No Time to Die is the twenty-fifth in the James Bond series, the final to be produced by Eon Productions, starring Daniel Craig in his final portrayal of fictional British MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga from a screenplay he co-wrote with Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, of “Fleabag” fame. In the film, Madeline Swann (Léa Seydoux) travels to Matera with James Bond and persuades him to visit his ex-lover Vesper Lynd’s grave to help Bond get over her. While Bond visits the tomb, it explodes, and Bond is attacked by SPECTRE operatives. While fleeing with Bond, Swann receives a congratulatory phone call from Blofeld (Christoph Waltz). Bond accuses Swann of betraying him and sends her away, saying they will never meet again. Five years later, Spectre agents infiltrate an MI6 laboratory to kidnap scientist Valdo Obruchev, who secretly works for Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek) and steal Project Heracles, a programmable DNA-targeting nanobot bioweapon developed under M’s oversight. Bond is asked by CIA ally Felix Leiter and State Department agent Logan Ash to extract Obruchev from a Spectre party in Cuba. Bond accepts after Nomi (Lashana Lynch), his successor as Agent 007, warns him not to interfere with her extraction of Obruchev. Bond infiltrates the Spectre party with Leiter’s Cuban agent Paloma (Ana de Armas). Blofeld, overseeing the party from Belmarsh prison through Primo’s bionic eye, deploys a nanobot mist to kill Bond, but Obruchev programmed the nanobots under Safin’s orders to kill the Spectre members instead. In London, Bond seeks to interrogate Blofeld in Belmarsh, but Blofeld will only speak to his psychiatrist, Swann. Safin coerces Swann into infecting herself with nanobots to assassinate Blofeld. Blofeld is killed , as is Felix Lighter (Jeffrey Wright) during an interrogation. Bond reconciles with Swann at her childhood home in Norway and meets her five-year-old daughter Mathilde, who Swann insists is not Bond’s child, despite their resemblance. Safin kidnaps Swann and Mathilde. Bond confronts Safin and kills his bodyguards, but Safin flees with Mathilde. Swann escapes and reunites with Bond, and the pair find Mathilde, whom Safin abandoned. Safin reappears, shoots Bond repeatedly, and breaks open a vial of nanobots programmed to kill Swann and Mathilde. Despite his injuries, Bond shoots Safin dead and opens the facility’s blast doors but remains on the island to ensure that the nanobots he is infected with cannot harm Swann and Mathilde, who have left the island with Naomi. Via radio, Swann confirms that Mathilde is his daughter, and Bond assures her that he knew all along. Bond is killed as missiles destroy the facility.
OK, on to the ratings;
Bond; 83 out of 100. There is a change in the mood of this entire piece, and Bond becomes more dramatic figure than action hero. It carries throughout the movie, and I’ll mention it again. It’s not what I’m looking for in a Bond film.
Villain; 82 out of 100. Romi Malek is slow and mumbling. Perhaps twisted, but not interesting or particularly dangerous.
Bond Girls; 85 out of 100 Léa Seydoux is always going to be interesting, but again is more of a dramatic, romantic foil for Bond. Naomie Harris has brought a whole different vibe to Moneypenny, but her relationship with Bond has cooled. Lashana Lynch as the new 007 is impressive, and believable, but the character really doesn’t go anywhere, and there isn’t any chemistry with Bond. Enter Ana de Armas as CIA agent Paloma, thank God. She’s funny, sexy, and the fight choreography is believable. She’s basically a cameo, but brings a much needed lightness to this occasionally durge-ish proceeding.
Bond Theme; 62 out of 75. Billie Eilish does nice work here, and the song won an Oscar. The song itself follows the theme of dark, slow & funereal. Meh……
Henchman; 43 out of 50 Billy Magnussen as State Department agent/ turncoat Logan Ash is maybe the prettiest henchman of the entire Bond series, and he does give definite “good boy gone bad” vibes.
M, Q, Moneypenny, misc. 0 out of 25. Ralph Fiennes as M,Ben Whishaw as Q, Naomie Harris as Moneypenny, Jeffery Wright as Felix???? Bob, what the heck are you talking about, 0??? I’m dying on a hill here. My hill is, in spite of all of these interesting and amazing actors & performances, and they are all good, The tone of this movie negates them all, at least as far as bonus points go. I know, it’s Daniel Craig’s last Bond movie. I get it. But it’s not the end of James Bond. I don’t want James Bond to die at the end. I want him to end up in an inflatable ball in the ocean, making out with Barbara Bach. I don’t need a “loose end” child of his, being raised by a former lover. I don’t need Felix being killed, again. The beauty of the Bond brand is as much the humor, and borderline over the top action sequences, like Pierce Brosnan wind surfing in the arctic with the remains of a high tech snowmobile. I want Robbie Coltrane’s comic Russian villain, Famke Jansen’s sexy as hell henchperson. If I wanted real dark, I’d watch “Sicario”, which, BTW, I love. So no, no bonus points for you…
Total; 355
Scoreboard;
- Goldfinger- 419
- Goldeneye- 407
- Spectre-397
- Live and Let Die- 396
- Skyfall- 383
- Casino Royale / Die Another Day / Skyfall- 382
- Tomorrow Never Dies- 377
- The World is not Enough- 367
- A View to a Kill- 359
- No Time to Die- 355
- Dr. No- 346
- The Man with the Golden Gun. 331
- License to Kill- 321
- Octopussy- 255
- The Living Daylights- 228
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service- 201
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