No Time To Die (2021) Review

No Time To Die (2021) Review

Dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga

 

Daniel Craig bows out with a finale for the ages  

 

 

Nicola Dove—© 2020 DANJAQ, LLC AND MGM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

No Time To Die; the 25th Bond movie, of a franchise in its 59th year on screen. By any logic you’d expect this film to be a tired, hackneyed slog of over-worn and overplayed beats. The fact that it isn’t is a testament to the longevity and creativity that has kept these movies going for so long.

 

The 5th and final of Daniel Craig’s tenure as the super spy, No Time To Die is a unique experience for fans of the franchise. Never before has a Bond actor stepped on set knowing it was his final time in the suit and tie. Craig is a lucky first timer, as the movie feels like a reward and celebration of his reinvention of the popular series. 

 

No Time To Die is a long film, with a long history of delay and dismay in the production process. Yet, after all the hardships, it remains worth the wait. If you’re a fan of Bond, this is designed to make you emote, smile, gasp and even weep. Simultaneously the most and least James Bond film yet. It plays with your conventions and prior knowledge of the Bonds of old, yet it also has enough homage and re-establishment in its bones that it manages to be a bit of a throwback too.

 

This is not the best Bond, it’s not even Craig’s best Bond (that honour going to either Casino Royale or Skyfall depending on who you ask), yet that by no means equals a bad movie. It’s a film of great entertainment value, a lovingly made tribute to Daniel Craig’s record breaking 15 year tenure on 007, and with a few other callbacks that older fans will appreciate too.

 

The story, while slightly more convoluted than it’s predecessors, is a thrilling hook for the audience to find themselves in, as the spy tangles with competing agencies, new wave spies, scientific weapons of mass destruction and the consequences of the past. While slightly underdeveloped and overshadowed, Rami Malek’s Safin is a welcome addition to the classic rogues gallery of James Bond, feeling a lot like a middle ground between the tragic and dark villains of Craig’s top films and the cheesy archetypes of the originals. 

 

Cary Joji Fukunaga has crafted a love letter to James Bond; with a really special and daring result. This is perhaps the most personal Bond yet, with emotions at an all time high (sing it with me). It also has the most humour we’ve seen in a while. When it lands, it lands well and lets Craig finally have a bit of fun behind the rogue visage of 007, while at other times it threatens to overstep and take things a little too close to a Moonraker or Diamonds Are Forever. Despite the worries, I was relived to find that it balances itself out tonally, and the slightly campy moments are but an appetiser to the emotional gut punches that often follow. 

 

Quintessential Bond, while also daring to be a little boundary-breaking, No Time To Die manages to evoke almost every era of the franchise. Be it the sunny Jamaican settings of Connery’s Dr No, the witty and quippy dialogue of Roger Moore’s years, the dark and unsafe atmosphere of Dalton’s License to Kill, the bombastic action and sci-fi-like gadgetry of Brosnan or the obvious continuation of Craig’s Spectre. Every fan should find something to enjoy. 

 

Hans Zimmer is the unsung hero of the piece. A match made in cinematic heaven. Taking his specialist combination of slow-building strings and bass, with the emotional crescendo he has perfected on Nolan’s The Dark Knight and Inception, Zimmer combines this winning formula with motifs of James Bond’s classic score. As well as this, he beautifully intertwines beats from one of the favourite Bond scores of old (those who know it well, will find themselves fluttering). 

 

Zimmer’s score comes to a true shining effect in the third act of the film, which (without spoilers) is a masterful effort from all involved. I found myself reminded of the near-absurdly epic climax of The Dark Knight Rises, which the film evoked numerous times for me. The dark opening tone, the slightly plot-holed but unrivalled entertainment value of the main plot and climax, and the feeling of slight dread and overwhelmed butterflies that the intense finale builds to. Like Nolan’s final Batman, No Time To Die doesn’t reach the heights in plot quality of it’s former films, but it feels remarkably satisfying as an emotional bow-tie on the tuxedo of Daniel Craig’s era. 

 

The stakes are high, the emotions are on full display, the action is as punchy and explode-y as we have come to expect. Craig puts in a career-best performance as he covers all emotions in his arsenal, with his well established supporting cast all getting a decent spot on the podium. While it threatens to be a divisive entry into the series, I for once find myself falling on the positive end of the wall. It’s not perfect, but for sure it made me feel, and when film makes you feel, it’s completed its mission with excellency. 

 

And so ends the Craig-era and I bid a sad farewell to what is admittedly my favourite set of Bond films. They are the most consistent (bar the second) and the most episodic of the franchise. While we have slowly moved away from Casino Royale’s gritty realism and reinvention and shuffled slightly back into the classic Bond formula, it has all happened in good time, and precisely when it was needed. We are in the age of nostalgia these days, and a good Bond romp is just what everyone needed after so long away from theatres.

 

A Bond for all time, with no time to die quietly, this 007 flick is one I look forward to seeing again.

 

 

 

 

 

8/10

 

Review by Elliott Thomas Griffiths