Redux - No Time To Die (2021) - Film Review

Starring: Daniel Craig, Lea Seydoux, Rami Malek & Lashana Lynch

Screenplay: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Cary Joji Fukunaga & Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Directed By: Cary Joji Fukunaga

Certificate: 12

Happy Christmas folks! It's late 2021, the world is still in the grips of one of the deadliest pandemics in history, and the new James Bond film has finally arrived! If you followed along my Bond marathon last December, you'll know that the plan was to finish on the 25th December with a review of 'No Time To Die'. However, said pandemic and multiple postponements put pay to that, but now it's time for a redux of James Bond December and to finally finish the job. It's been a long time waiting and there's a lot riding on this film, so can 'No Time To Die' stick the landing and wrap up the Daniel Craig era in a satisfying way?

Following the events of 'Spectre', James Bond and Madeline Swann are enjoying time in Southern Italy when they are ambushed by SPECTRE agents. Believing Swann has betrayed him, the two escape and part ways. Five years later, having retired to Jamaica, Bond is contacted by Felix Leiter with a request for help. An MI6 scientist, responsible for the development of a lethal bioweapon that codes itself to specific DNA, has been kidnapped along with the plans for the weapon. Lyutsifer Safin has obtained this weapon, named Heracles, and it appears he has a significant history with both SPECTRE and Madeline...

The remainder of this review will contain major spoilers!

'No Time To Die' kicks off with possibly the longest opening stint of any Bond film, with it being upwards of twenty minutes before we get round to the opening titles. But I'll talk more about the actual length of the film a bit later on. For now, let's just take a moment to appreciate the eponymous theme, provided this time by Billie Eilish. I'm not that familiar with most of Eilish's music, but I really love this theme, and it fits with the general moody image of her other work. For me, it's far better than 'Writing's On The Wall' and although it's mostly a subdued and restrained affair, I do love the slow build to its more dramatic climax and the way Eilish belts that final chorus. So the theme is a thumbs-up from me this time, and the same goes to the work of director and newcomer to the Bond series, Cary Joji Fukunaga. Even when the narrative elements of 'No Time To Die' may let him down (again, more on that in a bit), I can feel Fukunaga and the rest of the production team giving everything they've got to make this as polished as possible. Everything from costumes, to set-design to the action set-pieces - I honestly don't have a bad word to say about any of it. 

While the production may be top-notch, if there's anything in 'No Time To Die' that falters, it's to be found in the story. One of the most oft-repeated criticisms of this film has been its runtime, having surpassed 'Spectre's two and a half-hour record by clocking in at nearly two and three-quarter hours. It's a hefty film to get through, and it just does not justify that length. This was in need of trimming down and tightening up by a good twenty-thirty minutes at least. Perhaps this could've been done by truncating the transitory period between Bond meeting Blofeld again, and arriving at Safin's island base, as looking back on it this stretch of the film does drag.

Still, as drawn out as it can sometimes be, there is at least some saving grace to be found in amongst the supporting cast. This is of course a send-off to the Craig era, and as such there are various returning characters from his prior films. One of these, and not seen since 'Quantum Of Solace' is Jeffrey Wright as franchise mainstay Felix Leiter. I've said in my reviews of previous films that Leiter is a difficult character to care about due to just how often he's recast and the generally small role he tends to play, at least with the exception of 'Licence To Kill'. But by sheer virtue of the fact that Wright has stuck around since 2006, this is easily the best version of Leiter. His absence from the last couple of films and return now gives his eventual death some surprising weight. Sure, Leiter has never been instrumental even to the Craig years, but Bond holding him as he speaks his final words and it spurring him on was pretty moving. We also have newcomers such as Lashana Lynch as Nomi, a.k.a. the new 007. Lynch's casting as "the new 007" helped generate plenty of outrage clicks a while back, with some being driven mad at a black woman being 007. In reality however, Nomi is... fine. Lashana Lynch is good in the role, but as for the character herself I didn't feel much towards her. She appears to be in the film mainly to prove that anyone can take up the mantle of 007, which is something I'd be interested in exploring (once again, more on this later). But the film undercuts that by having Bond eventually reclaim the number anyway, so... why spend so much time making a big point about this again? Nomi may be the more important supporting character here, but there's someone else who makes a far bigger impression than her, and with much less screentime... Paloma. Daniel Craig and Ana De Armas are reunited after appearing together in 'Knives Out' and while the dynamic is obviously different, their chemistry still sparkles. It's an honest-to-god shame that Paloma wasn't in this film a lot more, because she completely stole the show. She owns the action scenes, is positively adorable, and is hands down one of the best supporting players to feature in a Bond film.

Picking up the role again from 'Spectre', Christoph Waltz returns as Blofeld. This time however, Blofeld's role is pretty minimal, making way for a new big baddie, Rami Malek as Safin. I am really conflicted when it comes to this guy. On the one hand, he's played by Rami Malek and I was never in any doubt that he'd turn in a great performance. Malek amps up the sinister when it comes to Safin, and it's an incredible look when he's donning the combination of a big white winter coat, machine gun and a broken Japanese Noh mask. That opening flashback of Safin murdering Madeline's mother gives a vivid first impression, with some bits that feel like they've come straight out of a horror movie. There's plenty I really like about Lyutsifer Safin, although there's no points for subtlety with that name, and it hasn't escaped my notice that this is yet another physically disfigured villain - something I'm sure the Craig films have featured more than with any other Bond. But the one really glaring problem I have with Safin is... I don't understand what he wants. Now don't get me wrong, I get that he's out for revenge against Blofeld and SPECTRE, that he's using a nanobot bioweapon to do it, and gets some sadistic pleasure out of toying with Madeline. That's fine, no problem there. What I don't understand is his plan beyond that, and why he has this secret base where he's mass-producing the Heracles virus to supposedly kill millions. What's the motivation for that beyond the most basic "bad guy gonna be bad"? Plus if the main appeal of the Heracles is that it's coded to specific DNA, doesn't it kind of nullify that to mass produce it in order to kill everyone? Much as I like 'No Time To Die', even with four credited writers, it does have these moments that just don't seem to add up. Blofeld going on about how Madeline has a secret and that it will kill Bond when he finds out - what does that amount to? Madeline knew a guy who tried to kill her when she was a kid? Even stuff like Blofeld controlling a SPECTRE meeting remotely from his prison. He's doing it through a disembodied bionic eye, sure, but also how? How is that connection established in the first place, and if Blofeld's under constant observation, how has nobody picked up on it? 

I really don't want to give the impression that I disliked this film, because while it has its flaws it gets the crucial things absolutely right, and this feels like a good time to talk about Bond himself. It's no secret that Daniel Craig had mixed feelings about returning for a fifth film, but he still gives it his all here and bows out on a high. I can definitely feel Phoebe Waller-Bridge's influence on the script, as Bond gets some really good deadpan moments. We also get to see Bond in something of a new light as well, thanks to Madeline's return. Some Bond girls have left their mark on more than just one film, such as Vesper or Diana Rigg's Tracy (incidentally, I loved the references to 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service'), and now Madeline joins that club too. In a first for the series, Bond even gets cast in a paternal light, with him and Madeline having a young child. It's in keeping with the more modern Bond that the Craig films have cultivated, and it leads to an ending that I really did not see coming. Twenty-five films in and Bond is finally taken out of action, and it's a beautifully tragic way to go too. Bond being killed off is not something I envisioned anyone having the nerve to pull off, but I'm glad they did because it gives us an emotional farewell and caps off these five films really well. 

And after such a long wait, that's 'No Time To Die' - a finale that like I've said has its problems but is still a success. Of course with such an ending, most of the current conversation about James Bond is focused on the future, and who's next in line to take up the role. Plenty of big-name and up-and-coming actors have been suggested, but in my own opinion, I haven't yet seen a suggestion that I think would work. The reason for this... I honestly think this might be a good place to leave the series. I'm not saying this because I secretly hate James Bond or because I'm under any delusion that this will actually happen. It's 2021, James Bond is a multi-million dollar franchise and there's no way any franchise like this is being retired anymore. But I have to wonder, after nearly sixty years in the business, I don't know where else we could go with a character like James Bond from here. Of course that may be ironic coming from me, a 'Doctor Who' fan who believes the show has limitless potential. But Bond is a different beast. While I'd be happy to spend more time in this universe (a Paloma spin-off film please!), it feels like Bond himself has run his course. The character began his literary life as a dated embodiment of British hubris and a male power fantasy for all the worst traits imaginable. As time has gone on, the films have brought Bond kicking and screaming into a more modern world, but where else is there to go? Perhaps I've spent too long listening to the Kill James Bond podcast this year (which is something you should definitely check out if you haven't), and maybe I'll be eating my words years from now, but time will have to tell...

7/10

Lastly, if you're interested in updated rankings, here you go: