Fatima Blush in Never Say Never Again stands out as one of the most unhinged female antagonists of any Bond movie. The character is written as flamboyantly unstable with an extravagant wardrobe and erratic behavior signaling a dangerous, unbalanced woman.
Nowhere is this clearer than in her final confrontation with Bond, when she demands that he put in writing that their affair was the greatest “rapture” of his life. Bond’s dry retort that, in fact, a girl in Philadelphia surpassed her needles her ego so deeply that she spirals and gives off big crazy-ex-girlfriend vibes. Unfortunately for Blush, Bond’s pen is mightier than the sword in this instance, since Q Branch luckily just assigned him their latest innovation, a grenade-launcher pen.
Narratively, the character is flawed, but Barbara Carrera’s performance elevates the role in a way that makes Fatima unforgettable and a bright spot in this unofficial James Bond movie. She’s crazy!
