No Time to Die

Given the numerous documented problems that have plagued the production of No Time to Die, combined with a nearly 3-hour running time, it's quite amazing just how engrossing this latest James Bond entry truly is.  As a proper send off to Daniel Craig's time as the Super Spy, it certainly stumbles from time to time, which is likely an aspect of the film's reported script trouble.  However, it always finds a way to get back on solid ground not much longer, always holds your attention, and is quite thrilling in the way only the best Bond films can be.

The film pays proper respect to the history of the franchise, while also giving us the somewhat grittier and human Bond that Craig has been perfecting over the years.  Craig's Bond has suffered, been beaten, and even shows signs of emotional pain and regret.  We get all of that here, plus plenty of the franchise's humor, some applause-worthy action scenes, and a villain who naturally wants to wipe out most of the world so that he can control part of it.  That all comes with the territory, but there are some surprises here, making this one of the few entries in this series that you might actually want to avoid spoilers.  Director Cary Joji Fukunaga (2017's It: Chapter 1) brings a great amount of style, knows how to keep the plot and the action moving fleetly during its extended running time, and gives us a film that both plays by traditions, while also throwing in some unexpected curves.

For example, No Time to Die does have the standard grand action opening as most Bonds do, but before that, we get a chilling flashback concerning the childhood of returning love interest, Madeleine Swan (Lea Seydoux).  It's a hint that even though she is currently living a life of romance with Bond in Italy, their happiness will not last long.  Indeed, the evil organization Spectre is on their tail, and after we get their excellently choreographed escape, Bond puts Madeleine on a train, vowing that they will never see one another again, and five years later, he is so off the grid that MI6 have basically written him off as being dead.  Another Agent by the name of Nomi (Lashana Lynch) now holds the title of 007, and Bond seems content trying to leave the world and his old life behind him.

Naturally, retirement is not going to come easy for James, as he is tracked down CIA Operative Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), who sends him on a mission to Cuba.  The details of said mission lead to Bond being forced back into the game, interacting with rookie agent Paloma (Craig's Knives Out co-star Ana de Armas, who makes the most of her limited screen time here), and ultimately uncovering a villain's plan to use a bioweapon that could cause world-wide catastrophe.  Said villain is the wonderfully named Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek), who despite having the proper villain's lair and plan, is pretty low energy, and is probably the most forgettable aspect of the film, sadly.  Oh, and Christoph Waltz gets to come back as Blofeld, and he seems to be in total Hannibal Lecter mode for his big scene, complete with a high-tech containment cell.  Where it all leads to are some of the biggest personal stakes that Bond has ever had to contend with, which naturally will not be revealed here.

In all honesty, the best aspect of this latest entry is not the gadgets, the action, or the exotic settings, despite all three being displayed beautifully here.  It's the film's ability to surprise.  This being the 25th Bond film, there's obviously a formula at work here that's as reliable as the one the Marvel Studio implements in their movies.  What makes it work is that the movie doesn't go out of its way to surprise.  It kind of sneaks up on you, because it also plays by traditions as well.  It's a wonderful blend of giving the fans the expected beats, while also adding more emotion and personal investment than there's probably ever been in a Bond movie.  It allows Craig to give what is probably the most emotional portrayal of the character ever captured on film, while also giving him plenty of opportunities to display what has made him a fan favorite since he took on the role.

Not only that, but it mixes things up in a smart way, not so severely that I think many fans will be crying foul, but also just enough that it will definitely be taking them out of their Comfort Zone just a little when certain things are revealed during the course of the story.  This does lead to some select scenes that do hint at the numerous script problems the film had during production, including not having the script finished while they were shooting it.  But, every time I thought the movie was making a wrong turn, it would recover with a wonderful action sequence, some exciting development, or a quip that is genuinely funny and proper Bond.  It nudges things in new directions, rather than taking hard swerves, and it knows just how much to push.

No Time to Die manages to not only be the sendoff that Craig deserved, but just simply a strong standalone entry in the venerable series.  Even with an extended running time, it's just as thrilling as the best entries, rarely drags, and given everything that could have gone wrong, has managed to avoid most shortcomings to be a truly satisfying entertainment. 

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