Vincent was a nihilist and he wanted…
To die. He kept challenging Max to rise up and do it. Vincent was full of self hate and self loathing and even though Max was an imposter in his own life Vincent respected him as a man.
shareHe was a nihilist, that is why he could do what he did without it weighing on his conscience, but he didn't want to die. He didn't let Max kill him. Max got very lucky.
shareIs that why he didn’t pick up the mag at the end?
shareVincent killed for business or out of necessity, not out of passion. By that point, Vincent was mortally wounded and would be dead in seconds. There was no need to kill Max at that point as the mission had failed and it wasn't business as Max was never on the hit list.
I disagree but ok.
shareFair enough, and I appreciate your willingness to share your original thoughts on this with all of us. Most are too afraid of ridicule to take that leap.
On a parting note,
Vincent has always been a nihilist and it never hindered him previously. He actually had quite a reputation for getting the job done and his nihilism played a large role in that success. He never let some abstract notion of morality get in the way of him accomplishing what he was tasked with. In this movie, he demonstrated that willingness to GET THE JOB DONE. When things went sideways at the beginning, Vincent did everything he possibly could to ensure the mission was accomplished. When that first victim unexpectedly fell out of the window, he didn't blink. He deputized Max and was willing to kill those two cops that pulled them over after that first kill. Vincent was the same person all along - willing to do whatever it took to accomplish the mission.
The person who changed was Max. He had big dreams, but was unwilling to take the leap to make those dreams a reality. Everything he wanted was right there for the taking...The limousine service, Annie....but he was too afraid to reach out and grab it...until he met Vincent. That night was the best and worst of his life. He almost died, but had he not met Vincent, he probably never would have called Annie, or started a limousine service, but at the end of the movie, Max gets Annie, and the strong implication is his life trajectory has changed and he will start that limousine service and all of his dreams will be realized.
I completely agree but all of this was only possible after Vincent allowed himself to be taken out of the way. Even if Vincent knew he would not survive his wounds he still had an ample opportunity to pick up his mag reload and kill Max… But he chose not to. Max was out and Vincent could have retired him but made a conscious choice not to. Max had earned his respect and despite his hard heart allowed Max to live on. Max had stirred something in Vincent that was long dormant and as a result Vincent passed on killing Max.
shareThe mag that hit the floor was empty. The follower (that pushes bullets upwards) was visible at the mouth of the tube.
Vincent had just ejected it from his (stolen) handgun while reaching for his reload mag (that didn't exist because he stole the handgun)
Here's how I interpreted the scene: we know Vincent is a creature of habit. He reflexively fired two shots at Max's chest and one at the head, just like always. Only this time, the train door stopped the bullets. Then he reflexively ejected his empty mag and grabbed for his backup mag. Only this time, he didn't have a backup to reload with.
I think the point was to show how Vincent's reflexes didn't help him this time. Max's willingness to finally take a chance in life paid off (i.e., random bullets through a glass, one of which actually hits Vincent).
Hmmm I will have to rewatch the scene. maybe I didn’t see what I thought I saw.
shareWell I did rewatch it over and over again and at first I thought you were correct. But after so many views I realized that the empty mag he ejected had already hit the floor as evidenced by the sound of it. He did in fact pull another loaded mag and drop it as was evidenced by the second sound and view which also seems to show a brass casing at the top of the loaded mag. The 2 sounds were very different between the empty mag and the loaded one. As well as the time span. I can understand how this scene may be in dispute but other than a MM commentary explaining it I am still going with my interpretation.
shareI think you're right about the two magazines - motion blur makes it hard to tell if the "second" magazine shows a casing or a follower, but there are unquestionably two distinct sounds.
Found it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMS4lYA-hEo
(note, we COULD be seeing the same mag hit the floor in a slo-mo instant replay, but I still think you're right)
I disagree that he always wanted to die, though.
He reflexively tried to reload and shoot, but he dropped the second mag because he'd been mortally wounded.
I agree with you that, after that, he could've tried to pick up the magazine and kill Max anyway, but I disagree that Vincent always wanted to die.
I personally think Vincent gave up AT THAT MOMENT, primarily because he'd come to like Max in some strange way (which is why he "saved" Max by killing Fanning-the-cop). At the very least, he held no bitterness towards Max, or at least not enough that he'd want to Max to die with him.
That's also why I found it oddly humorous when, after Max crashed the cab, Vincent started petulantly whacking Max with a piece of metal. Until that moment, Vincent never acted with malice or irritation. He only "cracked" when Max hurt his feelings by pointing out his sociopathy and then inconveniently crashing the cab.