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Thank you, @AgentM72 as well as ColonelSun - this seems to me to be spot on, the best worded interpretation of the ending. And I've felt that way about it since first viewing.
2017- Roger Moore dies.
2020- Sean Connery dies.
2021- James Bond dies.
You'd be forgiven for thinking MI6 operations were made up of just 6 people....
- the DB5 scene at the square in Matera: the tension bulding up and then the release! Pure Bond, and probably the biggest crowd pleaser part of the entire movie.
- the entire sequence with Paloma: my favourite action sequence of the film, Paloma is such a great character and I love the chemistry between her and Bond.
- the very last scene of the movie: the music, the cinematography and the final words. Love the ending, and for me this scene is more emotional than Bond's death itself.
3 least favourite portions of NTTD:
- main title sequence: starts so promisingly with the Dr No dots, then turns into a colorless blob. Might be the least inspired Kleinman title sequence yet. I think he has run out of ideas and I hope he won't return for the next one
- the MI6 scenes in the middle of the movie, including meeting Q: not the great Blofeld scene, but the rest. It just doesn't work for me. Fiennes plays a completely different M to the one he played in Skyfall, and both Moneypenny and Tanner seem shoehorned in.
- the finale action sequence: Bond shooting dozens of people with a machine gun for several minutes is just not very exciting. Loved the gunbarrel shot though!
Bond can generate sentiment in fans. His destiny is to defend the civilian right toward being vulnerable and real. Like real world military personnel in fact. Except he is not 'real' but a personification OF fortitude.
So killing him in a Marvel /dr who sentimental way: yes, unearned, tonally blurred, forced and at odds with the character and lore. Not the 'what'. The HOW, is my objection and gutpunch feeling..
I must be getting too old what the hell is a beta male, I know what an alpha is but WTF, anyway I think it sounds a lot like having a go at those who didn't enjoy NTTD. Which I'm reliably informed is a no-no, so watch yourself @vittoriacolona.
Temple of Doom and Empire Strikes Back come to mind. Except those had a scheduled sequel comeback. BOND 26 does not exist yet and yes, dammit, though am posting on a James Bond fan message board?
My appetite for the series and its lore diminished, overnight. The movies are not 'life'. They are not the books. They have certain project template expectations which can be bent but not broken. This feels a needless risk, too far, for the sake of an 'arc' which by its nature is at odds with the serial thrills of this innately superficial and vicarious escapism character brand??
Ian Fleming died in 1964, has written a dozen of Bond novels and a number of short stories. He is not a messiah. If they only used his novels and short stories, we would never have gotten 25 movies. None of the Brosnan Bonds have anything to do with the Fleming Bond (apart from the name "Goldeneye") and the novels. And other films in the past also strayed away from the Fleming canon, as we all know, as several films used the Fleming titles, not the Fleming plots. And James Bond is a fictional character for crying out loud. The YOLT ending would have been a cliffhanger, but then we would have a new Bond recovering from amnesia? How should that work? Some people take the end of NTTD as somehow a personal insult. Relax, guys, it is JUST a movie.
Not necessarily, but it might be a Logan easter egg that the character named Logan has a vehicle fall on him in the woods :)) :))
It is honestly absurd to accuse NTTD of lacking Fleming influence.
I adore the fact that the very last regular mook Bond ever kills (with the exception of the stairwell) is in a gunbarrel-like scenario.
Where to start?.
Daniel Craig's performance is a good a place as any. Much has been said about him, good and bad. I freely admit that he has been far from my favourite Bond, but he absolutely knocks it out if the park here. Phenomenal in the melodramatic scenes, he sells every line, and his physical performance is great too, you can literally feel the weight of the world on his shoulders at the climax. I can't forget, also, that during the Jamaica/Cuba scenes, his Bond for the first time, really looks like he's enjoying himself. This is probably the first time that Craig has been given the insouciant material so prevalent in the other Bond performance's, and he was really bloody good. Why on earth it took EON five films to give him this, one will never know.
One downside to Craig's performance, and it's perhaps a bit harsh, as it's not really his fault-he has 0 chemistry with Lea Seydoux. No matter how many times the script tries to smash us over the head as them having an epic romance, I just didn't buy it. A bit of a problem as that is so pivotal to the plot. Indeed, Ana De Armas' scenes, actually even Lashana Lynch's (more on those two later) with Dan had far more crackle.
I thought Cary Fukanaga's direction was mostly excellent, and I didn't even mind the 'trendy' way he directed a couple of the fight scenes. It added some visceral energy, without ever becoming a distraction, as it did in QOS. That being said, yet another muted colour pallet, the third in a row, I could do without.
As for the 'Scooby gang', they really don't have much to do here, maybe M aside, which is probably for the best. Speaking of M, Ralph Fiennes is as great as ever, but his M basically has become a bit of a tosser. Apart from the scene where they discuss the villain's plans in comparison to those past, I don't care for the dialogue between he and Bond at all.
Lea Seydoux's Madeline had the heavy lifting, amongst the ladies, and for me,she let the side down Her performance goes from cold, to minus 50c. She needed more warmth, and despite Craig giving a career best performance alongside her, even he couldn't coax it out. Ana De Armas' was a complete delight, and I dearly wish she had been Bond's love interest, not just an extended cameo. Lashana Lynch did fairly well in a cool, but underwritten part. The anti-woke brigade (or should I say plain old racists) that seemed so concerned about her character can sleep safely at night, as she ended up being no more than a secondary sidekick. I actually half expected her to end up being a villain, as she took so long to catch up to Bond in Norway, but it was just plain old poor writing, instead of foreshadowing.
There was so many contradictions at play in the film. You have the tone in Jamaica and Cuba (which was a part of the film I loved) very fun and playful, remeniscent of the second act of Thunderball or TSWLM, and then a barrage of melodrama and seriousness towards the climax. The contradiction's permeate the movie. Lashana Lynch's Nomi is as hard nosed towards Bond as can be, but a few minutes later, deferred the 007 moniker back to him. Blofeld orchestrates a madcap scheme from behind bars, but later we see that even though it happened, it should be impossible (his antics wouldn't have even raised a question in a regular Bond film, but when presenting one that is striving for realism, it stands out). Even down to the performance's. Rami Malek's Saffin manages to be passive and understated, to the point of virtually being asleep and simultaneously chewing the scenery. All very strange.
I rather liked the idea of the Nanobots and targeted virus as a maguffin, even if it was probably a bit far fetched for the rest of the movie. Am I alone in not having any idea of why Saffin wanted to use them once he had effectively ended Spectre? What was his end game?
Speaking of Saffin, he really was a weak villain. I truly cannot understand the logic of bringing Spectre and Blofeld back, and not making them the true big bad. Particularly as the climax leans heavily on the YOLT novel. Even more so when you think that Blofeld was retro fitted to be the 'author of all Bond's pain' right back to CR. Saffin should have simply been 'Number 2' in Spectre and killed off in the third act, leaving the finale to Bond and Blofeld. Bond even wrings Blofeld's neck and repeats the sentence from Twice, while he does it, for god's sake!
I actually did rather like the film, until the climax. I suppose it was the obvious culmination to all the continuity knots EON have tied themselves up in recent years, but it really has added a bitter taste to Craig's run. Killing Felix? Ok. Killing Blofeld? Fair Enough. Killing Bond? it just flattened me, and the whole cinema.
I understand why EON did it, in a way. This gives them an excuse to truly start anew for Bond 26, free of any of the mountains of baggage Craig's run has carried. There's still a huge problem with this. The casual movie going audience don't understand that Craig's story is a contained one. They don't know about Star Trek or Marvel concepts like Prime Universes. They won't get that in 2023, when Henry Cavill/Aiden Turner/whoever walks across the screen and shoots the gun barrel for the first time, that they have simply gone back to the 'Prime' Bond that Connery up to Brosnan portrayed. To them, Bond as a character, is dead.
I can't really sum up anymore than that. It's impossible to separate what was mostly a good Bond film with that horrendous ending. For that reason No Time To Die is an enormous thumbs down. Please EON, go back to what brought your Father and his friend to the dance 60 years ago.
Roll on Bond 26...
I got more chemistry between Bond and Paloma in 10 minutes, especially when Paloma gently touched his face to put the earpiece in. It was a sweet and tender moment
This put such a smile on my face. Sleep well, Dimi.
This: Matera was European Capital of Culture 2019. You're welcome.
Almost as beautiful as European Capital of Culture 2008 B-)
Seydoux was night and day to SPECTRE, goes to show if the director and the writing is on point a character can be believable and relatable.
Yes a more convincing set up in SP would have helped but LS gave an infinitely better performance and her chemistry with DC was much more natural. Her interactions with her screen daughter were believable and the young girl that plays Malthide was also excellent.
I also noticed that Madeleine subtlety signalled her condition on the train as it pulled away.
I disagree that the ending wasn't effective and how it was sold didn't work, I was weepy the first time but the 2nd time I just let the tears flow. DC's I know line was devastating.
He totally earned this ending, the man has been amazing in the role, he's given his all like no other actor in the role has.
The idea of continuing the story after CR was not lazy, it was an attempt to do something different with the character.
Instead of coming up with a plot and a scheme and injecting James Bond into that, the decision was taken to make the films about Bond, dig into his psyche and show he is a living breathing character and not bullet proof super man.
They may well go back to that kind of thing but this era tried something new. The character has very gradually evolved over the original 20 films. Although the writing was on the wall and there was no way the 21st Century Bond could continue down that avenue.
Yes now we've seen a different reiteration of the character it might well have provoked enough influence to make it gravitate back to the old school Bond.
Although whoever agrees to sign up and I'll bet the mortgage on this, won't be taking on the role because they were influenced by the way the character was played prior to Daniel Craig.
It will because that actor showed that Bond can be much more than just a cypher to hang a plot around.
I'll eat my hat if it isn't the case but the next actor will want the role to play Bond like a living breathing character, that bleeds and is affected by his job.
I loved NTTD and I acknowledge it wasn't perfect but despite the emotional ringer it put me through and it starts earlier than that moment, I'll take that journey again and I imagine I'll shed even more tears over the years.
Who'd have thought that some of us would find a Bond film do this to us.
Also @bondywondy stop embarrassing yourself, its pathetic, face facts please.
NOT another DAD-style movie, that sucked and was an insult to moviegoers. How the producers backed Tamahori and his raving madness, is a mystery to me. But then they bought Madonna's crap "song".
Glad to hear that - I've enjoyed reading the thoughts of those who did and did not care for it, love to see lots of perspectives from passionate Bond fans. I'm going to go in with as open a mind as possible, even though learning of the shock ending was tough for me at first and I have a couple misgivings.
Blofeld was in this because they couldn’t kill off Bond and have left him alive so they had to kill him off quickly.