No Time to Die (2021) UA/Action-Adventure-Thriller RT: 163 minutes Rated PG-13 (sequences of violence and action, some disturbing images, brief strong language, some suggestive material) Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga Screenplay: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Cary Joji Fukunaga and Phoebe Waller-Bridge Music: Hans Zimmer Cinematography: Linus Sandgren Release date: October 8, 2021 (US) Cast: Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Lea Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, Billy Magnussen, Ana de Armas, David Dencik, Roy Kinnear, Dali Benssalah, Lisa-Dorah Sonnet, Coline Defaud, Mathilde Bourbin.
Rating: *** ½
It’s no secret that Daniel Craig will be retiring his license to kill after No Time to Die. He’s had enough of playing British superspy James Bond and wants to move on to other roles. I’m pleased to report the 25th film in the long-running franchise (nearly 60 years!) is a fitting send-off. It’s GREAT albeit a bit on the long side. It runs an epic 163 minutes! What is this, a Marvel movie?
Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation), the plot of No Time to Die is (mostly) typical 007 silliness. It has everything we’ve come to expect like the MacGuffin, Talking Villain, Secret Lair, Bond Girls, thrilling score and gadgets created by exasperated quartermaster Q (Whishaw, Mary Poppins Returns). The MacGuffin in this case is a weaponized virus (“Project Heracles”) that can attack a specific person through his/her DNA. Everybody is after it; MI6, the CIA and others including Bond’s newest adversary Lyutsifer Safin (Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody), a deranged piece of work with an affinity for poisons and a personal connection to 007 romantic interest Madeleine Swann (Seydoux, Blue Is the Warmest Color).
As I’m sure you recall, Bond and Madeleine drove off into the sunset together at the end of the previous Bond movie, 2015’s Spectre. An extended prologue gives us a bit of insight into her childhood before catching up with the couple enjoying quality time in Italy. That is, until Spectre agents try to kill Bond while he’s visiting the grave of old flame Vesper Lynd (from Casino Royale). Convinced Madeleine set him up, he puts her on a train with the intention of never seeing her again. This leads into the opening titles sequence with the title song sung by Billie Eilish.
Lik everything else in the world, Bond Girls changed over the years. They’re no longer the bevy of beauties that invariably end up in the sack with our libidinous lothario. The new Bond Girls are bad-ass babes more than capable of holding their own next to our tough, stalwart hero. The latest entrants to the club are Nomi (Lynch, Captain Marvel), the female MI6 agent that succeeded Bond as Agent 007, and Paloma (Armas, Knives Out), the CIA agent who aids Bond in Cuba when he goes to capture the mad scientist (Dencik, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) that created the virus. They’re both good in their respective roles; I truly hope Paloma turns up in future installments. I’m fairly certain we’ll see Lynch again.
Fukunaga cites On Her Majesty’s Secret Service as his favorite Bond movie. It shows in No Time to Die. Like the sole entry starring George Lazenby, there’s a love story at the center of the action. As is typical of many relationships, what he has with Madeleine is complicated. The daughter of an old adversary, he doesn’t trust that she’s not involved with SPECTRE. They part ways after the incident in Italy only for fate to bring them together again five years later. It’s still complicated, but now it’s compounded by a factor that didn’t exist before. Their story adds a level of humanity to a series predicated upon a superhuman character. In her, he sees hope for a future that doesn’t involving chasing bad guys all over the world. The question is do they really have “all the time in the world”?
No Time to Die totally delivers on the action part of the deal. It has a few brilliantly staged action set pieces including the climax in the villain’s secret lair where he’s hatching his evil plan to take over the world. Physically, Craig pulls out all the stops with some of the niftiest stunts in his tenure as 007. He may be older than when he first started, but age doesn’t appear to have slowed him down any. As always, the scenarios are fairly ludicrous, but hasn’t that always been a trademark of James Bond actioners?
As the newest Bond baddie, Malek does a good job. His performance is a neat blend of sinister and camp. His character Safin is truly evil in how he goes after Bond. I won’t give details, but it shows how truly depraved he is. But is he among the best Bond baddies? I wouldn’t say that. He’s cool in his own right, but pales in comparison to the likes of Goldfinger, Blofeld or Le Chiffre. The rest of the supporting cast, which includes Ralph Fiennes (the Harry Potter movies) as MI6 head M and Naomie Harris (Venom: Let There Be Carnage) as M’s receptionist Miss Moneypenny, acquit themselves nicely. All of them do a fine job.
Craig delivers a solid performance in his final go-around as James Bond. He allows his character to let down his guard thus exposing the layer of vulnerability beneath the tough exterior. He loves Madeleine and wants to be with her. In order to do so, he needs to learn to trust. Their love story is actually rather moving. It helps that the actors have good chemistry. Seydoux is very good as the damaged Madeleine, somebody who never fully recovered from a terrible childhood trauma.
I’m not going to drop any spoilers; HOWEVER, I would like to mention that I’m shocked about the death of a major Bond character in No Time to Die. I won’t name names, but this individual should have been allowed to stick around for a few more movies. Aside from that, I really like No Time to Die a lot. It’s a great send-off for the best Bond since Roger Moore. It’s also a solid action movie. You’ll cheer, you’ll laugh, you might even cry. For me, I was glad to finally get to see it after a long, long delay due to COVID. It was absolutely worth the long, long wait!
