Rating: 8.8
Wow am I ever impressed with this movie! It delivered exactly what I wanted it to! No Time to Die is an intense, emotional, exciting, satisfying, beautiful and just all around excellent film! It could not have been done any better, I thought it was just perfect for what it was. And it was also a perfect conclusion to Daniel Craig’s run as Bond, especially in how it so nicely concluded many of the story arcs from the previous 5 films. Easily my favourite part of the movie, and what made me really love it, was the strong emotional value it had. It took Bond, a normally stoic character, and really seemed to flesh him out even more (which the Craig films were already great at doing) and infused a strong emotional core to the film, reminiscent of “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”. I even loved that they included motifs and even the theme from that film in the soundtrack, it helped thematically connect the two so well! It was so cool to see this film pay a few homages to classic Bond films like the one earlier mentioned and even Dr No, through story, locations, music and even production design! Out of all the Craig films, this one felt the most like a classic Bond film! It wasn’t just a complete serious movie, it had some fun, had a lot of quippy one-liners and let Bond have fun with lots of the action. I love the scene where he stops to pour a drink and then continues in the fight! The film made use of some cool gadgets and a somewhat exuberant plotline, which also felt more like the classic Bond films. The villain, Safin, is fairly standard, but Rami Malek’s performance is what really makes him stand out. Malek truly commands the screen whenever his character shows up and just projects such a wild and threatening energy. Daniel Craig himself killed it though, he really seemed to be enjoying himself this time around and committed to delivering such a satisfying conclusion to his time as Bond. He handled the emotion well, yet brought all his intensity to the thrilling, intense action scenes. I especially loved the one he shared with Ana de Armas (who left quite the impression in the film despite only appearing for one sequence). The action is some of the best the franchise has seen in awhile, it’s so well choreographed and beautifully shot, right from the opening car chase with the excellent DB5 shootout scene, to the stunningly intense Norway escape in the forest, or even the final confrontations on the island. They are very cleverly conceived! It’s such a thrilling film, and Cary Joji Fukunaga handles the action perfectly. I throughly enjoyed his direction, found a lot of it to be wonderfully crafted, with such unique, creative and beautiful ways to shoot things! The way he staged so many scenes was brilliant, right from the opening scene where we see Safin for the first time! Or even how he built tension with Bond and Madeleine seeing each other again and then meeting Blofeld was fantastic, felt like I was watching a soon to be iconic scene. I couldn’t get over how perfectly crafted this film was, I truly loved Fukunaga’s style! His eye for great cinematography is also perfect! He might be my favourite Bond director, or at least tied with Sam Mendes! The movie also elegantly modernized the Bond formula and continued to modernize the character, without ruining him, which I really appreciated! Definitely the highlight is seeing his emotional side, and the way they drew parallels to and reversed “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” was really ingenious. Honestly the film is pretty much perfect to me. I love the Shakespearean like tragedy of the ending, it hits so well and brings all the emotions! The film has excellent pacing, it moves quickly and every scene seems to build on the last, I enjoyed every second of the movie! It’s the longest Bond film, but I didn’t feel the length at all. The sound mix is also very impressive, especially in IMAX, and Hans Zimmer brings such an intense and memorable score to the film, perfectly highlighting the impact of action and emotional scenes. I loved seeing all the MI6 returning characters, from M to Q and Moneypenny, and Blofeld and Felix were also awesome additions to the mix. I’m so happy they brought back Madeleine Swann and the plotline they gave her character was really interesting, I just love the dynamic it brought to the film. Nomi, the new 007 at MI6 is actually a really interesting character and I love the banter she has with Bond (but don’t worry by the end 007 is Bond again). This movie to me is perfect, it’s exactly what it needed to be, and will forever be an iconic part of James Bond history, as it did something no other film in the franchise has done before. That emotional ending really hit and I won’t be forgetting it anytime soon. It’s bold, and like the rest of the movie was excellently done. As much as I love Connery, with this film Craig cements himself as my favourite Bond! I love the way they modernized the character and films during his tenure, and this film really was the perfect conclusion! I highly recommend seeing this, it’s right up there with the likes of Skyfall and Casino Royale for me! This movie really has it all!
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IMDb Rating: 7.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 84%
RT Audience Score: 89%
Metacritic Score: 69
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MGM / Universal
Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga
Screenplay by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Cary Joji Fukunaga & Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Story by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade & Cary Joji Fukunaga
Cast: Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ana de Armas, Ben Whishaw, Rory Kinnear, Jeffrey Wright, Christoph Waltz
Runtime: 2hr 43min
Rating: PG
Action, Adventure, Thriller
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James Bond has left active service. His peace is short-lived when Felix Leiter, an old friend from the CIA, turns up asking for help, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.
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Fun Fact: With this film, Daniel Craig will become the third oldest actor to play James Bond. Roger Moore was aged about 57 years for A View to a Kill (1985), Sean Connery was around 53 for Never Say Never Again, whilst Craig for No Time to Die (2021) will be aged around 51 years.
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