6. Work In A Moment Where It Became Clear That Swann Fancied Bond A Bit
The big wobble which very nearly completely unbalanced the second half of the film was the sense that Madeleine Swann simply wasnt very convincingly into Bond at all, despite her sudden protestations to that effect. She just plops herself down for dinner on the train and is suddenly a bit giggly and come-hither-ish. Maybe she had sunstroke or something. Its a pretty massive switcheroo to have her telling Bond, If you come near me, Ill kill you, and then about 18 hours later, through the magic of destroying some furniture on a train and killing a massive bloke, have her declaring that she loves the guy. That in turn made the On Her Majesty's Secret Service-style ride into the sunset at the end feel pretty insubstantial and a little forced. It couldve done with a little more badinage, some sly nods and winks here and there, even a bit of emotional vulnerability from one or both parties. Lea Seydoux works brilliantly as a Bond girl - it's just that she wasn't really given enough in the script to really show the slow drift toward fancying Bond which we were meant to assume she'd experienced.