Having seen it, I think it is absolutely well done. The score is highly emotional with its descending three-tone motif going higher and higher. And Bond is definitely facing the end bravely, climbing up that ladder to look death in the eye, with a wonderful delivery of his last line, telling Madeleine he knows that Mathilde is his daughter (by the way: lots of M‘s in his life).
And I loved how the Mi6 crew paid their respects in the office, ending on „now, back to work“.
Will you please all stop being convincing? You’re making me want to watch it again accepting that end, and enjoying it for what it stands for… Bloody you!
In addition to the Hugh Dennis cameo, I think the other even better unexpected appearance was the fact that young Madeleine was watching Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers in her bedroom.
The Bond franchise has been lacking a duplicitous penguin for too long.
As I’ve asked earlier: what are your thoughts on Safin (the character, not the actor who I think delivers a great performance)?
I find he’s not very well developed: what’s his organization? How did he become so powerful as to defy and defeat Spectre? What is his motive, apart from just killing people for the sake of it?
Interesting point. I rather liked the death itself and the lead up to it. I felt it worked. The MI6 drinks felt corny, despite the interesting quote from M.
To me the physical death or not was not the boldest creative decision in the movie, but rather the introduction of a child. As Blofeld said earlier, the secret would be the death of him. Either physically as it transpired, or of the character and who he was.
Perhaps they’d let him survive, either through Safin not infecting him, or Q in that final call telling to escape and they’d isolate him, give him a blood transfusion or whatever. The character would still be dead. The whole idea of Bond being someone willing to risk life and limb for Queen and country, living only for disposable pleasures of easy sex, drink and gambling was dead as soon as Mathilde appeared on screen.
If he’d survived how would the next film have started? With Bond giving Mathilde her breakfast before leaving for work kissing Madeline good-bye? The whole dynamic would be different, as Bond weighed up duty to the UK vs responsibilities as a parent. Every time he jumped out of a plane or dived into a shark tank that balance of what comes first would be questioned. When we all become a parent that first time we knowingly give up our current life to one where we live to serve another human being (and of course the pleasure that brings :-))
Perhaps the ending could have been his survival. The cathartic release being that he had broken the curse of the double-Os set in CR, and had found a way to leave and live a full and happy life, having overcome the trauma of his parents death and the path that set him on. I would have been very happy with that, but the way back from that for the continuing series would still be problematic.
For me, the introduction of Mathilde moved up the drama from Bond fighting to the end and a noble death, to knowing that he’d finally been given a way out only for it to be cruelly snatched away. It was right that is was emotionally devastating
I think there are some questions about the quality of the execution of it, but I’ve got to admire that they decided to go there
His family used to be part of Spectre, until Blofeld decided he wanted what they had and sent Mr White to wipe them out. He thus knew what spectre had access to, and had easy access to member information.
Still, “a star on the memorial wall at MI6” (as Alec forshadowed in GE) as the last picture of the movie would have been so much more heartbreakingly emotional.
Would have been too much. I liked it the way it was handled. “He would have wanted it that way.”
Would have been great if they hadn’t just used the quote from Fleming but instead the entire Jack London quote (which would have been very fitting).
“I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, ever atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”
It’s known as Jack London’s credo: “I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”
