The callbacks and subversions are endless, but the reason they work is because they exist for more than the single purpose of playing on your nostalgia. Every callback and subversion is a character building moment for Bond. And every subversion makes sense and is built toward the whole movie - they're all earned.
A great example is the drink ordering scene. Instead of Bond ordering his drink with his famous line, shaken not stirred, the barman asks if he wants it shaken or stirred and Bond says do I look like I give a damn? It reminds of us his line, so it brings out that feeling of nostalgia, but it shows us that this Bond isn't concerned with something Petty like drinks, he's focused on his mission. Another great example is the scene early on where Bond interrogates his targets wife whilst on the floor with her. Once he gets the information he needs, she invited him to spend all night with her, but instead he orders champagne and cavier... for one, and he leaves. More nostalgia, more finding out how Bond is unique.
One bigger plot subversion is killing off Chiffre in the second act (by someone other than Bond). This is directly akin to killing off Snoke early. Why does it work for one movie but not the other. In both cases we are expecting these guys to make it to the end just like all the earlier Bond villains/the emperor. But Chiffre is and isn't a Bond villain. He has the looks of one, he behaves like one, but his motivations are different, and when he fails his task he gets killed. But it feels right. The film properly builds in this direction. We had multiple earlier scenes of him getting his arm twisted by the other bad guys he owed money to, so the stakes were clear. We assumed he'd get out if it cause he's the bond villain, but if we were really paying attention to the movie this moment was telegraphed from a mile away. He was never going to get out of it. But with Snoke it's the opposite. He's built up as an equal to the emperor, or even stronger. He can freaking read minds. And then all of a sudden he gets killed like a bitch because he couldn't tell which hand Kylo was thinking about, nor hear/see the lightsaber moving next to him. It was a cheap move and undeserved because the film never worked toward it.
Submitted January 05, 2018 at 09:19AM by pokeaotic http://ift.tt/2CVmlrx
