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mod edit: Another question from someone who doesn't understand the meaning of 'spoilers'.

imranbecksimranbecks Singapore
edited November 2012 in Skyfall Posts: 972
So who was the guy in Shanghai that was staring at the painting whom Patrice later shot? It bothers me that Bond did not take any effort into preventing Patrice from taking the shot.
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Comments

  • MalloryMallory Do mosquitoes have friends?
    Posts: 2,060
    Why would Bond care if Patrice killed the guy? It was nothing to do with him.
  • imranbecksimranbecks Singapore
    Posts: 972
    I just feel that as an agent of the British Secret Service, he could've stopped Patrice from taking out the guy whether he knew what was going on or not.. Just sayin'..
  • RogueAgentRogueAgent
    Posts: 12,506
    I would concur with Mallory. Bond's interest is Patrice only!
  • doubleonothingdoubleonothing Los Angeles Moderator
    Posts: 864
    It does seem fairly odd that, seeing as Patrice has his back to Bond, his weapon is holstered and the rifle being constructed, that Bond doesn't just seriously wound him.

    Perhaps at this point, Bond is still unsure of his accuracy, but he seemed to be able to get close enough to make a non-fatal shot to Patrice's body without much difficulty.

    Then he could have interrogated him at his leisure and pursued any leads from there. Although, I'm fairly sure shooting Patrice and questioning him for information is not nearly as rewarding as showering with Severine aboard a beautiful yacht.
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    The real question I want to know is, when did Bond put his gloves back on. He took them off before he entered the building and then they were back on again once the physical showdown with Patrice took place.
  • doubleonothingdoubleonothing Los Angeles Moderator
    Posts: 864
    It was probably a bit chilly up there.
  • ZekidkZekidk
    edited November 2012 Posts: 3,169
    imranbecks wrote:
    It bothers me that Bond did not take any effort into preventing Patrice from taking the shot.
    It puzzles me. Bond follows Patrice and lets him kill an innocent person. The previous two films already rebooted Bond to show WHY he doesn't let innocents die.
  • doubleonothingdoubleonothing Los Angeles Moderator
    Posts: 864
    Who said this guy was innocent? He was looking to buy a stolen painting, after all.
  • ZekidkZekidk
    Posts: 3,169
    He didn't really put a lot of effort in preventing Severine to get killed, too. Not a blink. And this was a woman Bond just bedded hours ago?
  • myworldisenoughmyworldisenough
    Posts: 1,143
    People should not assume the guy was an innocent. Bond is a man on a mission, his brief is not to save every single person just to make everyone happy no one gets killed!
  • RogueAgentRogueAgent
    Posts: 12,506
    Perhaps it is MGW with a hair dye in? ;)
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    Zekidk wrote:
    He didn't really put a lot of effort in preventing Severine to get killed, too. Not a blink. And this was a woman Bond just bedded hours ago?

    This is a more pertinent point. Bond knew that help was coming soon and he took down Silvas goons pretty easily so why not do it 2 minutes earlier and save her?
  • myworldisenoughmyworldisenough
    Posts: 1,143
    TheWizardOfIce wrote:
    Zekidk wrote:
    He didn't really put a lot of effort in preventing Severine to get killed, too. Not a blink. And this was a woman Bond just bedded hours ago?

    This is a more pertinent point. Bond knew that help was coming soon and he took down Silvas goons pretty easily so why not do it 2 minutes earlier and save her?

    Bond may have not known that Silva was going to kill her, besides her death was able to show us the audience what type of villianous evil Silva was.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 14,840
    doubleonothing wrote:
    It does seem fairly odd that, seeing as Patrice has his back to Bond, his weapon is holstered and the rifle being constructed, that Bond doesn't just seriously wound him.

    Perhaps at this point, Bond is still unsure of his accuracy, but he seemed to be able to get close enough to make a non-fatal shot to Patrice's body without much difficulty.

    Then he could have interrogated him at his leisure and pursued any leads from there. Although, I'm fairly sure shooting Patrice and questioning him for information is not nearly as rewarding as showering with Severine aboard a beautiful yacht.
    That was my problem with it. We know Bond is out of shape, sure, and at that time sloppy, but Patrice could have been vainquished and left alive.

    Overall, I loved the way they showed consequences for Bond being out of work for a while (unlike in DAD where his captivity does not change anything) and there were reasons to have him unable to take Patrice alive. But this scene didn't quite convinced me. It was beautifully shot though.
    That w
  • GermanladyGermanlady
    Posts: 6,601
    From what i remember, he wanted to shoot, but then through the mirroring, he appeared twice and he couldn't shoot properly. So he moved closer to make out, which was the real person.

    I think, he didn't believe, Silva was going to kill Severine instantly. From the way, this guy acts, he is one to find fun in letting the suffer. So killing her off that fast was unexpected.
  • imranbecksimranbecks Singapore
    Posts: 972
    TheWizardOfIce wrote:
    Zekidk wrote:
    He didn't really put a lot of effort in preventing Severine to get killed, too. Not a blink. And this was a woman Bond just bedded hours ago?

    This is a more pertinent point. Bond knew that help was coming soon and he took down Silvas goons pretty easily so why not do it 2 minutes earlier and save her?

    Well said! I've been wondering about this. He cld have prevented her death. There was no emotion at all from Bond over her death. "A waste of good scotch."
  • RyanKintRyanKint
    Posts: 83
    doubleonothing wrote:

    Perhaps at this point, Bond is still unsure of his accuracy, but he seemed to be able to get close enough to make a non-fatal shot to Patrice's body without much difficulty.
    .

    But he's confident enough to hang onto the bottom of an elevator going up circa 80 floors?

  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 7,978
    RyanKint wrote:
    doubleonothing wrote:

    Perhaps at this point, Bond is still unsure of his accuracy, but he seemed to be able to get close enough to make a non-fatal shot to Patrice's body without much difficulty.
    .


    But he's confident enough to hang onto the bottom of an elevator going up circa 80 floors?
    Aiming a gun and hanging on to a lift (and almost letting loose) are two completely different things. I'm with @Germanlady on both questions: I think he was still preparing to take out Patrice when Patrice pulled the trigger, and I think he didn't expect Silva to kill her off right away. The guy'd been showing off before, I too expected him to shoot the glass first.
  • GermanladyGermanlady
    Posts: 6,601

    1) He didn#t expect Severine to be shot right away. To me, this was a moment of surprise, that gave me another of those "unexpected" moments in the film, which I liked.
    2) I thought his response was a great Bond moment. Playing the cool fish, not showing what's inside. Would YOU let your enemy know what you feel? I don't think so and much less a Bond.
    3) I think, it sorta set up his immediate reaction. Without it, he might have waited for the helis and who knows, what Silva would have done then.

    4) Patrices image was doubled by the mirrors or whatever and Bond needed to make sure, which was the actual person. But yes, I was waiting for him to take action, when the man was targeted. NOT doing that had an impact on me, that made pretty clear, what Bond IS - he IS a killer and has the blood of a killer. Whether we like it or not. Mission comes first and we can discuss forever, if he could have prevented it without engangering his mission, I have no answer to that. But I like, that we VERY clear now have both - the killer, with a killers instincts and reactions and the human. Makes it more interesting.


  • Matt007Matt007
    Posts: 1,314
    I read the killing of Severine as an example of Bonds willingness to sacrifice people for the greater good of the mission. He slept with her to get to Silva ultimately. I thought the sequence on the island was probably one of the best villain introductions ever.
  • GermanladyGermanlady
    Posts: 6,601
    IMO - IF you really want to discuss this seriously (which at times, i find hard to do, whis threads like can ** and ** come back after Craig, but whatever)

    At the very beginning, he learned another lesson of not thinking with his heart, when M ordered him to leave that other agent dying. IMO, Craig Bond, despite being very ruthless had a lot more heart then any of the others (I suppose Dalton had it, to). He often thought with his heart instead of with his ratio. Being a killer, this is dangerous. So, yes, this Bond finally displaying a sort of sacrifycing people for the sake of the whole is necessary and good. I liked personally those momens, that were unexpectedly cruel. Gives the whole a more satisfying result.
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 7,978
    That's quite an interesting point, especially as 006 accuses him of the opposite in GE.
    I think that discussin between Bond an M defines their relationship as well.
  • zebrafishzebrafish <°)))< in Octopussy's garden in the shade
    Posts: 4,312
    I am still puzzled by the assassination scene. So someone, presumably Silva, because who else has the sum to pay him, hired Patrice to shoot a potential buyer for a stolen painting. Quite obviously, Severine and her bodyguards were "in" on the scheme. Who stole the picture? Is that a business of the casino, or did Silva order the theft? Why was it stolen? If it is to make money, then why shoot the buyer? Why an assassin, and why such a large sum? For me this is a bit of a plothole.
  • JamesCraigJamesCraig Ancient Rome
    Posts: 3,497
    Lee Tamahori.
  • SandySandy Somewhere in Europe
    Posts: 4,012
    It puzzled me as well but I think it was someone Silva was really interested in eliminating, the painting was the bait (probably a fake).
  • Matt007Matt007
    Posts: 1,314
    It was merely an elaborate way of showing Patrice as an assassin and getting Bond to Macau. I like the way skyfall introduced culture back to the Bond films. The Fighting Temerare by Turner and the tennyson quote. All good. The only thing i missed was an overly elaborate food/drink order.

  • LicenceRevokedLicenceRevoked
    Posts: 204
    I think Germanlady is right - this thread has highlighted that some people see Bond as some kind of super-hero, like Batman or Superman, running around protecting the innocent citizens about town. He's a dangerous guy who is trained to kill. If he has a target, he's not really too concerned with collateral damage really.
  • SuperheroSithSuperheroSith SE London
    Posts: 578
    N.O.I.D.E.A
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 14,840
    LicenceRevoked wrote:
    I think Germanlady is right - this thread has highlighted that some people see Bond as some kind of super-hero, like Batman or Superman, running around protecting the innocent citizens about town. He's a dangerous guy who is trained to kill. If he has a target, he's not really too concerned with collateral damage really.

    I think this has more to do with the fact that he was at that time out of shape and thus sloppy. Bond is a killer, but he has ethics and morals. He believes in queen and country, and so on. He would have saved the guy had he been more sure of himself. At this point in the movie, he was not at his best (and still sore from hanging on that elevator).
  • WlmShrpWlmShrp
    Posts: 77
    It wasn't the trouble; if one Service intervene to abort the contract killing, then it's equal to a declaration of war as far as intelligence are concerned.Besides-he wasn't ordered to intervene by his bosses-M-that is.
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