REVIEW #96 James Bond: No Time To Die (2021)

No Time to Die is the latest instalment in the James Bond franchise and is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga. Bond finds himself living off the grid as he is approached by his old friend, CIA agent Felix Leiter, asking for help to save the world yet again. 

CAST & THE ACTING 

Daniel Craig returns to iconic role of James Bond and what I enjoyed the most about his performance was that he portrayed a more vulnerable Bond. Yes his combat choreography was great and he showcased those famous traits of the character but he also showed emotion like heartbreak, love and even slight fear towards the end of the film. This vulnerability emphasised the character development over the course of his 5 Bond films and was fitting for Daniel Craigs last outing. His chemistry with his other cast mates was also worth noting, usually we see a pair of actors with great chemistry in a film but Daniel Craig seemed to display that energy with everyone he shared a scene with, which only made it better. Léa Seydoux played Madeleine Swann and she delivered a strong performance, portraying a mysterious character that has so many layers that we slowly get to see as the film goes on. James Bond has had a lot of ‘love interests’ over the years and she was probably my favourite because she was a strong character outside of just being a love interest. 

Rami Malek was the main antagonist in No Time to Die and personified delusion and narcissism, he made for a good villain. Lashana Lynch played Nomi the new 00 agent, she brought a nice energy into the film and her chemistry with Daniel Craig delivered lots of funny interactions. Ralph Fiennes returned as M, Ben Whishaw reprised his role of Q and Naomie Harris returned as Miss Moneypenny. But the performance I wish we got to see more of was from Ana De Armas who delivered really exciting action sequences but also injected a lot of humour into her scenes. Unfortunately she only appeared briefly. 

PLOT & THE STORYLINE 

They created a great storyline for Daniel Craig’s last outing, however my one criticism is that it felt like more of the same. I guess with most Bond films they follow the same blueprint which is why it can feel repetitive, so I hope they really change things up with the new casting and storylines that follow. I did love the sub plots in this film, it showcased the development of Daniel Craig’s Bond as he finally starts trusting and letting someone into his life. This made for an emotional ending, which was really fitting to the character and done justice to all of Craig’s performances. It also nicely linked with his previous films and characters which meant you were always questioning the events in the film, always expecting a twist of some sort and that’s something I enjoy. There has been a lot of debate about James Bond becoming a women and I hope this film silences those with that opinion. It showcased strong female characters even introducing a female 007 in Lashana Lynch, which emphasised Daniel Craig’s point that you can write strong roles for females instead of switching the genders of iconic characters. I did think the chemical bio weapon approach was a little predictable but it did work well and they handled it really nicely. They established a nice origin for the villain and even for Madeleine, which gave the audience the information they needed to understand the characters. So overall it was an exciting and engaging plot, that gave Daniel Craig the perfect send off.

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

With a budget of almost £300 million I expected really good action sequences and some fantastic cinematography and effects, No Time to Die certainly delivered that. However what I actually enjoyed the most was simply the scenery, the beautiful Norwegian forests, Jamaican paradise or Italian islands made for some visually stunning scenes. I also have to mention the opening credits which always impress me, it’s so clever how they make it looks so good whilst hinting at the events in the film and I think the No Time to Die theme tune by Billie Eilish was perfect for it. The musical score in the film was great, manipulating the iconic James Bond music to match the scene always works well, leaving the audience with goosebumps, especially in the cinema with the surround sound! 

OVERALL (8.5/10)

This was the perfect send off for Daniel Craig, his version of James Bond come full circle and displayed some really strong character development. The acting was great from all of the cast, delivering a mix of emotion, humour and some fantastic action sequences. The main storyline and the antagonist does follow the same blue print used in previous films which felt a little repetitive but Rami Malek did distract you from that with his stellar performance. The sub plots to do with Bonds personal life was actually the highlight for me, it made the character more relatable and made the film as a whole more emotional. The cinematography and special effects were great as you would expect from a film of this size, they got the filming locations spot on because there was some visually stunning scenes, not created from CGI but just from being on location. It was so good to see a full cinema and I would definitely recommend getting to one to watch this film! 

Thanks for reading 

Callan