. I was happy to hear it. I thought that was perfect for the ending. It seems many of us will have polar opposite reactions to much of this film.
Hey mate it's one of those things. One of the best things about being a Bond fan is we may not always agree but we're all on the same team.
I love this forum because we can all have different opinions and we can debate it with out falling out with one another. Credit to the mods and everyone on here. Pleasure to be on here
It’s straight from the YOLT novel! I liked that bit.
Problem I have with NTTD is that the world really really needed a positive experiance after the last year & half, not some depressing drama queen wanna be, which this was. If we don't get some positivity back soon then we'll all end up slitting our wrists.
Been drinking, totally depressed, going to bed, maybe tomorrow will be brighter.
"A tool to get things done."
I would argue that he he became a greater tool in NTTD, based on how his body had basically become used. The layers are thick and have to be peeled back.
Many thanks!