No Time to Die

Details: MPAA Rating: PG-13

Cast: Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux, Ana de Armas

Release Date: October 8, 2021

Pros: The final film in Daniel Craig's James Bond saga, No Time to Die, was way better than I was expecting. After Spectre, I felt as though maybe the Bond formula was getting redundant and the film franchise was losing steam. This notion was quashed after finally getting to experience No Time to Die. Make no mistake, this is definitely Daniel Craig's last going as James Bond and you can feel it. The entire movie has a sense of finality to it which is only reaffirmed by James Bond himself in the film. When comparing how Bond was like in Casino Royale to now, the character development is stark and shows that he is tired of espionage. In Casino Royale, Bond felt youthful, fresh, and excited to do the job which he did with a lot of style. Don't get me wrong, the style and flamboyance of James Bond are very much present but it is clear that he's getting older, wearier, and all the loss he's felt in the previous movies are taking a clear toll on him. This weariness definitely is portrayed to perfection by Daniel Craig, who I can't help but think is projecting his own weariness with the character of James Bond onto the portrayal of him. Regardless, the acting in the movie was pretty good for the most part. Léa Seydoux gave a very compelling as well as emotional performance as Madellin Swann, Bond's new love interest. In Spectre, their relationship seemed a bit rushed and didn't really draw me to be invested in it but No Time to Die sold me on these two being perfect for each other. Lashana Lynn played the new 007 pretty much exactly how I was hoping she would. This new 007 is by the book, disciplined, as well as snarky and goes toe to toe with Bond for the majority of the film. Their constant butting heads provides numerous comedic moments yet never feels overplayed or feels as though it's overstaying its welcome. That goes with Moneypenny and Q as well. These two characters have been with Bond since the beginning and you can tell that they see themselves as a family as opposed to work buddies. One aspect of the film I was a bit upset about was Ana de Armas' character. Me being upset was not a reaction to her being bad, it was quite the opposite. Her character was incredibly funny yet a badass at the same time leaving me wanting to see more than the 10 minutes she was on screen. Fans will also be thrilled that many familiar characters to the Bond franchise make a re-appearance in the movie such as Felix the CIA agent and Stavros Blofeld, both of whom hit home the point that James Bond has made many enemies as well as close friends throughout his tenure at MI6. The entire movie really is surprisingly emotional which I think is the crux of what the purpose of the film is. It wants its audience to feel the end of Craig's journey as Bond. He has finally completed his arc and become a man who has found true love, has let go of his emotional baggage developing throughout the movies and has become someone that seems to be at peace with who he is. Now although there is heavy emotion being provided, we cannot of course forget about the action. In my personal opinion, No Time to Die has some of the best action sequences in any Bond movie. Starting from the riveting cold open in Matera, to the final battle, the action sequences are enthralling, brutal, yet beautiful at the same time. This is partially due to the gorgeous cinematography done by Linus Sandgren as well as the stunt choreography. These two things combined gave us surprisingly long one-taker action sequences up stairwells and in mansions, which is far better than the rapid-cut action sequences that we get in modern action movies. Every shot in the film was lively and immersed the audience fully into the world of James Bond. I don't know if this is because I watched the movie in IMAX, but the sound design plus the score were done perfectly. Any gunshot or explosion was felt throughout your body and throughout the theater. I think this goes without saying, but once again Hans Zimmerer produces a score that pretty much tells the audience exactly what emotion they should be feeling at any given moment as well as producing that emotion from the audience. Finally, the overall direction of No Time to Die by Fukunaga showed that he's a director that everyone needs to have on their radar if they don't already.

Cons: Of course, with every James Bond movie there's some sort of over-the-top, global domination evil scheme that's employed by an equally over-the-top villain. For this movie, it's Rami Malek, who honestly does not work in the film. This is incredibly disappointing as I am a big fan of Rami Malek and was excited to see what he would bring to the gallery of Bond villains but what we get is an unclear motivation, weak execution of the evil scheme he's trying to do, a lack of investment in the character, and some weird accent which sounds like a weird Cuban-British mix. Don't get me wrong, the audience does understand the gravity of what Malek is employing and the evil scheme itself is actually quite terrifying but the execution and motivation behind it is very weak. While this is annoying, it isn't a huge grievance towards the film due to the evil plot not being the focus of No Time to Die. The purpose of No Time to Die is to provide a farewell to Daniel Craig as opposed to another blockbuster where James Bond takes down the bad guy so this con isn't too bad. Additionally, this is the longest James Bond movie and you can definitely feel it at times. Nothing's really wrong with the pacing it's just you become aware at times that this is a 3-hour long movie.

Star Rating: 8.5/10

Final Thoughts: No Time to Die, is by no means a perfect James Bond movie, but it is a perfect send-off to Daniel Craig with thrilling action, compelling characters, and a surprising emotional punch that leaves us excited for the future of James Bond.