No Time to Die is the latest James Bond movie and it was delayed for over a year thanks to COVID. It was worth the wait. For MGM it was worth the wait because the movie made serious business at the box office. For audiences it was worth the wait because we got to see an amazing movie and a very dignified and satisfying goodbye which is worthy of the big screen. No Time to Die is Daniel Craig's last James Bond movie and this movie is not another 007 movie, it is an excellent goodbye movie. Yes, I totally cried at the end of this movie. It is an end of an era.
This movie is basically a direct continuation of Spectre. Bond is living with Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) when their relationship falls apart and he moves to live a reclusive lonely life in Jamaica. Bond has never been a long term relationship man. But still, it seems like his relationship with Swann is exceptionally long for him. His peace is short lived as an old CIA friend (played by Jeffrey Wright) asks for his help in rescuing a kidnapped scientist. Obviously this is a Bond movie so it will not be that simple. The mission becomes a lot more complex than anyone expected, all leading Bond to a villain of a kind he never faced before.
However, the journey is the satisfying part of this movie as well as the ending, not the villain. Rami Malek is a terrific actor, he has an Oscar for a reason, but the role that he has is unsatisfying. Another deformed Bond bad guy. It is hard to relate to his motives. I understand his role from the movies perspective and his emotional impact, but as a character he felt rather bland and uninteresting. Malek did the best with what he has, but it isn’t much.
Christoph Waltz also returns in this movie for a brief appearance. I can't say that it was necessary, but it worked with the continuity of the previous movie. I am just tired of seeing him in villain roles. He always does the same thing in each movie and his Bond role is no exception.
All the haters can relax, Lashana Lynch is not the new Bond. She is not taking over anything. She is the new 007, but there can be another 007, especially since everyone believes that the previous 007 has retired or died. Even the movie jokes about it. Plus, she does a great job in this movie. She even works with Bond and they work pretty well together I might add. I liked her in Captain Marvel as well, but this is next level action and she has more than a few moments to shine. She was an excellent addition to this movie.
I actually don't want to talk about the plot of the movie, because it is good. Really good. So many twists and turns and surprises and shocking revelations. I was on the edge of my seat. Plus as you can imagine, this movie has a lot of action in it. A lot. It is all very well executed and some of the action scenes look exceptional. From the idea to the photography to the choreography. This movie has more than one memorable action scene. Even though the movie is super long on paper, 2 hours and 45 minutes I was never bored for an instant. It felt like it was well paced and super interesting.
Yes, the movie says goodbye to Bond. It is not the most Bond ending you can imagine. It does feel like a change. To me it felt like character growth and development, for others it might feel like the character is no longer Bond. I loved the way it ended even though it was a sad ending, but Bond has never been the person for a happily ever after.
In short I highly recommend this movie. It might not be the best Bond movie, but it is iconic in its own right.
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