I think so, yes. Even though ‘Nomi’ sounds much like a given name.
1 Like
Yes. She introduces herself with her surname, like Bond does. I saw that as the point, both OO7’s are far more similar than either will admit to at first.
1 Like
Saw it last night and LOVED IT!! Definitely Craig’s best since Casino Royale and hence knocks Skyfall out of the No.2 position in my ranking of the DC films (which I would not have thought possible)… Still way too early to rank it among the the previous 24 films… I’ll definitely need a few more viewings first. Overall, I’d give it 4 out of 5 vodka martinis! I’ll be going again for my 2nd viewing sometime next week. A terrific way to send Mr. Craig off in after a glorious 15 year reign as Bond. 
6 Likes
I’m not gonna lie, I choked up at the end. Being a father, has made me have different reactions to films than I would’ve had previously.
8 Likes
… and another one in Bond‘s life with a name starting with M.
1 Like
Mansfield knew her job!
2 Likes
As strange as it sounds, DAD shares similarities with NTTD.
It starts with Bond almost dying, it puts in sequences no one ever thought they would see in a Bond film (Bond being tortured, Bond with a full beard, the story going on during the title sequence, a female super spy being Bond‘s equal, Bond being out of the service and returning) and it is a mix of wildly outrageous scenes and tough, Flemingian sequences (the swordfight).
Sure, the emotional content is limited to the torture scenes. But like the other films of the Brosnan era DAD is like a tryout of elements which got reworked during the Craig era.
6 Likes
I feel a bit bad for Lynch because, although I’d really like to have a Nomi spinoff, Paloma is easily the best new (i.e. non-Fleming) character in the film and possibly the entire franchise. So if they make a Nomi-007 film, they must include Paloma too!
1 Like
Just got back from my second viewing. I enjoyed it even more this time round. And I came to the realisation that Safin wasn’t a terrible villain. It’s just that the film wasn’t about him, it was all about Daniel Craig’s James Bond.
To quote Safin “I’ve made you irrelevant.” And that’s what Safin was, totally irrelevant to the plot. He was only in the film because of course a Bond film needs a villain. But other than that, his limited screen-time and lack of focus was exactly what the story needed, or didn’t need.
I also can’t praise Craig enough. I picked up on little bits I didn’t notice before, like when he drops Maddy off at the train station, when he holds her close to him and you can just see his face and blue eyes over her shoulder. His eyes tell you everything he is feeling in just 2 seconds.
The staircase sequence at the end is probably one of my favourite action sequences in the entire series. Is it original? No? Is the combat different? No. But is it badass and intense and looks just so damn cool? Yes! The music during his ascent made the hairs on my arm stand on end. And the fact it is all done in one-shot is just the icing on the cake.
No Time To Die has catapulted itself into the top 10, perhaps even top 5 of my favourite Bond films. I think on every level, technically, visually, musically, everything just works.
I wish this wasn’t the end of Craig’s tenure as I would want Fukunaga back for the next one, though I know that’s extremely unlikely now.
5 Likes
I disagree, I took it at as a film about Madeline. The bad guy has a similar background to her, threat was against her and her family, Safin was created by the actions of her father and Bond was only targeted because he was who she cared for. Spectre was killed by the (to quote Blofeld) “the children of Spectre”
3 Likes
Seydoux certainly had more to chew on in this film compared to Spectre and I see what you mean. But for me Craig’s performance was so imbued with pathos- Madeleine being the woman he loves and the mother of his child having a lot to do with it- that I was blown away by his screen presence.
Daniel Craig has repeatedly said how proud of this film he is on the press junkets and I see what he means. He really gave it his all and it really shows this time. And that’s what I mean when I say it’s a film all about him old chap.
2 Likes
Agreed. There’s a lot of this that has happened in P&W’s time. As the esteemed Jim noted at length in the 007th Minute, SF is a whole load of ideas refined from their first run-out in TWINE.
But to be fair on P&W, that’s also been EON - either remaking their own (YOLT-Spy, GF-AVTAK) or repacking elements. If I remember correctly, the helicopter attack in SF was in the early draft of GE that had circulated these very boards when I first joined 15 years ago, and Spectre being replaced is from TSWLM.
3 Likes
Eon is like a huge box of Lego where all the Bond elements, all the script ideas, are stored as building bricks, continuously rearranged over and over for each production. Nothing is entirely new, the results often seem remarkably familiar. And yet, every once in a while the bricks come together to build something astonishing.
9 Likes
Or sometimes the box is dumped out and, like clouds, if you look closely you can see…a horse! Or that one over there - looks like a aeroplane!
We have to admit, there have been episodes where the signs of “re-arrangement” have been a little hard to spot…
3 Likes
The second viewing did the trick. I love this film. I’ve waited so long for No Time To Die that it feels very weird that its here now and I have seen it. It feels like a dream, I’m still getting use to it. My second viewing really solidified and clarified a lot of my thoughts and feelings about the film, the plot, motivations, etc. I still have issues with certain elements but overall I’m very positive about the film.
The new gunbarrel didn’t bother me as much this time as it did the first. I still think they should stop messing with it but what’s done is done. The pre-credit sequence is amazing. I love the flashback to the incident Madeleine talked about in Spectre. Safin is CREEPY as hell in the flashback. He’s like a monster from a slasher film. His manner of speech, the mask, the spiked boots. Terrifying. I found Safin to be a very satisfying villain throughout although he’s more low key compared to the likes of Silva.
The Matera sequence is absolutely gorgeous. I’ve been critical on the over visited Italy but what a staggering location. The bomb at Versper’s grave scared the shit out of me. Totally caught me off guard. The DB5 car chase is an all timer but Craig and Léa Seydoux’s performances really sell it. The rage, “I bet you have.”, the bullets on the windshield, and finally Bond unloading on Primo and his goons.
The credits are not Daniel Kleinman’s best work but it’s next to impossible to top Casino Royale and Skyfall, they’re certainly better than Spectre. The firing Walther PPKs making a DNA sequence is a brilliant image. Loved the song when it came out loved how it’s used in the score itself.
David Dencik is an absolute hoot as Dr. Obruchev.
The Jamaica scenes are simply lovely and its great having Felix back although I wish he had more to do. Cuba is fun, weird and all too short as is Ana De Armas’s role as Paloma. (Spin-off please!) Billy Magnussen is also a hoot with his shit eating grin. He has one of the most punchable faces in the entire Bond series. I love his little nervous ticks and laugh. Such a well deserved death scene too.
One major issue I have with the film, although my stance softened a bit with the second viewing, was the characterization of M. It seems out of character for Mallory to be so careless when one film ago he was lecturing C about it. M is inadvertently one of the villains of the film and it comes off that’s he’s not trying to save the world but cover his own ass. How he manages to keep his job I don’t know. I also find the nanobots a bit far fetched, at least for a Daniel Craig Bond film. A virus derived from plants would have been enough.
I also didn’t like how quickly Blofeld was killed off. I would have loved it if he and Safin were working together and the death of the Spectre agents in Cuba was punishment for their past failure in dealing with Bond and he wanted to burn Spectre to the ground to start anew. His death wasn’t very dramatic. Having said that Roger Moore once unceremoniously dumped Blofeld down a smoke stack so I can get over this.
And now the big stuff. I love that Bond has a daughter and that Bond would sacrifice himself to save her, Madeleine and the world. As Craig’s Bond films became a serialized saga I wonder if EON would do the one thing they could never do before. Kill James Bond. We saw him become a 00. Would we see him die and his five film run become it’s own self contained story?
Those last few minutes are a love letter to Bond aficionados and you’d have to be a pretty cold hearted bastard not to tear up. The music, “YOU have all the time in the world.” , quoting Fleming’s YOLT (quoting Jack London) “I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.” and then the final moments where Madeleine tells Mathilde the story of Bond, James Bond.
In that moment Craig’s five films have been reconceptualized as a story a mother tells to her daughter about her late father who saved them and saved the world. Then “All The Time In The World” kicks in and it’s just PERFECT.
14 Likes
Please don’t say that…
I am currently in Matera for a book launch. A launch that took me to the Matera Film Festival and Gravina for presentations, interviews and the kindly offering of sample books to various Festival and Council dignitaries.
Regarding the recent years, I make the argument that Italy is finally deserving the visitation that past years have ignored. Ian Fleming stated in his Thrilling Cities travelogue that Rome and Naples were awful, Connery’s years only afforded back projection trickery in From Russia With Love, Moore’s years saw him there three times and now, yes, of Craig’s five films, four of them sees him taking in the sensuality of all that Italy has to offer.
As someone who believes Bond works best in European locales, in my humble opinion, Italy is at the very top of that list.
My current hotel is overlooking the square, Piazza Duomo, on to which Bond lands his motorbike from the jump up a profitably sited arch. I move to Hotel Gattini for one night, Craig’s hotel of choice while here on location, after which I move for two nights to Palazzo del Duca, the hotel in which Craig trained, and which overlooks the ravine on the other side of which was built the Vesper grave site.
If opportunity is afforded, please make the time to visit Matera and Gravina. It is special beyond belief.
11 Likes
I’m not critical of Italy or the locations in Craig’s films, they have been gorgeous, I’m critical of how many times we have visited Italy. Four out of the last five films is a lot. I would have liked to see some other countries, those which a Bond film has never been to before.
This is the response I’m expecting from a lot of fans. It is completely natural to have an feeling of revulsion with the ending. When I found out I have no shame admitting I felt depressed. It’s a shock to the system so there needs to be a period of grieving to absorb it all. I think if fans can accept the spirit of the ending it’s a solid Bond movie and automatically makes itself one we’ll never forget.
4 Likes
I’m still baffled by rotten tomatoes saying it isn’t the most daring Bond film. Killing 007 isn’t the most daring thing they could do?
3 Likes
Seems like they’re basing that summary of the majority of the preceding content, rather than the very ending, which I think is just the last five or so minutes? But yes, I know what you mean.