James Bond has left active service. His peace is short-lived when Felix Leiter, an old friend from the CIA, turns up asking for help, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.
Chuck says:
Let’s get what’s wrong with “No Time to Die” out of the way – it’s too long by a good 20 minutes and its villain is from central casting. Beyond that, Daniel Craig’s swan song as James Bond is one of the best in franchise history, a genuinely thrilling entry that pushes the narrative of the international spy in different directions yet maintains the sort of globetrotting, big budget escapades we’ve come to expect from the series.
Carrying the burden of the history of the nearly 60-year franchise, coupled with the burden of an unexpected 18-month delay thanks to the COVIC pandemic, there’s every reason to expect the film to, if not fail, disappoint. Yet, director Cary Fukunaga and his three co-writers have produced a movie that manages to check all the boxes necessary for making a successful Bond film yet, like Craig’s best entry “Skyfall,” have focused on the character’s humanity, exploring his vulnerabilities to great narrative advantage. There’s a sense of dread and melancholy that hangs over the film and it’s all the better for it.
This time out, Bond has been pulled out of retirement by CIA operative Felix Leiter (Jeffery Wright) to track down a biological weapon that falls into one pair of wrong hands after another. It’s particularly nefarious as the disease it unleashes targets a single person – or entire race’s – DNA. It’s a frightening almost-real concept that raises the stakes of the mission. Reluctant to get back in the field, Bond is also dealing with the emotional fallout from his relationship with Madeleine (Lea Seydoux), his ex-love who he drove off with to enjoy a happily ever after at the end of “Spectre.”
The action throughout is first-rate, the movie’s prologue, featuring a rousing motorcycle chase and a sequence that puts Bond’s Astin Martin through its paces, serves notice that Fukunaga and his crew are here to play. They set the bar high and, for the most part, meet it with one thrilling set piece after another.
Of course, none of these moments carry any weight if the story is less-than-engaging or the characters transparent. One of the advantages of the Craig-era Bonds are the strong actors they’ve attracted, screen and stage veterans who bring nuance to what were previously one-note characters. Ralph Fiennes brings a sense of weariness and regret to M who has a much bigger role in things this time out. Ditto for Naomi Harris as Moneypenny and Ben Whishaw as Q who also bring much needed weight to their supporting roles, while newcomer Lashana Lynch cuts an imposing figure on screen as a new operative. And thank goodness for Ana de Armas who provides a deft comic touch to Paloma, a Cuban spy who unexpectedly saves Bond’s bacon.
As for the villains, Christoph Waltz returns as Blofeld, a scene between him and Craig one of the highlights of the cinematic year, for as much as what’s not said as what is. Unfortunately, Rami Malek is wasted in the script’s only poorly written role, his Lyutsifer Safin an amalgam of every hackneyed trait displayed by Bond baddies in the past.
It would be hard to imagine a better exit for Craig and his take on Bond. Eager to separate himself from his predecessors, the actor has always pushed to take the character in new directions and while the five films he starred in are a mixed bag, they are distinctive and daring, within the context of the franchise. Concentrating on Bond’s humanity, he and the series’ producers have managed to give us a Bond that will resonate long after this final mission.
3 1/2 Stars
