After countless delays and a long 18-month wait, No Time to Die, the farewell swang song for Daniel Craig as James Bond after 15 years, has arrived. Boy, does it deliver! It’s a vast improvement over Spectre, which was a complete disappointment. This was everything I could have wanted out of Craig’s final outing, an emotional farewell that was what he deserved after 15 excellent years of service as 007.
James Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. However, his peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. Unfortunately, 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.
I knew this would be an emotional experience because it’s the end of an era, but the film as a whole was touching. Craig cemented himself as the Bond of our time with one last masterful performance. The film gave him the space to deliver his most layered performance in the role with various emotions. The send-off to his character in the context of the film was perfect in my eyes. I genuinely feel sorry for whoever the following Bond is because these are some big shoes to fill.
No Time to Die features some of the most impressive and mesmerizing action sequences of any entry of the Craig era. The film has an action-packed and intense opening that instantly became one of my favorites of all time from the franchise. I knew from the beginning that Cary Joji Fukunaga would do a great job, and he did. I love how he can move to different genres with every film and excel in each. He delivered a breathtaking and stylish film that was pure eye candy for these action-loving eyes of mine. Coming from a background in intimate dramas, he gets an excellent performance from his cast.
Bringing in Phoebe Waller-Bridge to lend a hand in the script was a stroke of genius as this is easily the best representation of females in the history of the franchise, and it’s not even close. Instead of seeing them as the objects of his desire and affection, they are portrayed as equals. Lashana Lynch, Ana de Armas, and Léa Seydoux are all well-written and executed characters. I also feel Phoebe injected the film with most of its surprising humor.
Seydoux is used so much better here than in Spectre, and I was surprised how critical she was to the plot. She’s a great actress, and she shows it once again here, being the heart of the film and a fascinating character this time around. The beautiful de Armas found the perfect balance between sexy and a badass, being the most surprising character of the film for me. We got glimpses in the trailer, but wow, did I love her personality. I wish she were in it more. I liked Lynch a lot in this. She was very believable in the action scenes. I loved her chemistry with Craig. There was respect there but some funny banter regarding the 007 names.
Christoph Waltz has one scene and, in my opinion, is better than his elusive use in Spectre which I felt utterly wasted him. While it came out over a year ago, Billie Eilish’s theme is still so good, and I loved how Hans Zimmer incorporated the song into the film’s score here and there.
Rami Malek was reminiscent of classic Bond villains from the Connery era, who isn’t over the top. He was very soft-spoken and calculated. However, I was surprised by his lack of screen time, at one point going well over an hour between appearances and only appearing in two scenes for a total of 5-7 minutes in the first two hours of the film. He factors more into the plot with his presence in the third act, but I wish he were in it more because this was great casting.
While there is so much to love about the film, I had a big worry going in about the 163 minute run time, which makes the film the longest Bond film ever. My fears were a bit justified as it’s longer than it needed to be. It flows great, but it has a lot going on, and not every subplot works. There’s a handful of scenes that could of and should have been cut, especially in the middle section. I feel 140 minutes was a more reasonable run time.
No Time to Die was well worth the wait and hype. Check it out in theaters as it’s, in my opinion, one of the best Bond films of all time.
