Film Review: NO TIME TO DIE

BACKGROUND: Bond, James Bond, 007, is supposed to be the "standard" by which all other spy films are judged. Bond is NOT "Jason Bourne" or "Matt Helm" or "Derek Flint," or to be compared or confused with any of those Johnny-come-lately female spys like "Ava," or "Anna" or "Atomic Blonde" or even Marvel Comics' "Black Widow." Bond, James Bond, 007 is supposed to be the apex, the pinnacle of whatever it means to be the absolute "best spy in the world."

Bond, James Bond, 007, is also a very attractive man, and he loves women not like Bill Cosby or Harvey Weinstein; on the contrary, Bond strategically uses his masculinity, just like his female adversaries use their femininity, as just one of the many weapons in his arsenal to defeat narcissistic, overtly maniacal villians out for world conquest. Even in situations where Bond appears confused or trapped, Bond makes being clever as simple as using common sense. Bond is that person who's consistently the smartest person in the room, but his ego has less to do with conceit and everything to do with winning, and that's what we want and expect of Bond - a winner, not a whiner! It has always been so enjoyable seeing someone, although a ficticious character, with so much on-screen confidence, not conceit, just over-the-top confidence. And when Bond succeeds, we say, of course he does, because he's Bond, James Bond, 007!

Bond, James Bond, 007, also had the best theme music. Beginning with the now legendary and overtly hypnotic, intoxicating riff by Monty Norman, to all of the classic songs written by John Barry such as "Goldfinger" and "Diamonds Are Forever" and Moonraker" all sung by Shirley Bassey; and "You Only LIve Twice" sung by Nancy Sinatra; and "Thunderball" powerfully sung by Tom Jones, and "For Your Eyes Only" composed by Bill Conti and sung by Sheena Easton, and "Live and Let Die" written and performed by Paul McCartney.

Bond, James Bond, 007, was and is always supposed to be the smartest person in any room, the craftiest, the slickest, with the absolute best gadgets, the most resourceful, and as represented in the following photos, Bond was definitely the best dressed.

Barry Nelson
(1954)
Casino Royale on "Climax!" (1954)
Sean Connery
(1962–67; 1971)
Dr. No (1962)
From Russia with Love (1963)
Goldfinger (1964)
Thunderball (1965)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Never Say Never Again (1983)
David Niven
(1967)
Casino Royale (1967)
George Lazenby
(1969)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
Roger Moore
(1973–85)
Live and Let Die (1973)
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
The Spy Who Love Me (1977)
Moonraker (1979)
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Octopussy (1983)
A View to a Kill (1985)
Timothy Dalton
(1987–89)
The Living Daylights (1987)
Licence to Kill (1989)
Pierce Brosnan
(1995–2002)
GoldenEye (1995)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
The World is Not Enough (1999)
Die Another Day (2002)
Daniel Craig
(2006 - 2021)
Casino Royale (2006)
Quantum of Solace (2008)
Skyfall (2012)
Spectre (2015)
No Time to Die (2021)

Well, the aforementioned used to be the well-established paradigm, the "truth" represented by the robust canon of Bond films starring Sean Connery, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, and Pierce Brosnan.

Then, beginning with Timothy Dalton becoming Bond, and especially with Daniel Craig, the character became way, way, way too emotional, more depressed, more moody, and a politically correct pseudo-social-justice-warrior prone to be temperamentally "touchy." Sadly, Bond, James Bond, 007, was no longer "fun" to watch.

And thus, we come to Bond 25, the twenty-fifth film in the Bond franchise, "No Time To Die."

THE "SOAP OPERA" STORY: At the end of 2015's "Spectre," (that's right, six years ago) we last saw our action hero, Bond, James Bond, 007, driving off into the sunset with psychiatrist Madeleine Swann, daughter of the evil Spectre villian, Mr. White. With the defeat of Spectre, and the incarceration of its leader who's also Bond's foster brother, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Bond is again lost in the raptures of love, this time with Madeleine Swann. Then, one day, while minding his own business Bond is suddenly attacked and Madeleine's life is also threatened.

Via a flash-back scene, we eventually discover when his lover, Madeleine Swann was a teenager, she witnessed the murder of her mother by Lyutsifer Safin in his failed attempt of revenge to kill Madeleine's father, the evil Mr. White, for killing, Safin's parents, which was all directed by Blofeld. Safin almost killed the teenage Madeleine but she escaped only to fall into a frozen lake, then surprisingly Safin rescued Madeleine from certain death. Due to the attempt on his life, Bond believes, without proof, he somehow endangered Madeleine or that she is somehow deceitful in her relationship with him; so, although he loves her dearly, Bond drops her, ending their burgeoning relationship. Do "we" really care about this chaotic mess? Nope.

Five years later, Bond has yet again retired (clearly, an extremely overused plot device used in several of Daniel Craig's Bond films), this time to Jamaica, where he is contacted by CIA agent Felix Leiter and his buffoonish and obviously disingenuous colleague Logan Ash, who ask for Bond's help finding a MI6 scientist Valdo Obruchev. Obruchev was kidnapped, by Safin, from a MI6 laboratory where he developed Project Heracles, a bioweapon containing nanobots coded to an individual's DNA that infect like a virus upon touch and lethal to the target and their relatives, but harmless to others. Bond initially declined to help, then MI6 also tells him to butt out, but when Bond discovers his long lost love Madeleine is somehow involved, as therapist to (you guessed it) Ernst Stavro Blofeld, of course, Bond becomes involved.

The rest of the film is filled with superfluous and prolonged action sequences, predictable daring-do, and exotic locations, which as "we" all know is the well-established template for all Bond films. Now, there's nothing wrong with using a template, which is true for the overwhelming majority of films, and especially sequels, cliffhangers, and reboots. But the big question is, given the predictable script, which is not based on any of the original stories by Ian Fleming, was this film only made to kill-off Daniel Craig as James Bond? If so, why didn't the film's script, acting performances and characterizations, special effects, gadgets, the male and female "eye candy," and locations go beyond the usual-and-customary and truly dazzle us with shock-and-awe we've never seen before? Where's the uniqueness, those very special elements that made the Bond films so special?

For example, even Superman unknowingly had a child in "Superman Returns," so it's not shocking for Bond to unknowingly have a child, which represents the mediocrity of this script. Additionally, the laborious tone of this film could have been uplifted with cameo appearances by other well known British actors such as Michael Caine, Christian Bale, Jude Law, Kate Beckinsale, Benedict Cumberbatch, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Ian McKellen, Kate Winslet, Emma Watson, Helen Mirren and so many more! Or, what about a script that featured cameos with Jimmy Smits, or Michelle Yeoh, or Sylvester Stallone, or Julia Roberts, or Robert Downey, Jr., or Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc.? Or, given that Bond's foster brother is Ernst Stavro Blofeld, what if Bond became the leader of Spectre, and disappeared with the woman he loves and his daughter, to use Spectre's resources beyond the keen of MI6, CIA, China, Russia, and all governments?

Equally important, noticably absent from "No Time To Die" are: (a) a dynamic opening theme song of the same calibur of Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger," and (b) an opening title sequence comparable to the great work provided by Mauerice Binder and Robert Brownjohn. The aforemention are extremely important elements to the Bond canon, but are poorly executed in "No Time To Die," and reduces the entire film to mediocrity and hardly worth remembering.

Acting by all players is by-the-numbers, which is not a negative assessent of these talented actors, but an assessment of the mediocrity reflected by the script. Likewise, cinematography, art direction, and editing provide business-as-usual Bond-isms consistent with character and scope of Bond films featuring Daniel Craig, which exist as a continuation of the same prolonged soap opera.

Again, the "classic" Bond makes being clever as simple as using common sense, which does not happen with the Daniel Craig version of Bond. In fact, Daniel Craig's "Bond" does not think, he broods, he contemplates, and he literally takes far more time to accomplish the same predictable daring-do action sequences typically performed in a few seconds or minutes by Sean Connery, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, and Pierce Brosnan. What? You disagree?

Here, take a close look at the exhibit at right, which shows the running length of all films in the James Bond film franchise. The best paced films have sharp editing that drives the action and strategically executes the storyline typically just under or just over two hours; which is one of several reasons why the films of Sean Connery (averaging 117 minutes), Roger Moore (averaging 127 minutes), and Pierce Brosnan (averaging 127 minutes) moved so well. You didn't get bored or tired watching these films.

Conversely, clocking in with an average running length of 141 minutes are the extremely laborious films of Daniel Craig's Bond. To make matters even worse, Daniel Craig's Bond had fewer gadgets and fewer beautiful women to command your on-screen attention. Daniel Craig's Bond films provides more:

1. Dialogue (mostly useless or confusing);
2. Internal and external "establishing shots" of various venues to slow the pacing of the film; and
3. Extended fight sequences that defy physics, logic, and common sense.

You really need a HUGE BOX of popcorn and a pee break to see a Bond film starring Daniel Craig in a movie theatre, which is especially true of "No Time To Die," with slowly-paced running length of 163 minutes (two-hours-and-forty-three minutes) and without an intermission! A film is not better just because you make it longer! A film does not suddenly have more "gravitas" or value if the core elements include a lousy and predictable script, paint-by-numbers acting, and mediocre editing, special effects, and direction. Film should have been trimmed by no less than thirty-eight-(38) minutes to a brisk 125 minutes.

Eon Films Actor Length Average

1 Dr. No Sean Connery
109

2 From Russia with Love Sean Connery
115

3 Goldfinger Sean Connery
110

4 Thunderball Sean Connery
130

5 You Only Live Twice Sean Connery
117

6 On Her Majesty's Secret Service George Lazenby
142

7 Diamonds Are Forever Sean Connery
120
116.83

8 Live and Let Die Roger Moore
121

9 The Man with the Golden Gun Roger Moore
125

10 The Spy Who Loved Me Roger Moore
125

11 Moonraker Roger Moore
126

12 For Your Eyes Only Roger Moore
127

13 Octopussy Roger Moore
131

14 A View to a Kill Roger Moore
131
126.57

15 The Living Daylights Timothy Dalton
131

16 Licence to Kill Timothy Dalton
133
132.00

17 GoldenEye Pierce Brosnan
130

18 Tomorrow Never Dies Pierce Brosnan
119

19 The World Is Not Enough Pierce Brosnan
125

20 Die Another Day Pierce Brosnan
133
126.75

21 Casino Royale Daniel Craig
144

22 Quantum of Solace Daniel Craig
106

23 Skyfall Daniel Craig
143

24 Spectre Daniel Craig
148

25 No Time to Die Daniel Craig
163
140.80

Non-Eon Films Length

Casino Royale David Niven
131

Never Say Never Again Sean Connery
134

As reported in Wikipedia, as of 24 October 2021, "No Time to Die" has grossed $120.4 million in the US and Canada and $405.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide box office total of $525.5 million. Due to its combined production and promotional costs of at least $350 million, the film needs to gross at least $800 million worldwide in order to break-even. Television ads promoting Daniel Craig as "The Best Bond Ever" only reveal the desperation of Eon Films to salvage this costly film and put people back in movie theaters - and it has worked. As reported by Yahoo Entertainment, "domestic distributor MGM reported that audiences over 35 were the key demo for “No Time to Die,” which opened to $56 million this weekend and has a global running total of $313 million. 57% of the Bond audiences was over 35, with 36% over the age of 45." Given the aforementioned demographics, us "older people" are most likely to have seen every Bond film, and we probably own VHS, DVD, or BlueRay copies of some, many, or all of the films, and "we" legendary fans of this legendary film franchise have abolutely no interest in seeing Bond as a brooding, whining, or emotionally deficient character; or as anything other than a smart, tall, White, attractive, and very British man - period!

RECOMMENDATION: First, re-discover the "real" James Bond by watching the "Goldfinger" trailer below. Second, if the "idea" is to watch a carefully crafted and suspenseful film about a semi-retired spy who's clearly smarter, deadlier, and far more resourceful than Danial Craig's version of James Bond, then stream, or rent, or buy the 2014 film, "The November Man," starring Pierce Brosnan. Third, if Daniel Craig is truly no longer Bond, and if Eon Films was smart (but they're not), instead of creating controversy by casting a new actor as Bond, the truly smart thing to do is to bring back Pierce Brosnan as a nicely "seasoned" Bond, James Bond, 007.

Goldfinger (1964)
The November Man (2014)

"NO TIME TO DIE" STARRING

DIRECTED / WRITTEN / PRODUCED BY

EDITED / CINEMATOGRAPHY / ART BY

Daniel Craig as James Bond
Léa Seydoux as Madeleine

Rami Malek as Lyutsifer Safin

Lashana Lynch as Nomi

Ralph Fiennes as M

Ben Whishaw as Q

Naomie Harris as Moneypenny

Rory Kinnear as Tanner

Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter

Billy Magnussen as Logan Ash

Christoph Waltz as Blofeld

David Dencik as Valdo Obruchev

Ana de Armas as Paloma

Dali Benssalah as Primo (Cyclops)

Lisa-Dorah Sonnet as Mathilde

Coline Defaud as Young Madeleine

Mathilde Bourbin as Madeleine's Mother

Hugh Dennis as Dr. Hardy

Priyanga Burford as Dr. Symes

Directed by
Cary Joji Fukunaga

Screenplay by
Neal Purvis
Robert Wade
Cary Joji Fukunaga
Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Story by
Neal Purvis
Robert Wade
Cary Joji Fukunaga

Based on Story, Books, and Characters
created by
Ian Fleming

Produced by
Barbara Broccoli (p.g.a.)
Michael G. Wilson (p.g.a.)

Executive Produced by
Chris Brigham

Line Produced by
Per Henry Borch, Norway
Enzo Sisti, Italy
Natalie Thompson, Jamaica

Co-Produced by
Daniel Craig
Andrew Noakes
David Pope

Associate Produced by
Gregg Wilson

Art Direction by
Mark Harris, Senior Art Director
Andrew Bennett
Neal Callow
Dean Clegg
Tamara Marini (Italy)
Sandra Phillips
Mark Scruton, Additional Art Director

Music by
Hans Zimmer

Cinematography by
Linus Sandgren, Director of Photography

Film Editing by
Tom Cross
Elliot Graham