No Time To Die (2021) – Movie Review
The final chapter in Daniel Craig’s saga as 007, No Time To Die picked up right after the events in Spectre with Bond and Madeleine Swan (Léa Seydoux) taking a well-deserved vacation. Turns out, they were going to the city where Vesper Lynd, Bond’s first love, was buried so he could say goodbye and move on with his life. But, even after putting Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) behind bars, Spectre still tracked them down. And James, thinking the only possible way was that Madeleine betrayed him, put her on a train and vanished. That is, until his old friend Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) seeks him out to help put a stop to a new mysterious villain wielding a dangerous weapon.
No Time To Die was a satisfying end to Craig’s Bond, whom we come to know over the past 15 years and five movies. This movie marks the 25th of the franchise and, sticking to Bond-fashion, there were plenty of beautiful Aston Martins, which gave new meaning to the term “bullet-proof,” daring stunts, women and action…lots of action.
After hearing about Spectre, Bond resurfaces and is introduced to Nomi (Lashana Lynch), his replacement as the new 007. The two had a fun rivalry throughout the film and it’ll be interesting to see where her 007 is taken in the future. The movie also introduced Ana de Armas as Paloma, an energetic new CIA agent with three weeks’ training, who I thought added a fun element to the usually serious tone of the films. Apparently, after working together on Knives Out, Craig hand-picked Armas for her role in No Time To Die.
Acting as a proper send off to the character, the film included homages such as an old school Aston Martin decked out with numerous gadgets, a plane that transformed into an submarine, martinis shaken not stirred and the classic turn-and-shoot. The movie also featured beautiful cinematography and scenic shots of Jamaica, Norway and Matera in Southern Italy.
The movie was directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation, It (2017)). It was also co-written by Fukunaga with Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who wrote for Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre together. The newest addition to the writer’s room was Phoebe Waller-Bridge whose résumé includes contributions to Fleabag and Killing Eve.
The story felt very Bond-y leaning the scale toward cliche. The diabolical villain uses a weapon that targets a specific DNA strand to get revenge on those who’ve wronged them. But what is Bond if not cliche? While Rami Malik’s character, Lyutsifer Safin, was introduced as a calmly menacing villain, he didn’t live up to my expectations as Bond’s final foe. In fact, it felt like he barely had any screen time in the almost three hour movie. Certainly not enough to build up the villain from mediocre to memorable. Safin had the look of a great villain, but his motivation and connection to Madeleine seemed too flimsy. Comparing him to Blofeld in the previous movie or even Javier Bardem’s Silva from Skyfall, the villains are in completely different leagues.
No Time To Die was a satisfying conclusion to Craig’s career as James Bond. It was everything a Bond film should be and was enjoyable to watch all the way through. After Spectre, the series felt like it really needed this movie to tie everything up and complete the story, and that is exactly what it did.