Eon Productions’ twenty-fifth official James Bond movie has arrived, and it effectively ends an almost sixty-year run of blockbuster espionage-action adventures. There is a lot to say about the series as a whole, and I am going to do that by reprinting — and updating — my original Filmbobbery overview of the series, which appeared in my very first print issue, Volume 1, Number 1, in 1999. Additionally, my wife Barb and I have begun rewatching the Daniel Craig quintet, so I can explore his particular contributions to the series in its own article. Watch for those in the coming weeks. But now, to my first impressions of the ironically-titled No Time to Die.
Cary Fukunaga’s film begins by showing how and why James Bond (Daniel Craig) abandoned his feelings for Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux). After yet another sojourn away from MI6, Bond returns to try to infiltrate SPECTRE, interrogate Ernst Stavros Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), avenge the death of a very close and familiar friend, reestablish his relationship with Madeleine, learn an incredible secret from her that will change his life, fight a new villain, Safin (Rami Malek), who has a hold over Madeleine, and, of course, save the civilized world. It’s a busy tale with a lot going on, and it is no surprise that it takes almost two-and-three-quarters-of-an-hour to tell it.
The best news is that the time flies by, and it certainly doesn’t seem like the longest James Bond film while one is watching it. The complexities of Bond’s re-emergence into active, and dangerous, duty, are explored with skill and the requisite panache. Certain set-pieces are jaw-dropping, even if they don’t always make the most sense at the time. All the great Bond traditions are present: extraordinary action; gorgeous women who are always more surprising than expected; espionage trickery that makes one’s mind spin; cool gadgets; exquisite location filming; powerful music (courtesy of Hans Zimmer this time) and knowledge that We Can Still Count on One Man. That’s what the Bond films so watchable, and this one is better than most.
No Time to Die contains an outlook, mainly centered on the weapon that everyone is fighting about, that technology personalized to kill is so easy to misuse that it shouldn’t be allowed to exist, and this existential philosophy permeates the story. That outlook, of course, could also be applied to the use of James Bond himself, and others of his ilk, and thus it is no surprise that the climax of the movie goes where no James Bond film has ever gone before. That’s kind of a downer for a big, splashy, expensive action movie, but times are changing and this movie is the end of Daniel Craig’s five arc era. I’m not the biggest fan of his casting in the role, but there is no doubt that he has humanized this haunted man more than any of his predecessors. It’s a good, solid movie, and a fitting end for this Bond. ☆ ☆ ☆. 26 October 2021.