Daniel Craig exploded onto the scene as James Bond in 2006’s Casino Royale. And, after four 007 adventures, he calls it a day with No Time To Die, a film that was supposed to have been released back in 2020 but was pushed back for a year and a half, thanks to the pandemic. Apple and Netflix made multi-million dollar offers to the 007 people to air NTTD on their streaming services, but the Bond producers held out for a theatrical release, which they finally got in the fall of 2021.
The irony here is that MGM, which releases the Bond films, was bought out by Amazon, which owns its own streaming service.
James Bond is happily retired from spy craft and happily living with Madeleine (Léa Seydoux) in Italy--until their extended honeymoon is disrupted by the usual assassins who come out of the woodwork gunning for Bond. It turns out that Spectre, the criminal organization that Bond previously tangled with, is still very much active--and it looks as if Madeleine aided in the assassination attempt on Bond. Bond, heart-broken, breaks it off with her, and the lovebirds head their separate ways.
Five years later, a secret lab that’s working on deadly viruses is attacked by a commando team, who steal a special project that they had been working on. Bond is contacted by his old friend in the CIA, Felix Leiter (Jeffery Wright), who asks Bond if he could come out of retirement to help the CIA track down one of the scientist, who had been kidnapped. Despite warnings from his old job, MI6, to back off, Bond accepts the assignment, and then the fun really begins.
No Time To Die overall still serves as an exceptional finale for Daniel Craig’s take on James Bond. The film’s two hour and forty five minute run time gives its story plenty of room to breathe, yet it never feels like it has overstayed its welcome, thanks to the assured direction of Cary Joji Fukunaga, who’s already my hero thanks to his masterful directing of the first season of HBO’s True Detective. Both the action sequences, as well as the quiet drama and the comedic moments, all hit superbly their marks. The only thing I didn’t like was the new 007.
Since Bond retired, MI6 replaced him with Nomi (Lashana Lynch), who has taken over the 007 designation--which is all well and good. And while Nomi makes for an impressive spy, there’s not that much more to her. I wanted to get to know Nomi--a woman who earned Bond’s place in the Double ‘O’ hierarchy--far more than I did; instead, she was presented as being nothing more than just another glorified Bond Girl, when she deserved more than that.
Speaking of Bond Girls, Ana de Armas (who was so good in Blade Runner 2049) makes the most of her Paloma character, Bond’s CIA sidekick in Cuba. Having already appeared with Craig in the great Knives Out, de Armas' Paloma is just as lethal as Bond, but wonderfully bright and cheery. Paloma serves as a perfect counterpoint in their shoot-em-up, and I was sincerely sad to see her leave so soon. Another standout is David Dencik as the villainous Valdo Obruchev, who deserves kudos for creating such a lively, entertaining character who makes funny comments on the proceedings, while still remaining a vile little slug whom you can’t wait to get his comeuppance.
No Time To Die is the perfect end to Daniel Craig’s run as James Bond. It has plenty of callbacks to the 007 series for fans, like the portrait of Bernard Lee--the original M--that hangs in the halls of MI6; and seeing the 1964 Aston Martin DB5 back in action; as well as the vividly well-done reincarnation of Doctor No in the villain Safin and his mountain lair.
Yet, despite the fan service, No Time To Die still stands on its own as a solid, genuinely gripping entry in the series. And for those who dislike the ending--well, they just need to take note of the four little words that appear that the very end of the credits: James Bond Will Return. I always felt comforted in the fact that James Bond is a truly unstoppable force who will continue to protect all of us for some time to come. Bring on the new Bond, James Bond. --SF
Comments
Post a Comment