No Time to Die (2021)

Much delayed due to the pandemic, we finally get to see the return of James Bond in Daniel Craig’s swansong in the titular role. I’ve never been to the cinema to watch a Bond film without knowing as much about it in advance as possible until No Time To Die. After the original trailer, released a long, long, long time ago now, we have been forced to sit through many different iterations of the trailer in the ensuing mass delay; leading me to wonder whether the producers were trying to show us the entire film before its release. I still managed to go in more or less blind, and I’m very glad I did. It works more or less as a direct sequel to Spectre (2015) with an even more prominent role for Lea Seydoux’s Madeleine Swann, reprising her role. Her importance is instantly made clear in the opening pre-credits sequence (one that ends up being the longest in Bond history, outstripping 1999’s The World Is Not Enough) that works as a flashback to Madeleine’s childhood before fast forwarding to the present day where her and Bond are enjoying the stunning Matera in Southern Italy. After the title credits (Billie Eilish’s song works really well in my opinion) the film jumps forward five years, and Bond is enjoying retirement in Jamaica, in a house that can’t be anything other than a direct nod to Ian Fleming’s Goldeneye home. Felix Leiter, who needs help with an operation, which may or may not be connected to Spectre, turns up asking for his help. Something tells you it might just be something to do with 007’s biggest enemy. Although in this context, ‘007’ is incorrect; that code name has fallen to Lashana Lynch’s Nomi after Bond’s retirement. Lynch flourishes in the role, and the chemistry between the two of them arcs really well throughout the film. Indeed, the relationships between Bond and all four of the central female characters in this film work excellently, most notably Ana de Armas in a short cameo in Cuba which is one of the best sections of the film. With all the commotion around Bond’s treatment of women and the clamor that came with the announcement of a female 007, what makes Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s input so effective with regards to the script is that you don’t notice any sort of ‘treatment’. There are no deliberate attempts to force the point; it’s all very subtly done meaning the film flows as a result and doesn’t draw you out in this regard. What I found so impressive about No Time To Die, as someone who knows Bond inside out, is that although I could telegraph most of the main events in advance, the reason I could do so was due to some glorious nods and winks to previous Bond outings. Or, in the case of villain Safin’s (an excellent Rami Malek) lair, a reference to the novel of You Only Live Twice, one I’ve been wanting to see on screen for years. The running time of nearly three hours was never a problem for me; I was fully engaged for the entirety. Craig is brilliant, as he has been for his entire stay in the suit and they’ve got a job on their hands trying to find a replacement. I won’t go into any further detail and of course I’ve only seen the film once so it’s hard to give more than a finite review, but this is easily the most impressed I’ve initially been walking out of a Bond film for the first time. Whether I feel the same after another couple of viewings remains to be seen. 8.1/10