{"id":5367,"date":"2021-10-06T10:00:50","date_gmt":"2021-10-06T08:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1383527"},"modified":"2021-10-06T10:38:10","modified_gmt":"2021-10-06T08:38:10","slug":"why-no-time-to-dies-biggest-twist-doesnt-work-as-well-as-it-should","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/why-no-time-to-dies-biggest-twist-doesnt-work-as-well-as-it-should\/","title":{"rendered":"Why No Time to Die\u2019s biggest twist doesn\u2019t work as well as it should"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Morgan Jeffery\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 06 October 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

\u201cJames Bond will return.\u201d It\u2019s rare for a work of fiction to dramatically kill off its protagonist only to shortly afterward promise their resurrection in a future outing, but that\u2019s exactly what happens at the climax of No Time to Die<\/a>, the 25th Bond film and the final outing for Daniel Craig as Ian Fleming\u2019s agent 007.<\/p>\n

Back when the rumours first began to swirl about Bond\u2019s demise in the upcoming film, I\u2019ll admit I dismissed them out of hand. As a lifelong fan of the franchise, I balked at the very notion. You can\u2019t kill James Bond<\/em>. (In fact, until Craig\u2019s tenure, it was a rare occurrence for the character to so much as sustain a bullet wound.)<\/p>\n

But it has to be said, in context, as played in the final movie, killing James Bond works and it works beautifully. It\u2019s a fitting end for Craig\u2019s interpretation of 007 \u2013 tragic yet heroic \u2013 with pitch-perfect performances from the man himself and L\u00e9a Seydoux as Bond\u2019s beloved Madeleine Swann (though it was actually the restrained reaction of Ben Whishaw\u2019s Q, taking a deep breath and fighting back tears, that actually almost broke my own resolve).<\/p>

Once you\u2019ve seen it, it\u2019s sort of difficult to imagine how else the Craig era could\u2019ve ended \u2013 just having the tortured spy ride off into the sunset with Madeleine (again), this time with little Mathilde (Lisa-Dorah Sonnet) in tow, wouldn\u2019t have been anywhere near as satisfying. Let him go out all guns \u2013 or rather missiles \u2013 blazing.<\/p>\n

But for all their faultless execution, these scenes don\u2019t quite pack the punch they should. Why? Those four little words: \u201cJames Bond will return.\u201d<\/p>\n

If this were not merely Craig\u2019s final film in the franchise but the final one ever<\/em>, then Bond going out in a blaze of glory, saving the world from imminent destruction, would make for a fitting end. But this isn\u2019t the end \u2013 not really. The character\u2019s durability is in this instance a weakness \u2013 yes, we might\u2019ve seen the last of Craig as Bond and series producer Barbara Broccoli has promised there\u2019ll be a suitable period of mourning<\/a>, but it won\u2019t be all that long before somebody else \u2013 Tom Hardy or Reg\u00e9-Jean Page or in all likelihood someone brilliant most of us would never have thought of \u2013 will be strapping on that tux and swilling vodka martinis.<\/p>\n

\""NO\"<\/div>
MGM\/EON<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

There\u2019s an argument to be made that killing Craig\u2019s Bond at least ups the dramatic stakes for future instalments. Previously, 007 was untouchable, indestructible \u2013 we always knew he\u2019d save the day, get the girl and emerge more-or-less unscathed. Now, not only can James Bond bleed, he can die<\/em>. They went there once, they could do it again. That possibility will always be in the back of our minds when 007 takes on his latest fiendish nemesis and aims to thwart his wicked schemes.<\/p>\n

But if we always know that the character \u2013 in some form, wearing some face \u2013 persists, does any of that even matter? No Time to Die seems to suggest it doesn\u2019t, obliterating our hero then promising his revival mere minutes later. The franchise will reboot and he\u2019ll miraculously be restored to life. Ironically, by killing Bond, the franchise has proven his invincibility beyond question. Now, even death can\u2019t stop him.<\/p>\n

Yes, James Bond can die. But he\u2019ll always, always return.<\/p>\n

Read more:\u00a0<\/strong>No Time to Die might present strongest evidence yet for<\/a> hug<\/a>e<\/a> James Bond fan theory<\/a><\/p>\n

No Time To Die is out now in UK cinemas \u2013 visit our Movies<\/a>\u00a0hub for more news and features, or find something to watch with our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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By Morgan Jeffery Published: Wednesday, 06 October 2021 at 12:00 am \u201cJames Bond will return.\u201d It\u2019s rare for a work of fiction to dramatically kill off its protagonist only to shortly afterward promise their resurrection in a future outing, but that\u2019s exactly what happens at the climax of No Time to Die, the 25th Bond […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":5368,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/10\/why-no-time-to-dies-biggest-twist-doesnt-work-as-well-as-it-should.jpg",1920,1280,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/10\/why-no-time-to-dies-biggest-twist-doesnt-work-as-well-as-it-should-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/10\/why-no-time-to-dies-biggest-twist-doesnt-work-as-well-as-it-should-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/10\/why-no-time-to-dies-biggest-twist-doesnt-work-as-well-as-it-should-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/10\/why-no-time-to-dies-biggest-twist-doesnt-work-as-well-as-it-should-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/10\/why-no-time-to-dies-biggest-twist-doesnt-work-as-well-as-it-should-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/10\/why-no-time-to-dies-biggest-twist-doesnt-work-as-well-as-it-should.jpg",1920,1280,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Morgan Jeffery Published: Wednesday, 06 October 2021 at 12:00 am \u201cJames Bond will return.\u201d It\u2019s rare for a work of fiction to dramatically kill off its protagonist only to shortly afterward promise their resurrection in a future outing, but that\u2019s exactly what happens at the climax of No Time to Die, the 25th Bond…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/5367"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}