An honourable bittersweet send-off for Daniel Craig’s 007.
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The latest installment to the Bond film franchise had a lot riding on its name long before the pandemic hit. It was the 25th film of the long-standing franchise, Daniel Craig’s fifth and last outing as the infamous British spy Bond, James Bond.
Also returning are Lea Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Rory Kinnear, Jeffrey Wright and Christoph Waltz with Rami Malek, Ana de Armas, Lashana Lynch, and Billy Magnussen joining the cast.
No Time To Die is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (True Detective, Beasts of No Nation) and based on a screenplay he wrote alongside Bond film vets Neal Purvis and Robert Wade and Emmy Award-winning actress-writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Despite it being Fukunaga's first foray into the espionage world, he delivered a Bond film like he’s made Bond films all his life. No Time To Die was a gripping and emotional journey for the MI6 agent, proving that spy films don’t necessarily have to solely be action-driven. That’s not to say the film is rid of action. In fact, if anything, it’s rather all-rounded in the sense that it has a little taste of everything to please the general audience. If you caught yourself laughing at a joke or two, I’m sure you owe that to Waller-Bridge, who was reportedly roped in to polish the script and revise dialogue per leading man Daniel Craig’s request.
Speaking of the man himself, it was cathartic to watch a seasoned Craig expertly maneuver his way throughout the film, having helmed the role of James Bond for over a decade of his life now. He dominates every minute and rightfully so, considering this film is meant to be his swan song after all. The rest of the cast are merely pawns in a chess game rigged for him to win. Regardless of their status of being returning cast or newcomers, everyone seemed to take a back seat to Craig’s Bond. It should be noted that Seydoux, Lynch and de Armas deliver some of their best work in this film though.
It is also worth noting that the opening title sequence to a Bond film is as iconic as the opening crawl on a Star Wars film. Bond films have the tradition of honouring one valuable member of the music industry to perform the film’s title song. It is important to nail this from the very beginning as it bears the responsibility of setting the tone for the rest of the film. This film’s artist was none other than teen megastar Billie Eilish. Her haunting rendition of the self-penned, Grammy Award-winning track “No Time To Die” not only set the tone of the film but also married so well with Hans Zimmer's equally powerful score - both masters of their own craft gifting the film an added level of depth.
17 minutes shy of being a 3-hour film, No Time To Die kicked off with a solid start and though it began to feel dreary mid-point, it ended with a powerful close. It’s a blockbuster worth waiting for.
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