Review of No Time to Die (2021) by Clessy — 09 Oct 2021

A fantastic finish to one of the most influential and success spy series ever.

James bonds final outing is a spectacle of homages, new ideas and forward momentum all carried about by a very polished Daniel Craig. After 5 movies of amazing highs and bottom of the barrel low does this film provide a satisfying conclusion to the Craig Bond line? Simply put, yes. This Bond like previous Craig movies focus more on the human aspects of Bond and how his actual personality and emotions have effected him out side of his spy life. Don't take that in a wrong way the movie still does a fantastic balancing at of giving you plenty of action while not turning into a mindless stupid MCU cgi explosion fest. The movie starts out with one of the best openings in a bond film in years told in 2 unique parts. Introducing Bonds new love affair and setting up her child hood back story. An opening set with the suspense and tension of a slasher film this opening offers a disparate direction than any bonds taken. It's shortly followed up by a chance through and Italian village has breath taking stuns and beautiful locals. Fans of old will rejoice with the choice of Bonds car being a classic db5. The action is tight, well shot and very slick. Craig's bond's have always tried to lend themselves to a more realistic world with less gadgets and tricks. However, this film steps in a pays a little more homage than any of other of Craig's movies. The Db5 has plenty of tricks up it sleeves that will leave classic bond fans with a smile from ear to ear. While not giving you a beat for beat plot analysis the movie introduced new characters and ties up old ends for classic characters. The introduction of the new 007 has always been shown off plenty of times in trailers. I know what most of us bond fans feel. We hated it. No Bond fan wanted to feel the Social Justice Woke culture push into bond. Pushing a black female agent into 007s roll felt like nothing more than virtue signaling when watching the trailers and the back lash was high. Well I can certainly say the movie doesn't push that agenda. Yes she's there, yes she 007 but in no way does the film seem to be pushing this. Weather they did this because of back lash or not it's really no a detractor from the movie and I don't think you should go into the film with that bias. One of the weakest elements in the movie that needs to be addressed however is the villains and Spectre. Both are done a huge disservice as they simply don't seem to be the of focus the movie. The movie is more interesting in wrapping things up than it is giving satisfying conclusions to classic plot points. 25 movies and the legacy of Spectre is kind of just throw out the window and concluded in 1 to 2 scences. I will however say the party for Spectre in Cuba is one of the high light scenes for the movie. The beautifully stunning Ana De Armas delivers as one of the best bond girls in her very brief Cuba scene. In her brief 10 to 15 minutes of screen time she Nails it epitomizing everything a Bond girl is about. Sexy, bad ass and fun. The main villain of the movie on the other hand doesn't live up what we'd consider an amazing bond Villain. In fact I'd say he's completely forgettable. This is part of the reason its so dishearting that Spectre the over arching Villains of the whole series are concluded with little to no fan fair. Remi Malek is a great actor and does the best with what he's given but, i'd think you'd be hard press to walk away from the movie and even remember his characters name. Go for it, see if you can remember the mains villains name seconds after leaving the theater. Promise you, you cant. His motivations seem muddle and unclear and the threat level that he brings seems pathetic. While there's world ending stakes at hand they never seem important and the tension isn't high. So while it seems like I've been trashing on the movie very hard, No time to Die is a movie that is the very "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts" - Aristotle. The movie combines to make a very polished and enjoyable send off to Daniel Craig and in my opinion the series as a whole. With its long run time of almost 3 hours you won't ever find yourself bored or thinking about the pacing. It's a brisk, fun thrill ride and one not to be missed. I really hope everyone enjoys it as much as me and goes into the movie with an open mind and not pre conceived notions. 9.