No Time to Die

No Time to Die

Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.

  • Released: 2021-09-29
  • Runtime: 163 minutes
  • Genre: Action, Adventure, Thrillers
  • Stars: Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ralph Fiennes, Christoph Waltz, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Ana de Armas, Billy Magnussen, Rory Kinnear, David Dencik, Brigitte Millar, Dali Benssalah, Eliot Sumner, Michael Herne, Lourdes Faberes, Gordon Alexander, Amor Evans, Lisa-Dorah Sonnet, Maya Khosrowshahi, Safi El Masri, Hugh Dennis, Priyanga Burford, Nicola Olivieri, Pio Amato, Andrei Nova, Coline Defaud, Mathilde Bourbin, Gediminas Adomaitis, Amy Morgan, Lizzie Winkler, Andy Cheung, Hayden Phillips, Joe Grossi, Javone Prince, Rae Lim, Steve Barnett, Tuncay Gunes, Clem So, Denis Khoroshko, Philip Philmar, Raymond Waring, Eliot Sumner, Rod Hunt, Ahmed Bakare, Douglas Bunn, Toby Sauerback, Julian Ferro, David Olawale Ayinde, Zoltan Rencsar, Ross Donnelly, John Farrer, Paul O'Kelly, Michael G. Wilson, Davina Moon, Gediminas Adomaitis
  • Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
 Comments
  • scryptkeeper-09126 - 11 May 2024
    No Time To Cry
    Due to a combination of plot, character, and narrative highs and lows, "No Time to Die" is a muddled film from start to finish. Though its primary draw may stem from its status as the final chapter of the Craig-era Bond films, it feels more like a long-winded and unnecessary epilogue to the previous film "Spectre" than a worthy final entry to cap off the series. Despite the assistance of some reasonably engaging action pieces and thematic music scores, at the end of the day it still struggles to raise itself above a par level of enjoyability.

    Concerning the plot, the story picks up right where the previous film left off with Bond and his now recently-married wife Madeleine Swann traveling to the location of the grave of Vesper, Bond's first love. After an attempt on his life is made, Bond promptly breaks off ties with Swann through lingering suspicion that she may have betrayed him. After a time jump is made and a secret genetic bio weapon is stolen, Bond is tracked down by both his replacement 007 agent, Nomi, and later his former acquaintance Felix Leister of the CIA to look into locating the traitorous scientist linked to incident. Upon stumbling into a "secret" meeting of the entirety of the world spanning organization, Spectre, the bio weapon is deployed with lethal efficiency and Felix is killed shortly after his partner Ash betrays him for the sake of the movie's true antagonist: Lyutsifer Safin. Safin, who was motivated to exact revenge on Spectre after one of its agents killed his family, then manipulated Swann into positioning herself in a situation where the Spectre boss (Blofeld) could be killed. After Bond and Swann begrudgingly reunite for the sake of communicating with Blofeld, Safin's plan comes to fruition. Swann and her daughter are then kidnapped shortly after, and Bond and Nomi are tasked with infiltrating Safin's island lair to rescue the two and put an end to threat the weapon poses (as Safin is apparently interested in utilizing it further). After the decisive climax wraps up, an extremely swift resolution finishes the film.

    Without a doubt, one of the biggest detriments to the movie storywise is its nonsensical attempt to bring closure to every loose end the series has cultivated when it didn't have to. A striking example of this is the convenient manner in which Spectre, the massive threat built up (albeit sloppily) from the previous four films, is wiped out in an instant without the possibility of any contingency plan on their part. The other major issue being that this film wasn't even needed after the ending the last film brought about; creating more of a funeral for Craig's iteration of Bond than a suitable send-off. Had the plot been foreshadowed and built up from its previous entries, then this might have been a different story.

    Concerning the characters, Daniel Craig's final outing as Bond was shaky. Though he incorporated some more of the humor seen previously in the role and took part in some engaging fight scenes, it was evident through his acting that he was phoning the part in. Lea Seydoux's (Madeleine Swann) was consistent with her previous rendition of the character, being reasonably likable overall though with the detriment of having to navigate a new backstory. Rami Malek's (Lyutsifer Safin) was decent for a Bond villain driven by revenge, though the plausibility of the character's motivations fell through the floor in the final act (wherein it becomes difficult to determine what exactly he's after. Is he in it for the money? Is he mentally deranged? Or is he following some level of self-important morality?) The updated roles of the MI6 characters M, Q, and Moneypenny depreciated even further from their position in the last film, with M almost resembling more of a villainous role than the actual villain. Lashana Lynch's (Nomi) could have made for an interesting rival for Bond if not for the direct stabs the film takes at Bond through her role as the "new" 007, and Dali Benssalah's (Primo) made for a reasonable (albeit forgettable) head henchman.

    Altogether, "No Time to Die" ultimately hits different beats depending on entry investment. If you've never seen the past films (or Bond in general) then it can be a decent popcorn action flick so long as you don't think too hard on its measures (or lack thereof) of continuity, and the degree of the convenient contrivances that pop up throughout the extensive run time. However, if you are a fan of the Bond franchise, then you likely won't come out of it with any higher satisfaction than what might have been felt at the conclusion of "Spectre".
  • mikesms-81036 - 4 February 2024
    Perfect conclusion to Daniel Craig era!
    How could it end any other way? Well done! Daniel Craig should be proud. He embodied Bond. I am not sure about having Bond die. But I understand why Daniel Craig might insist. He is leaving and Bond must be done because he is done. Well, we will see. Terrific performances. Daniel Craig will always be the 2nd strongest Bond. That's not too shabby. De Armas is wonderful. She needs more scenes. Jeffrey Weaver is always wonderful. Closure is the name of the game. So start it over again. Back to Bond's roots. That is the only way to make it work. But the powers that be already understand that. I have lived with Bond all my life. I am ready for the next reiteration.
  • cowboywayfest - 13 January 2023
    Well Done, 1 of top 5 Best Bond Films IMHO
    I've watched every Bond movie more than a dozen times. I know most of the scripts by heart. IMHO up until now I liked Daniel Craig the very least of all the Bonds. Just didn't fit the stereotype for me. However, I've changed my mind. He'll never be Sean or Roger, THE Standard, but Craig did very well with an excellent script. Finally the first really decent story since Moore was retired. Sure there were plenty of blow em ups and chases but for once that wasn't The story.

    I hated how it ended but I wouldn't change a thing about it. I didn't particularly care for the actress, but Lea and Daniel had good chemistry on screen. She didn't seem like "a Bond Girl" at all.

    But, that's part of what made it all work.

    Be ready for a 23 minute opener--wow, pretty certain that's the longest Ever! And even though it's timed at 2hrs 43minutes it goes by fast!

    Is there room for improvement? Yes, definitely. But for plain good ol entertainment this film delivered in buckets despite the wokeism (which actually was refreshing for a change).

    I'll watch it over and over amd not cringe at the lack of meat from which the past half dozen Bond movies sufferd.
  • asherburman - 1 January 2023
    Too long, too much cgi, plot is dull none of the actors wanted to be there
    Yawn yawn yawn yawn.

    Om my god watching this with my girlfriend and she felt it was time to die.

    Acting cliché after acting cliché (yes it's bond but just in a bad way) .

    The action scenes in Italy in the beginning were good but that was 6 minutes. The rest of film was boring full of cgi and stoopid.

    Normally Rami Malek is mesmerising but here I am just waiting for the adverts.

    Bond's 007 replacement has nothing interesting to do and not enough clever things to say. Ironically has less action than other women who are not supposed to in on the action.

    This film is just so boring that nobody will remember it or curse Daniel Craig for staying in the franchise 1 film too many.
  • ryanbooker-06950 - 25 December 2022
    Very average for bond.
    This rating is a very generous one at that. It most likely sits as a 5.5/6 rating.

    It's not bad.. but it's also not good here's why:

    There's not much action within this action movie, it's a slow starter and slow all the way through until the end/ending.

    It doesn't sit too typical within the bond movies unfortunately and the characters involved don't seem to produce to much flair or ambience to/for the audience.

    There are a few good witty/funny moments within the movie but overall it's not one to frame on a dvd shelf.

    Daniel Craig as bond has been removed but sadly not in a fascinating or gripping way. Yes it does move you with the ending but more as to why it wasn't so much more to end the era.

    Not awful film but not one to recommend to watch.
  • superlove-83754 - 9 November 2022
    All hype and no glory
    I suspected this movie would suck when they picked of all people the over hyped actor to play the villain. I didn't care for the acting there in Bohemian Rhapsody and I can see it was dreadful again here. I couldn't stay awake, drifting... too long, too boring, poorly produced with sound, script, casting (poor choices for all of them including aging Daniel Craig), and especially the plot! Bond is a brand name and this movie and Skyfall didn't live up to it. The reason why nonsense prevailed here is because it was overlooked already in Skyfall. I miss the traditional James Bond, no need to change something that is a story of the past with contemporary politically correct views. For example, bad idea tampering with having two 007s concurrently and one being vastly different to the brand. Casino Royale was great to watch but that's where it should have stopped with DC because it all went downhill from there.

    Next James Bond better be 100% better because they just chopped it up with this one.
  • moorek - 19 October 2022
    Middle of the pack James Bond movie which is sad as it was Craig's last
    Overall this movie has all the things you expect in a James Bond movie: exotic locations, great cars, large action pieces, good choreographed gun and hand-to-hand fights.

    Sadly it also has what we expect in a James Bond movie - a convoluted plot that makes no sense and no logical timeline. It is hard to watch these plots that make little sense in huge evil lairs after seeing Austin Power so clearly lampoon these very things.

    The love subplot which some object to is not new and we've seen it in other Bond movies going back to Bronson but this one just didn't feel right. While the 17 years between Craig and Seydoux might not be a problem in real life - Craig looks much older in the movie. We don't have any sense for why he feels so much love for this woman. While we've all had unrequited love or even betrayed love - it just seems unlikely that Bond would still retain his love for this character. We might have believed it if we saw some of their past life together. But I didn't buy that with the Eva Green character either.

    The new 007 was just wasted. Hard to picture any other double 0 flubbing so many missions. The hardest to take was her going after the American and not catching him and thus putting the rest of the plot of the movie in play. Her role is to pick up the hitchhiking Bond.

    Rami Malek was one of the worst Bond villains. He did his best Rami Malek. No motivation really. Given some dull lines to speak. His death was dull and nothing appropriate for his particular interests. The minor subplot of the poison garden and his growing up there were obvious the path to his demise in the hands of even stereotypical screen writers.

    There were two highlights for me. Ana de Armas as Paloma. I initially didn't like this character in the first few minutes but that changed fast. Can we have a movie with more of her in it? Can she replace Felix as Bond's CIA contact?

    Speaking of which, killing off Felix was surprising too although I've not been a fan of the Jeffery Wright version of the character. I did like the banter in that last scene together.

    The second was the death of James Bond. Daniel Craig wasn't fooling around this time. This was going to be his last James Bond. I didn't think they'd kill off the character.

    And only for this reason was I glad there was a love subplot. If Bond is going out, who would his last words be to? M? Moneypenny? I was glad he was talking to someone he loved and who loved him back. And that she admitted that the daughter was his - not that he didn't know. But she didn't know he knew.

    It could have been edited down by 20-30 minutes. The whole section of Bond coming home with the fish, finding the cigar butt, getting the gun etc just seemed like filler. Too much time in that club too.

    I liked it and could watch it without fast forwarding so never boring. Craig is my first or second favourite bond after. Dalton. Sad to see his final movie not be better.