No Time To Die Review

by Allie Vasserman

Reviews

October 30, 2021

No Time To Die (2021) is the final movie in the Daniel Craig James Bond franchise. The returning cast for the final James Bond movie are Ben Whishaw as Q, Naomie Harris as Eve Moneypenny, Ralph Fiennes as Gareth Mallory or M, Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter, Lea Seydoux as Madeleine Swann, Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner, and Christopher Waltz as Blofeld. The movie also introduces new characters such as Lashana Lynch as the MI6 agent Nomi and Rami Malek as the villainous Safin. The movie is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga.

The opening of the movie takes place soon after the events of Spectre (2015), the previous James Bond movie. The movie features the classic gun barrel shot before the title sequence, and the song for the title sequence is “No Time To Die” by Billie Eilish. Then the movie jumps several years into the future, where James Bond is recruited by his CIA agent friend Felix Leiter to locate the kidnapped scientist Obruchev and his special project Hercules and bring both back to MI6 custody from Blofeld’s organization Spectre. Bond meets MI6 agent Nomi and goes on the mission, which involves his traveling to Cuba and meeting a new undercover agent named Paloma, played by Ana de Armas. Paloma helps him infiltrate a Spectre meeting. During the meeting, Bond discovers a new deadly enemy who will be his main antagonist for the rest of the movie. 

I’m not going to give away any big spoilers.  This movie is a definite ending to the Daniel Craig James Bond franchise, and I think it is a good ending. It has some really great action scenes in which Bond fights his enemies in his classic suit and tie. The fight scenes in Cuba are filmed incredibly well and entertaining to watch. And there are some heavy emotional scenes. The few deaths in the movie are gut-wrenching to watch if you have become emotionally attached to the characters.

The movie makes references to the previous four Daniel Craig James Bond movies and brings back characters from previous films such as Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008). There are some Easter eggs that reference older James Bond movies by featuring previous actors from the franchise. A scene that features Madeleine Swann’s backstory that was mentioned in the previous movie, Spectre, is crucial to the plot. I think, however, that the script did not do justice to Christopher Waltz’s Blofeld character and the Spectre organization, considering how central they were in the previous movie.

If you are a fan of the James Bond movies starring Daniel Craig, I would recommend watching No Time To Die. I think that all of the actors do a great job portraying their characters and that Craig leaves the role in an unexpected way. I enjoyed this movie, and I can’t wait to see who the next James Bond in this franchise will be.