No Time to Die – Movie Review

Rating: B (Good)

Trailer/Thumbnail Courtesy Universal Pictures

Since he started playing the role in Casino Royale, Daniel Craig has brought his own flavour to James Bond. It was certainly a rougher approach to Ian Fleming’s iconic spy, but still with the occasional quips. Through five films, the directors and writers have crafted an engaging story of him coming to grips with MI6 and his multiple villains. No Time to Die marks a solid end to Craig’s tenure and despite the almost three-hour runtime, it remains an engaging action spectacle. This movie manages to honour the James Bond legacy and makes one excited to see where EON Productions takes the character next.

The highlights of most James Bond movies come from the action. Director Cary Joji Fukunaga gives those sequences plenty of style and not one scene feels like too much. The stunt team pulls out all of the stops in showing the characters jumping, fighting and shooting in every possible direction. One of the best sequences is early on where we see Bond take advantage of the fancy gadgets in his beloved Aston Martin. Another great scene takes place in Cuba, featuring a solid mix of gunplay and hand-to-hand combat. The Craig films have succeeded at that solid mix of big-screen spectacle with a more grounded feel.

One of the main themes running through No Time to Die is exploring Bond’s relationship with the women in his life. With a few exceptions, the series has mostly treated Bond Girls as conquests for 007 to sleep with and then discard before the next film comes along. This new era has largely avoided that and we see the continuing impact of the long dead Vesper Lynd on Bond and his evolving romance with Madeleine Swann. He also has some solid interactions with Miss Moneypenny and Anna De Armas appears in a delightful cameo as a CIA agent. One of the best additions in No Time to Die is Lashana Lynch as a new 00 agent. There is plenty of humorous back-and-forth between her and Craig and she fits in well with the already established personnel at MI6.

As always, James Bond has a villain to stop. Rami Malek’s Safin has all of the classic Bond villain requirements, like a secret island full of henchmen and plenty of nuclear weapons. However, he doesn’t make for a particularly interesting opponent. Malek tries his best to make Safin menacing, but he’s a fairly dull baddie. One of the evil plots that runs through No Time to Die also feels awkward in light of current events, although with how long the movie has been in the can, this obviously couldn’t have been altered without drastically changing the whole film. At the end of the day, you’re supposed to root for Bond to stop the evildoers from making the world a worse place and the movie succeeds at that.

Watching No Time to Die, one can sense the joy Cary Fukunaga has at getting the chance to direct an entry in this long-running series. Daniel Craig’s respect for the role also shines through and he definitely earns his place as one of the best actors to play James Bond. It is actually quite remarkable how each actor who has taken on the mantle of 007 has brought their own spin and interpretation to the table. That allows each era to feel distinct. Some films may have gotten too silly and others attempt a grittier approach, but there’s a reason the franchise has lasted for so long. With their globe-trotting, intriguing spy escapades and general escapism, a good amount of the Bond films do the job. It will be exciting to see who will be ordering “a vodka martini; shaken, not stirred” next.

Stefan Ellison
THE SCENE