No Time To Die (Bond 25)

They couldn't do much with Ana de Armas when Madeleine was brought back. Plus, post #MeToo movement and re-examination of how Bond has treated women in the past.
 
I was worried they were going to kill her off so glad she got to live another day even though we won’t see her again
 
I never thought she was going to have a bigger role than what she actually had. Every trailer showed her in just that one scene in Cuba and then I read Fukunaga himself saying that he only wrote a small part specifically for her in the film.

I thought she was great for what she was, but I also don't feel that we needed any more of her.
 
For whatever little time she had onscreen, it was memorable…especially that dress.
 
I rewatched this for the first time at home [twice in theaters, opening weekend], its still perfectly tragic and stunningly entertaining - I still tear up during Felix's death and pretty much sob from the second James puts his two girls onto the raft and proceeds on his Moonraker [novel] raid (one-shot). Let alone, I'm an utter mess once he finds Dou Dou and acknowledges to Q that he won't be leaving...

I’m not going to make it. - James Bond

...proceeding with the comms call to Madeleine until the explosions. This movie gave me what I hoped TDKRises was going to.

Yes, Safrin and his plan isn't perfect - but the nano-bite virus plays better with each viewing. Because, this film isn't about that. It's anchored on James and his family, adopted or created. This team is my favorite of any spy franchise, [shoutout to Tanner] let alone all Bond films. Pour one out for Felix. This film also cheekily plays with Spectre's faults and makes that film feel more worth while/rewarding now.

It's also the nerdiest when it comes to Bond's legacy and history. It's not very upfront about it like the ST was for Star Wars... yet it definitely is with anyone who has watched all of these or has read the novels. CR adapted that book magnificently, but NTTD gives me the most novel-esque Bond pertaining to his vibes and emotions. Even in the heightened aspects concerning the EMP watch or drinking during the spectacular Cuba fight... he goes a little ham, yet never feels like it's trying to hard like the couch scene in Spectre.

So many small moments that harken back to character beats/situations in the novels of Live & Let Die, You Only Live Twice, Dr. No, Thunderball, The Spy Who Loved Me, and as I previously mentioned Moonraker.

I just love Craig's Bond and this film, so much.

No Time To Die
Casino Royale
Skyfall
Quantum Of Solace
Spectre
 
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antsman41 said:
I rewatched this for the first time at home [twice in theaters, opening weekend], its still perfectly tragic and stunningly entertaining - I still tear up during Felix's death and pretty much sob from the second James puts his two girls onto the raft and proceeds on his Moonraker [novel] raid (one-shot). Let alone, I'm an utter mess once he finds Dou Dou and acknowledges to Q that he won't be leaving...

I’m not going to make it. - James Bond

...proceeding with the comms call to Madeleine until the explosions. This movie gave me what I hoped TDKRises was going to.

Yes, Safrin and his plan isn't perfect - but the nano-bite virus plays better with each viewing. Because, this film isn't about that. It's anchored on James and his family, adopted or created. This team is my favorite of any spy franchise, [shoutout to Tanner] let alone all Bond films. Pour one out for Felix. This film also cheekily plays with Spectre's faults and makes that film feel more worth while/rewarding now.

It's also the nerdiest when it comes to Bond's legacy and history. It's not very upfront about it like the ST was for Star Wars... yet it definitely is with anyone who has watched all of these or has read the novels. CR adapted that book magnificently, but NTTD gives me the most novel-esque Bond pertaining to his vibes and emotions. Even in the heightened aspects concerning the EMP watch or drinking during the spectacular Cuba fight... he goes a little ham, yet never feels like it's trying to hard like the couch scene in Spectre.

So many small moments that harken back to character beats/situations in the novels of Live & Let Die, You Only Live Twice, Dr. No, Thunderball, The Spy Who Loved Me, and as I previously mentioned Moonraker.

I just love Craig's Bond and this film, so much.

No Time To Die
Casino Royale
Skyfall
Quantum Of Solace
Spectre
Click to expand...
sherlock-yes.gif


No Time to Die made me realize that Bruce dying at the end of The Dark Knight Rises would have been way more impactful. Mind you, that was before movies like Logan and Endgame went about killing off their main heroes so I could see why they'd be reluctant to kill off Batman and go for a happier ending at the time, but it would have been such a bold move that maybe would have improved the movie as a whole, controversial as it would have been back then. Hell, the ending as it is was controversial because as a good number of fans who made the argument put it, "Batman doesn't quit".

(I know I'm veering slightly off-topic here but I figure it's relevant since No Time to Die is very much part of the current trend of killing off established franchise main characters)
 
antsman41 said:
I rewatched this for the first time at home [twice in theaters, opening weekend], its still perfectly tragic and stunningly entertaining - I still tear up during Felix's death and pretty much sob from the second James puts his two girls onto the raft and proceeds on his Moonraker [novel] raid (one-shot). Let alone, I'm an utter mess once he finds Dou Dou and acknowledges to Q that he won't be leaving...

I’m not going to make it. - James Bond

...proceeding with the comms call to Madeleine until the explosions. This movie gave me what I hoped TDKRises was going to.

Yes, Safrin and his plan isn't perfect - but the nano-bite virus plays better with each viewing. Because, this film isn't about that. It's anchored on James and his family, adopted or created. This team is my favorite of any spy franchise, [shoutout to Tanner] let alone all Bond films. Pour one out for Felix. This film also cheekily plays with Spectre's faults and makes that film feel more worth while/rewarding now.

It's also the nerdiest when it comes to Bond's legacy and history. It's not very upfront about it like the ST was for Star Wars... yet it definitely is with anyone who has watched all of these or has read the novels. CR adapted that book magnificently, but NTTD gives me the most novel-esque Bond pertaining to his vibes and emotions. Even in the heightened aspects concerning the EMP watch or drinking during the spectacular Cuba fight... he goes a little ham, yet never feels like it's trying to hard like the couch scene in Spectre.

So many small moments that harken back to character beats/situations in the novels of Live & Let Die, You Only Live Twice, Dr. No, Thunderball, The Spy Who Loved Me, and as I previously mentioned Moonraker.

I just love Craig's Bond and this film, so much.

No Time To Die
Casino Royale
Skyfall
Quantum Of Solace
Spectre
Click to expand...
Yeah, this movie has a special place for me and the ending just wrecks me as well.

It came out on VOD the night before my wife and I had our doctor's appointment to go over the genetic screening tests for our miracle pregnancy. Already running high on emotions and paternal instincts on overdrive that night, the themes of fatherhood and dying for your child pushed every possible button. And in proper Bondian fashion, we learned that next day that we were having a girl of course! :funny:
 
If anything, I would have preferred a happier ending a la The Dark Knight Rises, personally. The whole final act is the weakest part of the movie for me. It seemed rushed and his death felt like it happened because Craig wanted out. Not that I'd mind the idea itself had it been better executed.
 
I think a happier ending would've been good. Just Bond retiring. I do think that that idea kinda lost its effect because like 4/5 of the Craig films have the Bond retiring angle in them for at least a bit. They do need to retire the whole "one last outing for a well loved character portrayal where the now retired hero comes out of retirement for 'one last job' and they have a daughter, one of their old friend's dies around/during the mission and the hero also dies at the end" schtick. Logan, Endgame, and NTTD have done it so similarly in fairly recent memory and it's so specific that I think it's a tad played out now.
I didn't mind Bond dying either tho
I liked NTTD a lot but most of the emotional beats were really lame and very forced to me. That's my main complaint for the movie. The other being the villain and runtime

Felix Leiter dying? To me, it was just another movie to do the "bring back a previous character for a cheap death to motivate the hero but by the end of the movie doesn't matter that much" trope (see Star Trek Into Darkness, Bad Boys for Life, Jason Bourne, X-Men Apocalypse).
We hadn't seen Felix/Wright in 11-13 years. Don't think he got many mentions in universe after QoS either. Sure they tried to go like "We had a bunch of adventures together" but not seeing or hearing him mentioned in a while made it all ring hollow.
He didn't even get an interesting send off like say Xavier in Logan. It was a lame tussle for a gun. You couldn't even give him a decent dignified or at least tragic scene? Really just feel like they brought Wright back because Westworld blew up between SPECTRE and NTTD. "I had a brother his name was Felix Leither!" Really?

Also didn't like Lea Seydoux's character and Bond together. Chemistry was non existent (he had more with De Armas and Harris) and honestly they looked more like a daughter and youngish father than a couple. So when I'm supposed to believe this is the 2nd love of Bond's life that he gives it all up for (and that the villain is also in love with), it didn't work. But at least it was better than in Spectre. Seydoux saying "I love you" during the Spectre torture scene almost made my eyes roll out of my head. With Vesper, at least her and Bond's chemistry was so good that you could buy that Bond fell in love in such a short period of time. The daughter in NTTD was cute though and that was nice.

Anyway, really enjoyed the movie but the emotional beats were really forced and felt unearned to me.
 
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Craig's Bond always seemed like he had a death wish, so him dying in the finale of his run felt more or less natural to me. I'd just have rather it been at the hand of Blofeld instead of a new one-and-done villain who barely had any development. In that scenario I'd still want Bond to dispose of Blofeld as he did with Safin but I'd still keep everything else.
 
I don't see the idea of one being better to the other. I think him dying worked, but I also think him getting a happy send off would've worked too.

At least they didn't do a fake out though. That's just bad all around
 
A bittersweet ending was pretty much the norm for Ian Fleming (see: Casino Royale, Moonraker, From Russia with Love, The Living Daylights, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, You Only Live Twice).

Films more often than not leaned into the escapism, but whenever they go back to the source material it works for me. So I liked NTTD’s conclusion. Feels fitting to the character.
 
I'm still surprised they killed him. I was expecting a Bourne Ultimatum ending where they were going to cut to him surviving somewhere, but nope. But I'm glad they did. When else would you get the opportunity to do it?
 
I thought they wouldn't because I thought I read a rumor that one of the reasons Danny Boyle left was that he wanted to kill Bond, and Craig and co didn't

Guess I read it backward
 
I was surprised they actually showed him getting blown up. Figure we’d get a Captain America style death with just his voice cutting out at the end.
 
Hey maybe that explosion just blew him off the island and into the water like in Joe Versus the Volcano. :o
 
Haha unlikely. As the bad landlord said “I don’t think you’re getting your Bond back”
 
MadVillainy said:
I thought they wouldn't because I thought I read a rumor that one of the reasons Danny Boyle left was that he wanted to kill Bond, and Craig and co didn't

Guess I read it backward
Click to expand...
Oddly, Boyle wanted to go full Moore again with Bond.
 
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