Review | Daniel Craig gives satisfying bow-out to James Bond in “No Time to Die”
After being delayed for over a year, Daniel Craig’s final appearance as iconic secret service agent 007 provides a satisfying conclusion for fans of the franchise and casual viewers. Photo courtesy of Wiki Commons.
“Bond, James Bond.” The character has been a global staple since his 1962 film debut in “Dr. No” starring Sean Connery, and seven different actors have tackled the role since. Now, 15 years after Daniel Craig first put on the suit, he’s saying goodbye to the film series, ending an era of Bond in “No Time to Die.”
For fans of the franchise, this premiere has been a long time coming. The film was slated to release in April 2020 but was pushed back three times due to the COVID-19 pandemic before it was finally released globally Oct. 8.
Following last year’s trend of studios striking financial deals with streaming services, it was rumored that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer considered selling the new release to one of these platforms for a hefty price of $600 million. The deal didn’t end up going through, which came as a relief to avid theatergoers like myself.
Being a film studies major, blockbusters are generally not on my radar; I’m not a fan of how creative freedom can often be restrained in big-budget movies. Yet after being deprived of the theater experience for over a year, I’ve found a new appreciation for the spectacle that these box office hits provide, and “No Time to Die” did not disappoint.
The film picks up immediately after the events of its 2015 predecessor “Spectre,” which I binged along with “Skyfall” in preparation for this new installment. After putting the leader of the terrorist organization, Spectre, behind bars, James Bond (Daniel Craig) retires to settle down with Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), the daughter of one of the members of Spectre whom Bond teamed up with in the prior film.
Just when Bond thinks he’s going to get his happy ending, members of Spectre ambush him. Both him and Madeleine are able to get away, but Bond isn’t able to escape his trust issues and blames Madeleine despite her refusing to have anything to do with the attack. He ends up leaving her and being called to return to his work at MI6 when he finds out that Spectre has gotten their hands on dangerous biological warfare nanobots.
The film has a runtime of two hours and 43 minutes, taking the time to savor intimate moments between characters instead of overemphasizing its exciting action sequences. These were the scenes that drew me in emotionally, and even though I don’t heavily follow the franchise, I felt a sense of satisfaction for how writer and director Cary Joji Fukunaga ended Craig’s Bond story.
Bond is commonly labeled as a notorious womanizer, leading to the character being criticized and called a misogynist (which I don’t disagree with). Nevertheless, I think there are layers to Bond’s actions, however crude, in “No Time to Die” that are explored on a deeper level through his complicated, dynamic relationship with Swann.
In typical noir fashion, Bond is more on the spectrum of an antihero than a hero. He has a license to kill — whether or not innocent people get caught up in the crosshairs. He is both a victim and compliant in his trauma, and Bond’s trust issues become a dominant motif throughout the film.
While I was shocked by the volatile reaction Bond has towards Swann at the beginning of the film, I also felt empathetic for him and the hardships he has endured while being a secret agent. I won’t spoil what becomes of the pair, but there’s a sense of a lesson learned and validation for the indisputable admiration they both ultimately share for one another.
Other highlights were the addition of Lashana Lynch as Nomi, or the new 007, and Rami Malek as the antagonist, Lyutsifer Safin.
Nomi is the first woman to take on the role of 007, and her rivalry with Bond is a breath of fresh air. With her addition to the narrative, Bond is no longer an untouchable, incomparable force, which is a great segue into his departure.
On the other hand, Malek interprets Safin as a weird, revengeful antagonist that lightens the mood of the film — almost exceedingly so. I thought Christoph Waltz’s acting abilities were severely underused in “Spectre” for his role as the antagonistic terrorist leader, Blofeld. However, Malek’s ability to unsettle audiences was exploited to its utmost extent, softening the seriousness that the Bond films can take on a little too much.
Overall, this film was well worth the wait to see on the big screen, and while there may be some Bond fatigue as the franchise approaches almost 60 years of existence, this is a film people will not want to miss.