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To each of these points, I also loved the iris opening onto the scene and the reflection of the scene into the gunbarrel. I never really considered before that the dot opening up could be us moving "through" the gunbarrel, but I like that a lot. I don't think they need to do the reflection every time, but if they were to maintain the barrel image rather than fading it out so that we can move out of it in future films, I'd be more than okay with that.
I'm also fine with them more or less reusing SPECTRE's gunbarrel cue, I think Zimmer arranged it with a lot more punch and as a quasi-sequel to SPECTRE it made sense. As for hearing his take on a gunbarrel, I don't think you'll have to worry about that because I don't see how the hell they don't bring him back after this.
I loved Malek's performance, and I love the character conceptually for what it is. It's just so paper-thin in the film that I think we're struggling to latch onto him in an "iconic Bond villain" way, which is a bit ironic considering he's the villain who finally succeeds in killing James Bond.
The more I think about it, he's probably pretty (ironically) comparable to Dr. No. A character whose presence hangs over the film, but isn't really prominent until the very end, and then has a "big stakes" plot that's surprisingly thin on eventual motivation. (Dr. No's "I am going to blow up a rocket because my boss at SPECTRE says so!" vs. "I'm a true psychopath who resents death itself, so will use an unstoppable weapon to become the world's true master of death and make violence itself redundant.")
Like I said in my review, I think it's all there to make Safin incredibly interesting and psychologically complex, I just don't think the film surfaces it very well -- or explicitly, at all.
His performance is alright but his monologue is weird and he doesn't have enough screentime.
Very much agree with you on both those points, friend. :)
I'd be hugely interested in seeing another collaboration between CJF and HZ for Bond 26, except this time, with the approach of -- "Ok, the referential shackles are off. You've done your love letter to John Barry/Daniel Craig/classic Bond films. Keep the Bond theme and core ideas, obviously, but now let's see what you want to define it as."
Yeah it didn't work for me either. The only thing I can remember liking off the top of my head were the opening dots a la Dr. No and the Casino Royale card suits imagery. Wasn't so keen on the OHMSS stuff or the scuba diving, which threw me off because that's not something we actually see in NTTD.
Think we're definitely on the same page. I also completely agree with you regarding getting Cary to return for Bond 26. Like you said in your review, he made an old-school yet modern James Bond classic. For me, Skyfall (which is still my favourite Bond film of all time) is the closest we got to that feeling, and No Time To Die went even further with it.
The film makes it clear that Safin stole Heracles to have his revenge towards SPECTRE. That was his first goal. After achieving that, given the fact that he had control over the most lethal weapon ever created, he starts to make business with it, selling it to unknown buyers to make insane money.
Maybe I will talk myself into Valdo being the actual villain of the piece who talks Safin into taking it that step further after he has achieved his actual goal of killing off Spectre. Maybe something to keep in mind on a later rewatch.
Well, the film blew me away. Safin's Michael Myers antics in the PTS outdid the creepiness of most modern horror films. And when we catch up with Bond and see a weird Spectre business card, it was a thrill that never really stopped. This movie is a sequel to Spectre and doesn't care what you think about that. The organization is all over it, Blofeld still says "Cuckoo", and he's still Bond's foster brother. Spectre is probably my favorite Bond film, so this just delighted me. No Star Wars-style redos here. Madeleine's back as well, and she, and her relationship with Bond, are magnificient.
My worries about the tone were unnecessary. There is some goofy-ass stuff in this movie. Spectre throws a birthday party in Cuba for Blofeld, and he attends in the form of a bionic eyeball, one of which is later hacked by Q. He plans to kill Bond with nanobot gas, but there's been some shenanigans, and instead, all of Spectre is partially turned into goo. It is utterly bonkers. Diamonds are Forever-level bonkers, and it is awesome.
Christoph Waltz gives a really fun turn as Blofeld this time. His odd knack for understatement ("Cuba was a disappointment. But we all cry on our birthdays") returns, and is even better this time around. The MI6 crew of M, Q, Moneypenny, and Tanner all kill it, M and Q in particular. Ben Whishaw is frequently hilarious and Ralph Feinnes gives us the most interesting M we've ever had in the most difficult position an M has ever been in.
The new cast is also stellar. Ana de Armas's Paloma steals the movie for a lot of people and is just delightful and full of odd choices. She's not like any other character I've seen in a Bond. Lashana Lynch's Nomi is a cool professional who maybe could have done with a bit more screentime. Prior to the film's release, many were concerned that Nomi was going to take over the movie somehow, and while I had confidence that EON wasn't going to do something silly, I was sympathetic to some who were concerned about potential overreach. But anyone still complaining about it after seeing the movie must just have a problem. It's James Bond's movie, and Nomi and Paloma are just awesome parts of it.
Logan Ash was a wonderful surprise. I knew nothing about this character, and he's another odd duck. His awkward smiling and "Book of Mormon" demeanor, as Bond put it, are again unlike any other we've seen in Bond.
Rami Malek was as good as I expected, though like Nomi, he could have had a bit more to work with. HIs motive (he's nuts) is obscured by some of his backstory, but he's a worthy villain to the end.
I could really go on and on, from the action and sets, to the music and jokes (this is one of the funniest Bond movies). They just nailed everything, as far as I'm concerned. And the ending? It's great. This was something worth doing sometime, and this was the perfect time.
This movie will definitely land in my top ten, and more likely than not in or near the top half of it.
Other things I liked:
The fanservice. My god, the fanservice. A Robert Brown portrait. "Die, Blofeld, die!" Dr No dots in the title sequence. A poison garden near Japan. "I shall use my time." Bravo to all of it.
David Dencik
That accent and that vaguely Borat style was a big risk, but I think it absolutely worked.
Whoever cast the kids
They both looked the part and didn't mess up the movie the way kids tend to do. Well done, all!
Couple things I'm not sure about
Still not sure why we needed the gunbarrel done that way, but whatever. Is it meant to symbolize something?
I think it's normal to enjoy liking the villains in these movies, and having Valdo get weird and racist at the end kind of wrecks that for him. If Zorin had used the n-word or something, it'd have sucked a lot of fun out of AVTAK.
I mostly loved Hans Zimmer's score, but Final Ascent might be a bit heavy. And on the flipside of that, I feel like one more scene (I have no idea what) would have been nice to have between the MI6 staff mourning and Madeleine telling her daughter about "Bond, James Bond".
EDIT: I didn't even get into how absurdly good Daniel Craig was! :)) Absurdly good. It's ridiculous.
That's perfect.
Thanks for this! I came here to read reviews and there seem to be about 3 actual reviews so far. Anyway, I enjoyed the film very much and I appreciate your review.
Ok, that makes total sense. I can't believe I missed it if it's there. Maybe near reference to the 'transport boats' coming -- and I understand the urgency to destroy the island was because the Russians and Japanese were closing in fast.
Was there a basic explanation for how the poison garden and "factory" (radioactive water, water) factored into the production of the virus? Or somehow fueled the weapon?
I think after he lets M2 go, he says something like "We have to meet the buyers"...
As for the water, there is some line about "That is the farm, this is the factory." How that clears anything up, I don't know.
I remember that line. And I remember thinking "...what?" Haha
Yes!!
I think what he means is that the garden is the "farm" as in that's where the deadly things are first grown, and that the warehouse is the "factory" in that it's where they are turned into Heracles in the sense that they can actually be administered via nanobots and whatnot.
The Universal planet logo become the circle is cute, and the fading into the white snow is aesthetically beautiful. I couldn't care less about the lack of blood; it was clever and pretty and a joy to watch.
I really just hate how sloppy the transition was from the Universal logo to the dots. They could've had the Universal dot just fade fully to black in the centre and then have the dots start as per usual. It was honestly like they had forgotten to do the logos and some intern quickly slapped it on in Premiere six hours before the premiere. I know it's such a ridiculous thing to harp on about, "oh I didn't like the COMPANY LOGOS" for god's sake...but for how sincerely excellent this film is there wasn't one person who piped up and said "something's not right here"?
Must be. Otherwise why would the workers be collecting things from the garden?
Exactly. That third act really MOVES and there's even a detail or two I'm fuzzy on, so I can't blame people for asking "what the hell?" about the odd line. But overall I was consciously aware during the premiere of how tightly wound and closed off this screenplay is, so I'm looking forward on my second and third viewings next week to reconnect the few tiny loose threads that are left. I'm seriously anticipating an even higher appraisal of this film, perhaps even an upgrade from my 9.5/10 to a 10/10.
Thanks!
Oh, so the nanobots release a secondary agent after they have found a DNA match. Ok, that kind of makes sense. I guess it doesn't really matter then, that Heracles was developed in the MI6 black lab, but Safin then has the capabilities as well, because they may carry something different, the point is the bots can release something deadly once activated. Ok. Slowly getting there.
I think what happened was Heracles was originally designed in the black lab, but Safin somehow got his hooks into the scientist in the intervening 10 years and so the project began to be replicated on a much larger scale on Safin's island as well.
Regarding Safin the area creating some debate or ripples. The performance is excellent, especially his visual introduction in the opening sequence and in London with Swan…I think this line and sequence of dialogue sums up Safin perfectly…
“…People want oblivion and a few of us are born to build it for them… so here I am their invisible God…” and Bond films have always been defined by their villains since their inception.
I think this is where the slight disconnect has arrived, Malek actually is so good at acting he slipped into the Safin character during all the promos to a form and the two-year wait has hyped up everything to levels that a marketeer could only dream of...with repeated interviews, promos, trailers, fan trailers that surpassed the real ones, theories and beyond...Safin is about innocence lost at an early age and the psychological issues that this can create and fits in exactly as it should with Madeleine's life narrative...
The narrative construction works for the character for me. If you are left wanting more then perhaps the producers, writers and individual actor portraying Safin in Malek have done something right…I think he will be remembered more favourably in time especially as his scheme is so contemporary and will become a historical fact...
The three-hour running time goes by in a flash due to the direction then editing and the cinematography and direction should be nominated if there is any justice.
As closure to the Craig era the NTTD titles are a disappointment for the most part even if it nods to my favourite film OHMSS.
Nice review. Having watched it again I'd say Safin is my favourite villain of the Craig era even if superficially he seems the most cliched. Not as in your face as Le Chiffre or Silva but there's a lot to unpack here when you think about it despite his small screen time.
As you say Malek's attraction to, and view of, the role is that Safin himself isn't a villain or criminal for just kicks or profit. He very much feels the victim of circumstances, a victim of SPECTRE. I love the first scene of him and adult Madeline. There's a creepy menace to him but his slight frame and subdued behaviour also makes for a pitiful character. It's his scenes I'll look forward to on subsequent rewatches.
I definitely couldn't put him above Le Chiffre and I don't see that ever happening, but I think he's probably on good footing to keep it reasonably competitive with Silva on my list, though right now Silva wins. But I have a feeling I'll be even more positive about Safin after my next viewings.