Postponed in release by Covid, canonical Bond #25 'No Time to Die', at a six year delay from 'Spector', matches the record gap between it's last cold war film 'License to Kill' and first post cold war movie 'GoldenEye'. At 163 minutes it's also the longest movie in a franchise that nature intended to run around the two hour mark. I have read this film referred to as the 'Avengers: End Game' of James Bond movies, which fits given it's length, last appearance of Daniel Craig in the title role, and the number of story lines wrapped up and homages to earlier films rendered.
This is also a film where the most interesting things to talk about would be major spoilers so I'll hold back. I did want to briefly mentioned that the scene early in the film, where a biological weapon is stolen, felt scary to me in a way I've never been scared in a Bond movie before, after 2020 that threat seems so much more real. I also half suspect that Ana de Armas fun and brief role in this movie, was largely there because Craig enjoyed working with her in 'Knives Out'.
On the whole though fun is not the word I'd use to describe this movie. Craig's Bond films have tended toward the dark, and that generally worked, sometimes exceptionally so like in 'Skyfall'. However as a casting reboot is in the works I'd apricate if a lighter tone were on offer, I prefer Bond to be enjoying the chase, not seemingly traumatized by it.
Much has been made of the new black and female agent (Lashana Lynch) who has taken Bond's 007 designation by the begging of the film, and less has been made of the films confirmation that Q (Ben Wishaw) is gay. Bond movies reflect the time in which they are made, and they tend to date pretty hard, which is something I love about them. 'No Time to Die' is a Bond movie of a socially progressive era where audiences are used to hard edged, long form, dramatic story telling. These are all good things and they have their place, but I'm hoping for a less tonally oppressive future. ***
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