Is the New James Bond Film Worth the Wait?
In 1963 the name James Bond became iconic; his drink of ‘vodka martini, shaken, not stirred’ became a symbol of the suave and charismatic character from Ian Flemings novels. Now, almost 60 years later, we finally have the 25th film ‘No Time To Die’, which was stung badly by the COVID pandemic. After having six different men playing the titular role, current Bond actor Daniel Craig marks his retirement from the tuxedo and drink in style.
How did we get to this point? Notable franchises such as Harry Potter, Nightmare on Elm Street and Star Wars all drew to a close way before the 25th film mark, making James Bond the longest running film franchise in history.
Heavily criticised upon his name being announced, Craig proved his critics wrong by being the first blond hair and blue-eyed man to don the suit and gadgets. In a recent poll carried out on ‘Rosie Hughes Review’ page, he was even voted as the best James Bond across the nearly six decades the franchise has spanned.
Craig didn’t follow the characterisation of Bond that Lazenby, Moore, Dalton and Brosnan tried: to be exactly like the original Sean Connery. (Although, some may argue David Niven’s Bond in ‘Casino Royale’ in 1967 should be classed as an official Bond film, like Never Say Never Again should’.) Instead, Craig may as well have put his two fingers up and said ‘I’m making my Bond my own; no one elses’.
In his final outing as Bond, Craig gives us his personal best since 2006’s reincarnation of ‘Casino Royale’ in a somewhat wounded ‘old man Logan’ style Bond.
The premise of ‘No Time To Die’ is similar to all Bond films; Bond is now retired and drawn back into the fray by his friend Felix (played by Jeffrey Wright) and his cohort Paloma (Ana De Aramis). MI6 are also trying to draw Bond back into the mix for the exact same reason: to kidnap a defected MI6 scientist who has joined with the mysterious Safin (Rami Malek) to fully weaponise a new style of eradicating who he wishes, rather than who should be. Bond must quiz his enemy Blofeld (marking the return of Oscar Winner Christoph Waltz as the now imprisoned mastermind from Spectre) to get closer to the truth, not knowing the truth is sitting in front of him.
The film is extremely long, with the run time of 2 hours 43 minutes to be precise, but that isn’t reflected in the overall vibrancy of the film. The film includes huge action sequences akin to your typical Bond moments, including high speed car chases, boat explosions and even some fun on planes.
However, the narrative dissipates in the middle of the film. With a ‘Bond blow’, the film does start to slowly derail until you reach the final quarter which then quickly returns to the Bond form.
Outside of our two leading men, huge credits should be noted for Ralph Fiennes in a darker side of M and Christoph Waltz (honestly this guy genuinely never disappoints).
Lashana Lynch, as our female 007, conforms to the sexist world and lets Bond take lead rather than her, which is disappointing, but, somewhat predictable in this story.
Rami Malek plays Safin, our antagonist. After receiving rave reviews for his most recent film, ‘The Little Things’, eyes were fixed on his villain ever since he was announced – and he didn’t disappoint. Though he wasn’t as used as much as hoped, his Safin was cunning in his overall plan. His character was chilling in his attempt at getting under Bonds skin, hitting Bonds emotional spots creating a side of Bond we haven’t really seen since ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’.
Daniel Craig again proves he is the modern James Bond in his multidimensional characterisation, which helps draw a close to his portrayal of the character after five films across the last 15 years.
This Bond film is not perfect. It has its flaws, but with its glorious cinematography, iconic music– which is now composed by the great Hans Zimmer (known for Dark Knight, Inception and Blade Runner 2049)– it is hard not to enjoy the film for its heart and action.
We have now officially said goodbye to Craig’s Bond through the unexpected twist near the end, creating a frenzy on who will be the next to take up the mantel – that is of course, will there be another?
Craig is now busy with his newfound fan-favourite character of Benoit Blanc in ‘Knives Out’ and its subsequent films, but he will forever remain Bond. His Bond was one of the greatest, if not the most iconic.
★★★★☆