Nomi appreciation
bainesy1us
Posts: 43MI6 Agent
Ok so this is just a self indulgent appreciation for Nomi character and Lashana Lynch. Im a big fan and hope she returns. I know she's had a mixed review but those who love her can appreciate her here. An heres some pics for those like more who also thinks shes absolutely gorgeous:
Comments
@bainesy1us you can paste pictures directly into your post, you don't need to make them attachments. it'd make them much easier to see.
I like her a lot in NTTD, but I don't want her back.
@bainesy1us how can she return considering the ending of NTTD ? It would already be weird to have Fiennes, Harris, Wishaw and Kinnear back, then what shall we think about having a brand new character who almost witnessed Bond meeting death....
I thought she was one of the better things in NTTD. I wouldn't mind seeing Amazon make a spin-off Prime TV series on her. She could still be an MI6 agent - 008 or something - but there could be no reference to James Bond or anything that happened in NTTD. Just lots of action, fun and exotic locations.
She worked well in NTTD and it was an interesting twist making her 007. But agree, I'm not sure how she could return.
Why not set it in between Spectre and NTTD and chronicle her time as 007?
Even though that time period would be different from those of B26, you'd still have two 007s floating around at the same time (one debuting in the cinema and one debuting on steaming/TV) and unlike when we've had different actors playing James Bond and popping up on TV in repeats and in the cinema at the same time, this time there would be two 007s but only one would be James Bond. I think that would be too confusing for some. Better to have Nomi as a different double-oh agent, I believe.
AgentCJ19 said:
Why not set it in between Spectre and NTTD and chronicle her time as 007?
this is actually a very practical idea, if not necessarily something I'd want to see.
@Barbel suggested elsewhere the next Bond films could be set prior to Bond's retirement and death. There must have been many Unseen Missions between Quantum... and SkyFall. Its the same situation here.
Who knows how long Nomi's been 007 before she meets her predecessor? More than three weeks presumably, anywhere up til five years. She too could have had dozens of Unseen Missions during that time, and she was 007 while having those adventures. We dont know that she gets the number back after the end of the new film, so she may not have any future adventures as 007, but there is that long period before.
Why would "they" want to produce such films, other than the opportunity for the spin-off? Because Amazon just spent an obscene fortune to get half the rights to James Bond and other associated trademarks, and now their opportunity for a big return is limited by the fact they just bought a character who is...
...dead.
Surely they didn't spend all that money just for the rights to stream the 25 existing films, they need new product. And since the number 007 is one of the trademarks they bought, and James Bond himself is not using it, might as well make a film or two or ten about the new character who is.
In-universe it would not be confusing, since Bond is retired, has given up the number, and doing other things with his time. He could (and probably would) be completely off-screen. Nomi and the MI6 gang could make frequent reference to this offscreen, unseen character, just to justify the cash-in connection. Essentially us James Bond fans would be watching for just that one line of dialog where they say something like "I wonder how the old 007, James Bond would handle this situation?", and hopefully the rest of the story is actually good.
For normal folks paying to see movies the question of who is 007 vs who is James Bond would be confusing, at first maybe, but there is wikipedia and other sources for new fans to look up the backstory, and they can always add it as a bit of text or exposition at the start of each adventure.
I think a spin on Amazon in between the Spectre and NTTD timeline is a great idea only issue is you still couldnt have Fiennes, Harris, Wishaw and Kinnear as to get them free for filming often enough wouldnt be possible. Maybe Nomi raise to 00 status in another department and new characters would be fun. It would bring the franchise even more up to date and give the producers more scope to do stand alone bond stories in with the films going forward
I don't want her to play 007 any more than she already has. We've got enough of "the next James Bond is a black woman!" nonsense without it. There would also be two 007s at the same time, one in cinemas and one in streaming. Lashana Lynch did a great job in NTTD, bur Nomi can't be used again.
She was fine, but they didn’t give her enough to do, and the bit about giving 007 back to Bond was just corny.
She can't reappear in another Bond film without tying that film into the completed continuity of the Craig era. And while giving her a film set between Spectre and NTTD is a smart idea, it's probably too subtle for the mass audience. The best way to go would be for her to have her own film series, one completely separate from the Bond series (no shared actors or references) and in its own continuity. And even this would not be likely, because EON is a one-series-at-a-time company that has enough trouble producing Bond films, let alone other franchises.
I thought she was good, but like Gassy Man I was surprised at how little she got to do. If you removed her from the film almost nothing about the plot would change: none of her actions have any impact. She kills Valdo, but that wasn't exactly hard!
I guess it would have been weird to not have any new agents after Bond left so you have to show that in order for his leaving to make any sense, but her only real impact was very slight character stuff for Bond, nothing with much of an impact otherwise. Madeline is the only one of the three main guest women characters who is intrinsic to the story.
I thought if at least Nomi had rescued Bond from the sinking ship it would have been something vital she did. Also it might have given their relationship some rivalry- as it is Bond runs rings around her from the start.
Nomi was a worthwhile addition to the movie, but uh, George Lucas called and he wants his spinoff strategies back.
I think it would be great - a mini series (3-4 60 min episodes at a time) on Amazon Prime, also gives them a nice big title for their streaming service
maybe could even tempt Craig back for a cameo - Nomi/MI6 needs something and Moneypenny says "I know a guy", Moneypenny jets off to Jamaica turning up his house and asking for help (could get a great scene of Bond returning home with a woman who then thinks Eve is his wife and slaps him). Bond is dismissive telling her to get some rest and they'll talk further in the morning. Cut to Eve in the morning outside packing/prepping for the mini-mission when Bond arrives drops whatever shes after into her hands saying "far easier to steal something at night.... breakfast?"
Sorry I've gone into complete fan fiction mode there!
I think she’s hands down the sexiest Bond girl to ever grace the saga.. her muscular body and (beautiful) androgynous face had me swooning over her throughout every scene.
I have no problem with Nomi to be honest, I really liked her banter with Bond.
I have more issues with Madeleine (my least favorite character in NTTD) than Nomi.
And Nomi/Lashana had a lot more chemistry with Craig/Bond, than everything he'd been with Madeleine/Seydoux.
I actually think, she should have a lot more to do in the film because I think she'd been sidelined particularly in the middle act.
I though liked her and yes even Lashana, I think she played it really great.
If I were to rank them:
1. Paloma (Ana De Armas)
2. Nomi (Lashana Lynch)
A Cliff.....
3. Madeleine (Lea Seydoux) dull, just dull and boring, paperthin.
While she wasn't the "Tracy II" they hoped for, I think Madeleine is a good character. Paloma was great, but how on earth is Madeleine "paperthin" compared to her"?
Nomi‘s greatest accomplishment in NTTD was steering the dinghy to the shore without an accident…
IG: @thebondarchives
Check it out, you won’t be disappointed
She was also badass during the raid on Safin's lair ....
After all the hoopla about Nomi being the new 007, I really thought her character was very underserved and only used to make Craig look good.
After Craig explicitly tells Leiter he doesn't want to get involved in extracting the scientist, her appearance and threat to shoot him in the knee has the opposite effect and actually motivates him to get back in the game.
During the whole Cuba sequence she is always one step behind Craig who constantly outsmarts her while she only manages to lose both the scientist and her plane.
When at MI6 she comes across as very insecure about her status as 007. Her then offering to give up her 007 title back to Craig also doesn't make much sense to me since Craig didn't seem to care much about it, with his "it's just a number" line but whatever.
Even though she's assigned to track down Leiter's killer it's actually Craig who stumbles across him first and kills him while she shows up just in time to chauffeur him back to HQ.
During the assault on Safin's lair she does kill the scientist but them just quietly ferries Madeleine and the kid off the island and inexplicably doesn't try to go back. You'd think a 00 agent would at least protest a bit that staying behind and completing the mission is more important. Also don't see why Madeleine, who has shown to be able to defend herself, couldn't pilot the dinghy herself.
Madeleine just lacked any expressions or reactions, she's stiff, or maybe because it's the way Seydoux played her, though it's arguable on whether the character might be good with a different actress (maybe?), but she never changed the way she did in SPECTRE, she's still the same.
Paloma, on the other hand was natural, we've got to see her from being this anxious, almost naive character to a tough kicking woman without showing any confidence and being humble, that's natural, she had different facial expressions, she's reactive to what she's seeing, I think we've got to know more of Paloma's character than it did with Madeleine.
Yeah, she was cool but not letting her score any points on Bond at any time in her film was an odd choice- from Bond’s point of view especially there’s no rivalry at all because she never comes close to him. Even her first act of warning him off getting involved in Cuba fails!
When you look at other rival agents in the series like Wai Lin or Anya, they get a couple of victories over Bond in the first act or two: it doesn’t harm him and makes the rivalry more real. Other than proving that MI6 functions beyond Bond, I’m not quite sure what Nomi’s role was in this.
i do kind of wonder what happened to all the people who said that no one else could be 007 before the film came out though. Did they decide to not watch the film?
For sure, she still had her respect towards Bond, first, she's underestimating him, knowing that he's already old and retired from the job compared to her whose young and new to the job.
But as time goes by, she'd realized what Bond was capable of, she also knew to herself that she's not on par with him (her late arrival at times), that's where Bond earned Nomi's respect.
And in the end, she knew that it's going to be personal for Bond because it involved his family, so Nomi gave Bond a chance to finish it for himself, knowing that the fight was not for her or for herself, but for Bond.
The momentum was on Bond and not on her, so she'd let Bond do the rest, and she's just there to help.
And after all, she gave the number to Bond, so it's also him who had the authority over Nomi, Nomi had no right since she didn't had the number already, it's Bond, it's his mission, not hers.
My only gripe with Nomi was her being absent in the Norwegian Forest scenes, but other than that, I though got the concept.
Well I don’t know if she needed to earn Bond’s respect especially, I don’t think she was ever as important to him as he was to her. I don’t think he minded her at all: when he asked for her help it was treated like a big moment, but there wasn’t much inkling that he ever thought she was bad at her job so it was no surprise that he’d ask. It was far more about her feeling inadequate next to him for most of the film, but for us that wasn’t hugely important.
I disagree. Lea Seydoux played Madeleine well with all the emotions the role needed. The character didn't work as intended in SPECTRE because the relationship between Bond and her didn't get the screentime it should have. This was fixed in NTTD.
She's just cold and stiff, no warmth.
Maybe it's subjective though.
It might worked for you, but not for me.
She's not the worst Bond Girl for me, but she's middle low in my rankings, or near the bottom.
She just didn't do it for me.
I'm glad that you've liked her though, I wish I could feel the same. 😞
I've just re-watched the scenes where Madeleine and Bond are driving to Matera and their stay there. I'd say the predominant emotion she shows up to the attack is warmth. Watch the scene in the car again and see if you really can't see the warmth. There are other emotions such as love, worry and thinking of Safin and her childhood trauma too. Later we see shock, confusion and fear during the later part of the PTS I'd say Seydoux delivers a range of emotions. The last conversation with Bond before Bond dies she is of course very emotional.
This is always subjective to some degree, acting and opinions about it isn't a precise science. Butt I do wonder if your opinions about other aspects of the movie have influenced your perception of Lea Seydoux's performance more than what's fair. Discussions like this is what treads like this is for, so it's nice to dig into the topic.
NTTD is definitely not ageing well and its just a year since it was released. The acid test for me is that I bought the blu ray on day one and have watched it ONCE!!
Nomi was not a great character but no worse than Madeleine or Blofeld. They were both poor characters in Spectre which was a dreadful film anyway. Why they were brought back is beyond me. They say they threw everything at NTTD. Shame they couldn't produce a good film at the same time.
NTTD is definitely not ageing well and its just a year since it was released. The acid test for me is that I bought the blu ray on day one and have watched it ONCE!!
Same here. I've watched the film twice in total.