Hampered by the Covid crisis that saw its opening date delayed several times over the last 18 months, it’s safe to say that the latest instalment in the iconic James Bond saga has had somewhat of a tumultuous journey to the big screen. But while most big titles set for release around the same time were hastily given the home streaming treatment, No Time To Die felt at times like the sole survivor of crumbling film industry unsure where to turn to next. It is therefore genuinely gratifying to see that holding back the title and never giving in to the digital streaming trend is likely to have paid off for its makers.
This being Daniel Craig’s last outing as the legendary 007, the film had to deliver the goods and happily it does. Picking up from where it left off in Spectre (2015), Bond is now enjoying retirement and happily coupled up with Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux). James’s happily-ever-after is sadly cut short when he learns something shocking about the woman he loves, Years later, Bond is called upon by his old CIA friend Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright, brilliant) who asks him to help track a mysterious villain armed with a dangerous new technology.
Elsewhere, James is up against some stiff completion in the shape of new secret service recruit Naomi (a robust turn from Lashana Lynch), while his new CIA contact in South America (Ana De Armas in one of the best action set pieces of the film) gives him more than he bargained for. For his turn, Rami Malek (sadly the weakest link in the whole film for me) plays as Lyutsifer Safin, a man determined to seek revenge against those who murdered his family.
Despite its preposterously outlandish storyline - it is Bond after all and outlandish storylines are de rigueur - No Time To Die feels like one of the franchise’s most conventional films. While director Cary Joji Fukunaga and co-writers Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Phoebe Waller-Bridge have clearly looked towards the MCU for inspiration, there are however still enough of Bond creator Ian Flemings’s post-war themes to keep old and new fans happy.
It’s no great secret that of all the modern Bonds, Craig has come to embody the essence of Fleming’s original character. Here, he plays him yet again with a mix of charm and taciturn bitterness, which in the end culminates in a brilliantly devised and cleverly written denouement. This is truly everything we expected from Craig’s last ever Bond, leaving the actor a chance to pursue other projects away from the burden of having to keep on reprising the same role again and again. Above all what the film has managed to reignite the yearning for physical screenings and so Bond may save the film industry from almost two years of set backs and uncertainty.
