Review: No Time to Die
No Time to Die, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, tells the tale of Bond, James Bond (Daniel Craig). After successfully apprehending the EVIL Ernst Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), Bond retires as a 00 agent and attempts to start a new life with his new love Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux). But just as Bond thought he was finally out, he gets pulled back in as his old friend Felix (Jeffrey Wright) asks for Bond’s help in tracking down a kidnapped scientist who holds a weapon that can destroy all mankind. Together with his old team at MI6 and the brand new 007 agent that replaced him (Lashana Lynch), Bond comes back in action to save the world once more from his most nefarious foe yet.
This film was a long time coming. Originally scheduled to come out November of 2019, this film has had quite the tumultuous journey. After undergoing through many production problems and multiple delays, Daniel Craig’s final outing as Bond is finally out in theaters, and how was Craig’s last film as the iconic character? Not too bad I would say. As a regular Bond film, No Time to Die is not that special, but as the LAST Daniel Craig Bond film No Time to Die is a loving sendoff for the actor.
Compared to the other Craig Bond films, this is by far the most out there. It was pretty jarring seeing Craig’s Bond using classic Bond gadgets like EMP watches and submarine jets. We were very used to seeing a more grounded Bond for the past two decades and it was pretty weird but also kind of refreshing to see Craig’s Bond acting very reminiscent of the previous Bonds before him. Craig himself gives probably the most charm and charisma he’s ever given the character thus far, most of the other cast deliver some fairly decent performances overall, the action is entertaining as always, and Hans Zimmer’s score as well as Billie Eilish’s opening song are very classically Bond.
This film feels a lot like the classic Bond films from the past, specifically the Pierce Brosnan Bond films, but that nostalgic feel is also a bit detrimental. The film’s plot is not exactly the most unique; there’s a lot of super-spy movie troupes in play here that the Craig Bond has does a fairly great job at avoiding in the past. The film’s familiar and by-the-numbers plot really makes this Bond film no different from the dozens of other spy films that this franchise had inspired over the years.
Rami Malek as the film’s villain was also remarkably unmemorable; Malek gives a decent enough performance, but the character himself was incredibly dull and lifeless when compared to previous Bond villains especially in this chronology of bond films. On top of this, the film is a lot longer than it needed to be. Clocking in at two hours and forty-five minutes the film spends a lot of its gargantuan runtime trying figure out how to fill it all up; there’s a lot of redundant action sequences and minor characters introduced that could’ve been cut out of the film entirely and would’ve made no difference.
Overall this was ultimately just another Bond film. The only thing going for it is the fact that this is Daniel Craig’s last time playing Bond, and give him some credit he does give it his all here. Audiences that don’t enjoy Bond films in general won’t find much here that’ll change their minds, but to all the fans that particularly love Craig’s portrayal of Bond this is for your eyes only. Time will tell where 007 will go from here, but for what I got it’s a good enough farewell from Craig that I’m comfortable enough recommending people to.
Final Verdict: 6/10