Do you remember the beginning of 2020?
It seems like ages ago. In January of that year, I wrote a blog post titled "The 5 Movies I'm Most Excited About In 2020." Two of those movies haven't even been released as of this review (one of those — "Top Gun: Maverick" — won't be released until 2022).
I just finished watching the new James Bond thriller "No Time To Die" at Aksarben Cinema. It was originally supposed to be released in April 2020.
I reviewed the teaser trailer for "No Time To Die" (read my review) in December 2019. It's a surprisingly detailed review (for a trailer) and includes lots of personal anecdotes and thoughts on the movie and the franchise as a whole.
In my discussion of the trailer, I wrote "I love what they've done with the 007 franchise since [Daniel Craig]'s played Bond."
That is true. "Casino Royale" reinvigorated the franchise. Some entries in Craig's Bond filmography have been received more favorably than others. (For me, "Skyfall" represented the high-water mark when it was released in 2012.)
Going into "No Time To Die," I wasn't sure what to expect. More than anything, I was happy the film had finally been released.
"No Time To Die" starts off with a tense "prologue" that finds a girl (a young Madeleine Swann, played by Coline Defaud) dealing with the death of her mother and trying to keep herself from getting murdered by the man who had tried to kill her father.
Definitely an interesting structural choice to start the film. It turned out to be a decent plot device designed to introduce a new villain, and add a bit more depth to Léa Seydoux's character.
The challenge here is the fact that it's been nearly six years since "Spectre" was released. I revisited that film for a second time when I wrote my review of the "No Time To Die" trailer in 2019, but my recollections are somewhat foggy two years later.
One of the "evolutionary" aspects of Craig's stint as 007 is the fact that all the films felt more "serialized" in nature — a shift away from the close-ended Bond films of the past. The intertwined structure presents more opportunities, but it also creates potential pitfalls.
As I watched the early moments of "No Time To Die," I felt like the story relied a bit too heavily on Bond's past exploits.
Point in case, after the prologue, the story jumps to present day and finds Bond and Swann on a trip that appears to be a romantic getaway in Matera (a city in southern Italy). Some time has passed since the events of "Spectre."
But Bond is there to visit the tomb of Vesper Lynd, a character (played by Eva Green) who last appeared in 2006's "Casino Royale."
While Bond might still be attached to Lynd, it didn't feel right tonally.
It felt like the writers were trying too hard to reference loose ends from Craig's 007 repertoire.
Craig has made it no secret that he is done with the franchise, and news broke prior to this film's domestic release that this would be his final outing as Bond.
In no way do I mean to sound tepid about the 25th entry in the James Bond series. There just seemed to be a few too many of those "trip down memory lane moments" strewn throughout the script.
Anyhow... Bond is ambushed at Lynd's grave (which results in the film's most entertaining action sequence) and believes that Swann has betrayed him. Despite her insistence otherwise, the two part ways at a train station, feeling lost and heartbroken.
The story then shifts ahead five years. Bond has left MI6 and is retired in Jamaica.
(It is interesting to note that MI6 boss M — played by the talented Ralph Fiennes — says they had trouble finding Bond because he was off the grid. While that might have been true, it didn't feel as if he was so remote that a robust intelligence agency like MI6 would have had trouble tracking him down over the course of five years... but I digress...).
Bond reunites with CIA counterpart Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) and meets Leiter's new colleague Logan Ash (Billy Magnussen).
He also meets an MI6 agent named Nomi (Lashana Lynch) who has become the new 007.
Bond learns that kidnapped MI6 scientist Valdo Obruchev (David Dencik) has developed a DNA-targeted bioweapon (called "Project Heracles") that is lethal to selective targets — an appealing tool for surgical assassinations.
This exposition sets up the main narrative structure for the rest of the film.
A man named Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek) wants to use the bioweapon for nefarious means. Malek is an interesting actor who seems to have range. I was curious to see how he ranked among various Bond villains.
"No Time To Die" moves forward as Bond works to stop the deadly virus, trying to juggle fresh plot elements while tying up loose ends from "Spectre."
It's a decent setup for a spy thriller, but the film can feel like it is being pulled in too many directions at the same time.
Ultimately, the mishmash of elements ends up giving short shrift to Malek's villain. There was too much going on to give his character the proper room to breathe.
There are some surprises along the way. I won't go into them, other than to say I think they worked pretty well.
This could have been one of the best entries in the Bond franchise. Director Cary Joji Fukunaga tried to craft a film that combined trademark 007 action sequences with the emotional heft seen in previous Craig entries like "Skyfall."
I'm just not sure the whole was greater than the sum of its parts.
Even the score by Hans Zimmer (one of the best composers in the business) felt uninspired compared to the "Skyfall" and "Spectre" scores by Thomas Newman.
Although, I do give Zimmer props for including some of John Barry's wonderful "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" theme in the movie (among other nods to previous Bond scores):
There are several other references to "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" in "No Time To Die" (some obvious, others more subtle).
As I mentioned earlier, it has been reported that this is Craig's last outing as the venerable British spy.
I'm not going to go into the movie's ending here.
That said, there are multiple tracks the Bond franchise could take going forward.
Building on the franchise that's been developed the past 15 years could be a fascinating direction to go, allowing fans to experience a fresh 007 movie that sheds the vestiges of the past.
But that is not going to happen.
As the credits rolled on "No Time To Die," I told Bridget I thought a "full reboot" was the most likely direction for the future.
It is interesting how times have changed...
I was just rewatching 2018's "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" (read my review) on Paramount+, and was reminded how Tom Cruise's franchise has set the standard for the modern spy thriller.
Part of that success is due to the talents of director/screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie, but it is also due the fact that there is a consistency in the franchise that steers the decision-making process throughout (led largely by Cruise's guiding hand).
As it regards the 007 franchise, it is a shame they couldn't have landed director Sam Mendes ("Skyfall," "Spectre") again, along with scribe John Logan ("Skyfall," "Spectre"). Those two (in particular, Mendes) really understood what made a modern Bond film compelling.
Overall, I enjoyed watching "No Time To Die." Was it everything I was hoping it would be? Not quite. Do I think it could have been better? Absolutely.
While far from perfect, the filmmakers did a yeoman's job wrapping things up.
Craig's turn as Bond managed to infuse a lot of life into the franchise (that felt past its prime in the 1990s). Going with a grittier choice to play 007 reinvented the franchise for the 21st century. As a longtime fan of the series, I am thankful for that.
I'm excited to see where things go from here. The next Bond has a lot to live up to. I just hope we don't have to wait another six years to see the new iteration of "Bond, James Bond."
