No Time To Die's Safin is one of the James Bond franchise's most successful villains in terms of goals achieved - but he's also one of the lamest. Throughout the EON Bond movies, the series has a good batting average when it comes to crafting memorable antagonists. From Dr No to Goldfinger and Xenia Onatopp or Silva, the villains can be as much fun as 007 himself. Of course, there have been some forgettable or downright foes too. Julian Glover's Kristatos from For Your Eyes Only barely registers, while Thunderball's Largo isn't terribly memorable.
In the Daniel Craig Bond era, there was a push to grab actors who were fresh off Academy Award wins. There was Javier Bardem in Skyfall, Christoph Waltz for Spectre and Rami Malek for No Time To Die. Sadly, the latter two performers made much of a mark with their respective characters, with Waltz being a particular letdown due to Blofeld's highly anticipated return to the series. Safin, on the other hand, is an interesting case. On paper, he reads as one of 007's most destructive enemies, but despite the chaos he created, that doesn't translate to a very interesting character.
Safin Achieved Most Of His Goals In No Time To Die
Safin's first scene in No Time To Die is his best and plays like a Bond movie take on a slasher setpiece. This takes place in the past, where a masked Safin seeks revenge on SPECTRE for the murder of his family. It's a creepy scene for sure, and one that establishes his unusual connection to Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux). Cut to present-day, the villain has stolen an incredibly dangerous, DNA-targeting nano-virus, which he uses to wipe out both SPECTRE and later - with accidental help from 007 - Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) too.
He's prevented from using the nanobots on the world at large, but he does what no other 007 villain has ever succeeded in doing: killing James Bond. While Safin was prevented from causing wider-scale destruction, he died with the knowledge that he ticked most of the boxes off his bucket list. Audiences are used to seeing the goals of the antagonist spoiled at the last moment, but Safin not only succeeded in wiping SPECTRE and Blofeld off the fast of the Earth, but he did the impossible by beating Bond himself. He should be a hall of famer - so why isn't he?
Safin Is One Of Bond's Blandest Villains
One issue is that No Time To Die itself doesn't seem interested by Safin. Outside of his atmospheric introduction, he's offscreen for most of the first half and only really returns towards the end. He might be pulling the strings, but viewers have no strong mental image of who he is. It doesn't help that Malek's performance is too cold and lacking in menace. There should be some sympathy for Safin and his tragic backstory, but the connection just isn't there. More than that, he's just a bland character.
Safin's death in No Time To Die's ending underlines this. As Bond races against time to escape the Poison Garden, both the spy and the movie forget Safin is still around, allowing him to get the drop on 007 Once Bond learns he's been infected by the nanobots and can never see Madeleine or his child again, he doesn't even bother looking at Safin as he shoots him dead. Malek's Safin might have doomed 007, but in the latter's mind, he barely merits eye contact. One of No Time To Die's big failures is making the villain who took down James Bond one of his least compelling foes.