No Time to Die - Film Review

Those that know me are likely aware that I have a fairly love-hate relationship with the Daniel Craig generation of James Bond films. Most people consider Casino Royale to be arguably one of the best of the entire franchise (a sentiment I mostly agree with), but I also really enjoyed Quantum of Solace. It was from that point though where the series began a sharp downturn as I found Skyfall to be only okay, while Spectre is my least favorite of the entire franchise (that's including Moonraker). I wasn't sure what to expect of this final outing, but I came in with a positive outlook and I have a fair amount to say on Daniel Craig's final outing as the super spy.

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Where You Can Find It: I saw this in theaters, and it appears that this film (as of 11 October 2021) is currently only available in cinemas.

General Information 
No Time to Die is an action spy film that was released on 8 October 2021 (it was released a week earlier in the United Kingdom). It is the twenty-fifth entry in the James Bond series (not counting Never Say Never Again or the 1967 Casino Royale). It was directed and co-written by Cary Joji Fukunaga with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Eon Productions producing along with United Artists Releasing distributing. Additionally, Academy Award winner, Hans Zimmer, was responsible for the film's score, while another Academy Award winner, Linus Sandgren, handled the cinematography. As of 11 October 2021, the film has raked in a total of $313 million. Thus far, it has a 69 Metascore on Metacritic along with an excellent 84% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It is reportedly the final James Bond film to feature actor, Daniel Craig, in the titular role.

The Story

It's been nearly five years since James Bond (played by Daniel Craig) defeated Blofeld (Christopher Waltz) and his shadowy syndicate, Spectre, but all is not well in Bond's world. After abandoning his last chance at love with Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), James has entered quasi-retirement in the Caribbean while occasionally hunting Spectre agents when he finds them. It's this passing hobby that causes him to cross paths with CIA operative, Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), and once again re-enter the world of espionage when a shady biologist goes missing. It doesn't take long before Bond catches the attention of MI6 who dispatches him to prevent the sinister terrorist, Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek), from releasing a deadly virus upon the world.

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Bond is back for one last mission

The James Bond films have always acted as time capsules for Western civilization and this one is no different as it shows a heightened sense of political correctness and feminism. To be clear: I'm not necessarily saying these are bad things, but merely observing their presence here as a relatively new addition. This is the first Bond film I can recall that doesn't have a "Bond Girl," while one could also say that it goes out of its way to neither speak ill nor well of any countries or established ideologies involved in the plot. If I were to have a gripe with these cultural nuances, it would be more with the latter than the former as it negatively impacts the antagonist.

We don't see much of Safin in this overly long plot, and what we do see isn't fully clear from a writing perspective. Near the very beginning of the film, we get an understanding of Safin's initial motivations, however I never fully understood why Safin wanted to essentially wipe out most of the world's population (apparently, I'm not the only one either). Even in the cheesiest of Bond films like Moonraker and Thunderball, the antagonists always had a reason to be evil (even if it wasn't a particularly good one). Drax wanted to create a new perfect world where he'd be viewed as a god while Largo mainly just wanted money in return for stealing nukes. Safin doesn't really seem to have a purpose by the second act, which essentially leaves the second half of the film devoid of a reason behind its conflict.

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Safin has concocted a scheme so secretive that not even he knows all the details

One could reasonably say that this film's story isn't truly about Bond thwarting Safin's plans at all  though, and it is instead about Bond learning to let go of the past and risk loving again. The issue with this concept is that Bond's relationship with Swann is poorly executed via both writing and acting (especially if the viewer hasn't seen Spectre). This is only exacerbated further when the film immediately reminds viewers of Bond's relationship with Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) at the opening, which was well-established in Casino Royale. Considering this film is nearly three hours long, I can't help but acknowledge the seeming fact that No Time to Die is unsure of what it wants to do outside of its numerous action set pieces.

Special Effects/Atmosphere

If I had to name just one thing that the James Bond films have continued to dazzle viewers with, I'd easily say it is the beautiful vistas and locales featured in each entry. Like its many predecessors, I continue to be amazed with the stunning shots of winding Italian roadways, exotic Cuban nightclubs, and villainous lairs decorated with sinister-looking gardens. Even London looks good, which isn't a knock on the city by any means, but more-so a testament that it continues to look great despite having seen it in nearly every Bond film. There is an elite level of competency in how Bond films are shot, and No Time to Die stylishly continues this trend.

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The eye-candy is as delectable as always in this series

When I saw Fukunaga was attached to this film, I couldn't help but wonder when we'd inevitably be treated to a single-shot combat sequence akin to his history with the first season of HBO's True Detective. Viewers should be happy to note that MGM and Eon Pictures got their money's worth as the fight choreography is pretty cool while still retaining that absurd level of over-the-top action that the Bond films are known for.

A final area of mention is that I was particularly taken with the music of this film. As someone who generally dislikes Billie Eilish's work, I found her opening track to be quite good, while Hans Zimmer continues his reign as one of the best musical composers for film that Hollywood has ever seen. I noticed a few musical flourishes hearkening back to older films and found it quite touching when Fukunaga included the opening song for On Her Majesty's Secret Service when the ending credits rolled.

The Acting

Daniel Craig deserves his spot within the pantheon of great actors to portray James Bond, and I'll always be thankful for his time in the tuxedo during Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, but it's fairly clear that he should've probably quit after Skyfall. He does a relatively okay job as an action hero in this, but he feels less and less like Bond as the film drags on. There's a workman-like ethic Craig brings to this that might work fine in other movies but not here. This is a Bond with no charm, but also none of the cold toughness of previous entries. One can go back to the opening of Casino Royale and see both elements vibrantly present, but then notice a stark absence throughout much of this.

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Craig is sort of missing his mojo in this one

This ho-hum mentality seemingly infects most of the cast as well as we see very little passion in this. The chemistry between Craig and Seydoux lacks any real soul while other supporting players like Ralph Fiennes, Jeffrey Wright, and Christopher Waltz are sort of just there. There are some standouts though. Ana de Armas absolutely electrifies during the handful of scenes she's in and I found Lashana Lynch to be quite compelling too (although Lynch had some fairly cringe-worthy lines to read). For all the kerfuffle over Lynch occupying the position of 007 in this film, I'd be quick to point out that at least she brings that charm and toughness one would've expected from the one actually playing Bond.

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Ana de Armas packs one hell of a punch in this

A final quick mention I want to go over is Rami Malek as Safin. Despite Safin being poorly written, I think Malek did the best he could with what he had. I've always been impressed with his work and there were a few glimpses of the character he could've played if he'd had the chance. I don't want to type-cast the man, but it would've been fascinating to see him playing a technocratic villain like an evil Mark Zuckerberg akin to Tomorrow Never Dies' Elliot Carver. Based on his awesome run as Elliot Alderson in Mr. Robot, I think he could've done a great job. As it stands, I sincerely doubt his character will be remembered by the time the next Bond film inevitably comes out.

The Best of the Best: The fun fight scenes.

The Worst of the Worst: The barely-there antagonist.

Calhooey Score: 5/10 - Average

Would I Recommend?

No Time to Die wants to tell a message about letting go of the past and accepting the new, but it lacks the tools to effectively do so. Its story of love lacks chemistry and is overshadowed by the far superior coupling of Bond and Vesper in Casino Royale. As an action movie, it is far too long and lacks even the most generic characteristics of what makes an antagonist. It is like a beautifully crafted motorboat that lacks an engine. As such, I would recommend this to James Bond fans that love the franchise regardless of its flaws, but not to anyone else. Perhaps when this is available for renting on a streaming service, I would recommend it to those that have nothing else to watch. It's not the worst in the series, but it's far from the best.

Spoiler Comments

• This may be one of the first Bond films I've seen that doesn't open with James Bond. I'm trying to recall any others and I can't think of one.
• I sure hope that guy with the robotic eye cleaned that thing before he popped it back in after Bond knocked it out of him.
• I will give Seydoux this much: she looks very similar to Diana Rigg, who played Bond's wife, Tracy, in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
• I half-expected Nomi to actually shoot Bond at some point during that Havana mission. I believed her when she threatened to kneecap him.
  
• For an elite terrorism syndicate that prides itself on its anonymity, Spectre really screwed up when they decided to gather all of their people in that same room in Havana.
  
• I know when Q asked about where the USB drive had come from he was winking at the fact that it had been swallowed and pooped/regurgitated out, but I would find it more questionable that MI6's chief of technology is putting a random USB drive into one of his computers without even running an anti-virus scan.
  
• M must realize he's going to prison for the rest of his life, right? He illegally oversaw the creation of a bio-weapon, tried to cover up said bio-weapon's existence, and then he ordered a British naval ship to launch missiles on an island nowhere near British waters. 
• Every scene that involved Nomi talking about the significance of "007" status made me groan. It all felt very meta and I'm glad nearly everyone in the film essentially ignored her whenever it came up. It's not like it's a football jersey that everyone gets to see.
  
• I also don't see why Bond deserved to be reinstated as 007. He quit.
• Also, that Russian scientist picked the worst time to become overtly racist.
• I'm not sure how I feel about Bond dying in the end.
• When I first heard an old Bond song playing at the end credits, I initially thought it was You Only Live Twice's song, which would've made me think that somehow Bond had survived the blast. The fact that it was On Her Majesty's Secret Service though makes me think that he genuinely did die.
• I'm really curious if the next Bond film will have an entirely new cast to go with its new Bond. The closing scene of MI6 sharing a toast to Bond's death would make it awkward if any of them do come back. 
  

References

(1) No Time to Die. (n.d.). No Time to Die film image. IMDB. Retrieved from: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2382320/.

(2) Scarpine. (2020, May 26). Bond is back gif. Gfycat. Retrieved from: https://gfycat.com/gentlearomaticcommongonolek-aston-martin-v8-no-time-to-die-daniel-craig.

(3) Shami1412. (n.d.). Safin gif. Tumblr. Retrieved from: https://writensky.tumblr.com/post/623111335707852800.

(4) Lewis, R. (2019, December 5). Evil lair image. The Sun. Retrieved from: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/film-old/10491367/james-bond-fans-convinced-no-time-to-die-dr-no/.

(5) Asay, P. (n.d.). Daniel Craig image. PluggedIn. Retrieved from: https://www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/no-time-to-die-2021/.

(6) Valiantangel313. (2019, December 7). Ana de Armas kicking butt gif. Tenor. Retrieved from: https://tenor.com/view/james-bond-girl-2020-shooting-guns-ana-de-armas-gif-15747454.