Review: No Time To Die
No Time To Die is finally here, after several delays due to the pandemic, the final Daniel Craig Bond has a arrived just in time to to save the (Cinema) world once more.
In No Time To Die, Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.
No Time To Die is a superb finale to the Craig era. Some genuine raw emotion and the finale packs a huge emotional punch that will leave you reeling. The film gets a lot done in the just short of 3 hour run time, it ties up loose ends, presents Bond with some serious challenges, gives us one of the most chilling villains in a long while and leaves you with your jaws on the floor by the time the credits roll. Everything you need from 007.
With plenty of nods to previous eras and movies from the obvious, We Have All The Time In The World (OHMSS) laden over the soundtrack to the half M’s, Safin’s nod to Doctor No and the locales. To more subtle nods, No Time To Die will be a Bond fans delight.
The film despite its delays has never been more prescient, with Rami Malek’s Safin preparing to unleash a seemingly unstoppable plague on the world that will wipe out huge sections of the population before they even know what’s going on. And it’s Maleks Safin that is one of the real highlights of No Time To Die as he is so simply terrifying, remorseless and cold blooded that you actually fear for not only Bond, but all the major players in the film as no one is safe. A real complaint here is that Safin’s boogeyman-esque appearances are simply not enough. His Terrifying presence is No Time To Dies real highlight and the film would have benefitted from more from Malek’s monster.
With this entry in the Bond pantheon, No Time To Die brings a new wrinkle into the mix with the replacement 007 as Bond has retired as the film opens, Nomie (Lashana Lynch) has adopted the moniker and more than fulfils the role. The women (In thanks most likely Phoebe Waller Bridge’s input) are no longer simpering eye candy, they are Bond’s equal and sometimes more so. the same goes for the Ana De Armas’ Paloma who dazzles as she enters proceedings, rips up the rule book, tears into the bad guys for a bit and then leaves in a breathless ball of fury, leaving the audience wanting much more from her. Even Leá Seydoux is Bond’s equal throughout which makes a refreshing change for a love interest.
Cary Joji Fukunaga manages to pull off one of the best Bond films in a long, long time giving Daniel Craig the bookend that didn’t really happen for him in Spectre. A spectacular finale and one that people will be talking and dissecting for a long time to come, which is a mark of simply how good No Time To Die really is and Cary Joji Fukunaga should take a bow for that.
No Time To Die brings us to a crossroads, the series has hit new heights here, expanding the Bond universe and perspectives somewhat, so where do Micheal G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli go from here? Time will tell for Mr Bond, but for now lavish in the extraordinary finale to the Daniel Craig era.
