I also believe this.
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Great summation. Except that but about who’s Bond is whose and whatnot. That made my brain hurt 
. The World Is Not Enough is taken from OHMSS, not YOLT. Also, there was a female 00 in TWINE who receives the briefing instead of Bond. Devil May Care’s leading lady, Scarlett, is also 004.
I saw No Time To Die Saturday night in IMAX when I went with a group of friends (22 to be exact!). I was going to wait to post my thoughts until I had seen the film a second time when I could more properly assess the film, but after reading everyone’s posts so far, and having some time to digest it, I can’t wait. So here goes my initial thoughts:
First off, I was pretty much spoiler free going in. I knew there was a possibility of them killing off Daniel Craig’s Bond (and if they were ever going to do it, his 007 would be the one) but I didn’t know for sure. I was hoping they wouldn’t go there. I was hoping for a “regular happy ending” or for the You Only Live Twice amnesia ending with him, after his successfully foiling the mission, being captured by SPECTRE and handed over to either Irma Bunt or an escaped Ernst Stavro Blofeld to be brainwashed before Bond 26 leading to the attempted assassination of M. Sadly, that did not happen.
Anyway, as for the film, the PTS was solid, though I don’t understand why Safin saved Madeleine. He’s there to kill everyone and she even tries to kill him, so why would he save her? And why is he wearing the mask. He never uses it again, so what is the point? Also, it’s not explained how he survived being shot. There are Doctor No references sprinkled through the film, but it’s never stated that he has his heart on the other side, so I have to assume he was wearing a bullet-proof vest under his jacket. A true waste of potential Ian Fleming material. Matera looks great. The car chase is solid. Love the Gatling gun 360 shots. Absolutely classic.
The theme song is ok. Not great, but not the worst. It’s toward the bottom of the theme songs for me, but it’s definitely better than the horrid falsetto Writing’s On The Wall. The main titles didn’t really grab me. It was ok, but nothing special. I like the guns and DNA helixes, but overall I felt like this was Daniel Kleinman’s worst effort.
Hans Zimmer’s score is middle of the road at best. While not terrible, I was hoping for a little more. Certainly more James Bond Theme. Why is it so hard to hear the Bond Theme anymore? There are a few good tracks, but not as many as other scores. So all in all, it’s serviceable.
Seeing Bond and Felix Leiter playing bar games was great. It was the most camaraderie the Craig Bond and Leiter had (though that’s not saying much as they hardly had any interaction in the previous films). And it was kind of funny how they kept ignoring Ash.
But I didn’t know what to make of Obruchev. He was in on the original Heracles heist, but when they want him to insert Bond’s DNA into the nanobyte “bomb” he fakes it. Why? He’s perfectly fine with killing off all the SPECTRE members who he doesn’t know, but he won’t kill Bond? He doesn’t know him either. It makes no sense. Unless he was hoping Bond would save him. And then Bond does save him, but then Obruchev sells him out and slides the gun over to Ash so he can kill Bond! Why? It makes absolutely no sense! And the killing of Leiter, another sad useless death. Rene Mathis was bad enough (Bond’s best European friend), but now Leiter too (Bond’s best American friend), and of course, later on Bond himself. Obviously, none of these characters means a whole lot to the powers that be–at least in the Craig era.
Also, as others have pointed out, it was not good to be a character in Casino Royale. But while they said all the main characters died, there was someone who DID survive–the irrepressible Villiers, M’s right-hand man. Lucky him.
I will say that Paloma was an absolute treat. Easily the best thing in the whole movie. Love Ana De Armas. She’s great in about everything she does. And she looks absolutely stunning here. But why is it in the Craig films that the most enjoyable women are gone almost as soon as they arrive? Solange Dimitrios in Casino Royale. Severine in Skyfall. Lucia Sciarra in SPECTRE, and now Paloma. But unlike those others, she at least gets to live.
Now we come to the irresponsible M. Him “taking over” the Heracles project just doesn’t seem like something he would do. In SPECTRE he told Denbigh that sometimes a double oh agent has to know when not to pull the trigger. And trying to use Heracles for Double-Oh purposes seems waaaaay too risky and trigger happy. The head of MI6 should know when not to pull the trigger too.
The Blofeld scene in the trailer looked good, especially when Blofeld said, “Your enemy’s my enemy. How did that happen?” And Bond’s response, “Well, you live long enough.” But that was the highpoint and then they killed him off too–offscreen. Very unsatisfying.
Bond learning he had a daughter? Very dramatic. We are now entering soap opera territory. I know Bond had a son in the You Only Live Twice novel, but it didn’t feel as contrived as here. Then, he peels her an apple in the morning. Ah, domestic bliss, however awkward it appeared on screen. Well, if Roger Moore can make quiche, I guess Craig can make breakfast with an apple.
The ensuing car chase while good, failed to live up to my expectations. I was expecting a little more, but like the PTS car chase all the best bits in those two scenes were shown in the film’s trailers, which, for me, dampens some of its impact during the film. The Ash death scene though was good, if predictable, and one of the colder kills in the series.
I wasn’t sure how I’d like the Nomi character, but she came off better than I thought/feared she might. She had a good rapport with Craig and their one-upmanship was entertaining.
The assault on Safin’s lair was ok but not believable. MI6 knows it’s an old military compound and very big. They know Safin’s got Heracles, maybe not as much of it as he actually does, but they know he’s got it. They know how dangerous it is, they’ve seen how dangerous it is, and yet they only send in TWO agents who as soon as they get there realize, uh, we don’t have enough explosives to shut this place down? Not good planning.
Rami Malek’s Safin was underwhelming. He was creepy and never more scary than when holding Mathilde but other than that, he was almost a non-entity. As has been said, other than killing off SPECTRE for revenge for his family’s death, what was his endgame? It’s hinted at, but never really explained. Also, it seemed like he was leaving to go meet the arriving boats and suddenly he appears out of nowhere, alone, without his men, and shoots Bond. Lucky he decided to come back.
And another thing, the Garden Of Death, was not well developed either. Great idea, poorly executed. It looks like it might be dangerous, but then you’re not sure. Other pools certainly were, but in the Garden Of Death room, its’ unclear. Why does Bond in his rush to get out of the complex just run right through the pool instead of going around it? What idiotic reason was there for that? At the time, he wasn’t poisoned so why slog through that potentially–and likely–dangerous water, especially when he knew how lethal the nanobytes were? (Combined with the doors closing and needing to be reopened, as soon as he was shot and fell in the water, I knew he was done for.) Still don’t know if that water was filled with nanobytes, but if not, why were the guys in there wearing protective suits earlier? Safin, though, doesn’t seem the least bit concerned about the water either. He just walks right in it too. Dumb.
And what about Madeleine. She is better developed here than in SPECTRE and Lea Seydoux and Craig have more chemistry here than in SPECTRE and are certainly more believably in love than the previous film, but I still don’t see her as one of the big loves of Bond’s life. The scene with her and Bond in the Aston Martin getting shot up was really good but that was her high point. Then she ultimately gets to live and she still has those Blofeld nanobots in her skin too. I guess she can go on potentially poisoning any Oberhauser/Blofeld family members the rest of her life. Lovely thought. 
And now for the end. Did not like it one bit. Bond dying was a terrible way to go. He is an indestructible hero. The man men want to be and women want to be with (although not in the Craig era apparently). Realistic? No, but Bond films aren’t true to life. No film is. Bond is an icon, a national AND international treasure who’s been thrilling and entertaining fans for almost 60 years. Ian Fleming may have considered killing Bond off, but he didn’t. Now EON has done the unthinkable–all for DRAMATIC EFFECT. Sure it’s dramatic now, and yay, they get the critics to praise their “brave” effort and do what no villain has ever done–kill James Bond. But it’s a cheap, momentary trick. What does it accomplish in the long run other than piss off some fans and divide the fan base? Cubby Broccoli certainly would never have allowed this to happen. What does it mean for the future? Yes, I suppose some childhood is lost. Certainly some innocence is lost. But more is lost as well.
Speaking for me, I’ve already felt a distancing of the Bond series. The Daniel Craig Bonds have been a very mixed bag for me. Loved, loved, loved Casino Royale. Then came Quantum Of Solace which had good things and bad. But the bad was very bad–at that time the only things I hated in the series was in that film. Then came Skyfall and I didn’t like that film as much as others did. It looked fantastic and Sam Mendes made a lot of good decisions, but it, combined with QOS, had taken a lot of the FUN out of James Bond. Craig’s Bond was not having any fun and, as a result, it was hard for the audience as well. Then came SPECTRE, which I liked better than most. While certainly not perfect (ugh, foster brother Blofeld–likely the worst decision in the series) it at least seemed to bring the FUN back into Bond. And now No Time To Die. I had high hopes and expected it to be in my top two Craig Bond films. But that ending killed it. Killed Bond–and me too.
I need to see it again to get a better perspective on where I rank it, but it definitely is in my bottom 5 of the series. It has done what no Bond film has done before–sapped some of my love for the series. It certainly has taken the luster off Craig’s films and I can’t look at his tenure the same way. I went to the bookstore today and saw some Bond merchandise and I actually had to debate long and hard whether to get it. (I ultimately did, but I still felt empty.) I don’t know if I’ll look at the series in the same way again.
What started out with a bang in the Craig era ends with a whimper. All I can say is I hope Bond #7 in Bond 26 is a return to form to the old days where Bond was Bond and he was FUN or else 007 truly is dead.
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Blofeld did that himself years before.
In a series that has casual racism and rape by the lead “hero” there is no way that sentence isn’t hyperbole.
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Rape? What rape? Bond never raped anyone.
Pussy Galore and Patricia Fearing.
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Well, if we go by the current definition of rape as ‘forcing sex against the victim’s expressed wishes’ then a lot of the earlier interactions between Bond and Pussy Galore or Patricia Fearing definitely constitute sexual assault. Other occasions where Bond has sex with SIS employees seem to go at least against the code of conduct for any responsible employer.
Frankly, this cannot entirely have escaped us, can it?
For dramatic effect indeed. But isn’t everything Eon does done for dramatic effect? That’s Eon’s whole raison d’être, to put up a show every few years for the entertainment of the audience. We can of course differ on whether we are entertained sufficiently by their efforts. But it’s not probably fair to hold the resort to dramatic effect against them. It’s the whole point.
As for offending fans, we are the ones who decide how we react to their offerings. Our reaction is the only element we have actual control over. We chose if we’re ‘pissed off’ or not. It’s all in the perspective and ultimately up to us if we consider NO TIME TO DIE took the ultimate risk, or if we prefer a generic ending in the mould of the series. Would lip service to the ‘traditional’ end of a Bond film have been braver?
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Bond didn’t rape either of them.
In regards to Pussy Galore, he initially forces a kiss on her, yes, but then she WILLINGLY embraces him and kisses him back. Additionally, after their roll in the hay, she contacts Felix Leiter and helps him switch the gas canisters. (Bond doesn’t even know she has done it!) If she had been raped by Bond, she certainly wouldn’t have helped him at all. She would have done anything to hurt him and what he was trying to accomplish. But she doesn’t do anything like that. She HELPS him. In Goldfinger, Bond accomplishes his mission because he was able to seduce/get Pussy on to his side. Was it more physical than some would like? Evidently so, but Pussy was fine with it. Later on, when they parachute from the crashing plane, Pussy WILLINGLY makes out with Bond. That is not something a woman would do if the guy had raped her a day or two earlier.
As to Pat Fearing, she knows what’s happening and she’s PLAYFULLY wagging her finger at Bond with a smirk on her face while backing up to the very place where the liaison will take place. She makes NO EFFORT to get around or away from him or to push him away or even call for help. She WILLINGLY backs up into the steam room. A day or two later, we see them in bed together in various stages of undress, clearly just having made love. If she had been raped by Bond before, she would NOT willingly be in bed with him again. Additionally, she is clearly upset/jealous when she sees Bond flirting with the Shrublands girl in the hallway, hardly the typical reaction of someone seeing their rapist flirting with another girl. And lastly, when Bond is leaving Shrublands, Pat WILLINGLY offers to meet him again (for an unspoken rendezvous) “Any time, any place.” She obviously has positive feelings for 007.
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A “generic ending” was what Daniel Craig was going to have after SPECTRE which was going to be his final Bond film–and everyone was fine with that. But when the reaction to that film wasn’t what he/EON hoped, he agreed to come back and they went the complete opposite way in No Time To Die.
Braver would have been the amnesia route. That’s Ian Fleming. That’s from the You Only Live Twice novel which they used elsewhere in No Time To Die.
Killing Bond just seems like it was done for shock value and to please critics, which yield only short term results.
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And that’s the problem here, do we think it’s ‘initially - but she will come around, no problem’?
Any number of rape cases in court rooms see this particular defence made by the perpetrator.
You. Do. Not. Force. Yourself. Onto. Somebody.
That’s the whole thing about rape/sexual assault to know, nothing else. The films in question may not depict it as rape - because, you know, she came around fine, wink wink - but the reality of it is a sexual assault. Oftentimes traumatic for the victims. And our entertainment culture did little to help them in depicting cases where the victim initially is ‘a bit reluctant’ but ‘actually wants it’.
Plenty of examples throughout the Hollywood output, spanking has been a fetish employed without the slightest concern over many years in ‘family films’ and with stars such as John Wayne. Bond surely wasn’t alone in this particular culture.
But the fact remains that this stuff isn’t helping the victims and empowers the offenders.
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Not everyone.
It’s absolutely fine not to like it and your reasons are most erudite, but to burden those reasons as reflecting more views than one’s own risks undermining them. They don’t need to carry that weight.
I liked it a lot, but I cannot oblige anyone else to.
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I’ve always been uncomfortable with that Pussy Galore scene in the barn.
One thing I won’t hear of though, is that Severine was raped. She waited for Bond to board the ship (even had some champers chilling for the two of them) and was visibly disappointed when it was just that dude telling her they were about to set off.
And then Bond walks into the shower and there is no Pussy-Galore-esque resistance, she is happy he is there and they get on with it.
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The end of Moonraker was viewed as an abomination to be shunned. Bond in space with laser guns? That’s a big jump from the days of From Russia With Love. But life went on. The same will be true of No Time To Die. The Bond franchise is big enough to survive both extremes.
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I don’t think it was ever argued. The critics about this scene were more about the insensitive writing, putting back to back the evocation of heavy sexual trauma, and a somewhat gratuitous sex scene.
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In regards to Bond being monogamous in NTTD, I think that’s a good thing for this film. Madeleine is an important character for Craig’s Bond, as big as Vesper or Tracy. Bond puts up a tough front but he’s clearly wounded by what happened in Matera. One complaint of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is that Bond’s sleeping around at Piz Gloria undermines the importance of his relationship with Tracy. I don’t necessarily share that view, but NTTD definitely doesn’t have to worry about that issue.
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“We’re just telling a story and it’s all play. I love it. Who doesn’t like to play Brutus in Hamlet , you know?”
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Yes I noticed that too while watching it. Overall, NTTD is stuffed with references to and inversions of the first four films, and especially CR. I can’t wait to be able to sit down and watch all five films in a row, to pick up on all the echoes.
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I agree with your interpretation of Marlohe’s performance, but I think the accusation of rape is on a technical, psychological level and therefore a justified criticism. As MkB says, the criticisms were aimed at the insensitive juxtaposition of the scene in which Bond acknowledges she is a former sex slave in an abusive relationship who wants someone - anyone - to liberate her. The film doesn’t sufficiently establish that she’s attracted to Bond; it’s only made clear that she is desperate. This has the effect of making their subsequent shower sex seem transactional, akin to her former life as a sex slave, and therefore quite possibly non-consensual.
But I think it was thoughtless directing by Mendes, rather than the clear rapes by Connery in GF and TB.
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Engaging interview but I am going to be a bit internet and totally pointless and observe that Brutus is not ectually in Hamlet.
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