Thursday, October 14, 2021

Movie Review: Bond Goes Awry In “No Time To Die”


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." 



Saturday, October 9, 2021

Movie Review: Marvel's "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings"


One thing that I enjoy about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is how it can surprise you. 

There are times when your high expectations don’t quite come to fruition. In other instances, there are movies in the series that come out of nowhere and pleasantly surprise you. 

I think back to 2014’s "Guardians of the Galaxy" — one of my favorite entries in the Marvel movie lexicon. The early promotional material left me scratching my head. At that point, I had serious doubts. 

I’ll be honest, I didn’t have a burning desire to see the latest Marvel tome “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” 

I figured it would be decent (each of the 24 previous movies in the MCU have at a minimum been entertaining), but I’m not a terribly big fan of martial arts movies, so I wasn’t sure how I’d react to it.

My initial qualms were unfounded. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie!    


“Shang-Chi” starts off with fairly typical origin story material. While I know this is standard operating procedure for movies of this ilk, I always hope filmmakers don’t belabor the point. 

We are taken back thousands of years when Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung) discovers the ten rings. They are powerful weapons that imbue a user with special powers and immortality. He creates an organization called “Ten Rings.”


In the mid-1990s, Xu Wenwu goes in search of a village that has magical creatures in order to enhance his powers (it’s a fantasy movie... just go with it). 

He is ultimately stopped from entering the village by a woman named Ying Li (Fala Chen). The two fall in love, leave the village, start a life together and have two children — Xu Shang-Chi and Xu Xialing. 

I appreciated the fact that they shifted some of the origin elements to a later point in the movie. We learn more about the family dynamic in flashback sequences throughout the film’s third act. 

From here, the story kicks into present day. For me, this is where the film became a funny and engaging superhero tale. 

We find a grown-up Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) who works in San Francisco as a valet (and goes by the name Shaun) with his best friend Katy (Awkwafina). 

The dynamic between the two characters is really engaging. Both are at a point in their life where their friends are moving onto “bigger and better” things in life, leaving the pair feeling more than a little self-conscious about their place in the world. 


I loved Awkwafina in “Crazy Rich Asians” (read my review), and she provides a welcome dose of oddball humor in “Shang-Chi.”

More than that, the relationship dynamic between Shang-Chi and Katy is intriguing. You can’t quite tell if the two have future romantic inclinations, or are simply good platonic friends. Whatever the case, it is a likable on-screen duo. 

The main narrative focus gets going when Shaun and Katy are attacked by a group of his father’s Ten Rings thugs on a city bus. They are after a jade pendant Shaun’s mother gave him. 

This entire action sequence was really entertaining. 


In the aftermath, Shang-Chi and Katy travel to Macau to find Shang-Chi’s sister Xu Xialing (Meng’er Zhang). The siblings are estranged from one another, and he wants to warn his sister that the Ten Rings organization is hunting them down. 

This ultimately sets up a story about honor, revenge, and troubled family relationships. 

There are a number of sequences I won’t get into because I don’t want to tread into spoiler territory. 

I will say, though, that a modern-day martial arts movie wouldn’t be the same without “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’s” Michelle Yeoh, and the talented actress is featured in “Shang-Chi.” 


It’s not as if any of the narrative moments (in and of themselves) are particularly profound, but the likable vibe of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” makes for a surprisingly strong viewing experience (even if you aren’t a martial arts aficionado).  

In a way, the tone reminded me of the 1986 movie “Big Trouble in Little China” — albeit with better visual effects and better martial arts sequences. 


I’d definitely recommend “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” While it might not be a conventional superhero tale, it certainly has a lot to offer. The film’s strong leads create something that is much more than the sum of its parts. 

The auditorium at Omaha’s Aksarben Cinema (on the evening I watched the movie) was about 75 percent full. It was fun to experience “Shang-Chi” with an enthusiastic crowd — something movie fans haven’t been able to experience enough of the past 18 months. 

Be sure to stay for both a mid-credits “Easter Egg” scene and a scene after the credits.