No Time To Die

Official Australian release date: 11/11/21. Viewed: 14/11/21.
Director: Cary Fukunaga
Actors: Daniel Craig, Lea Seydoux, Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch
Genre: Action / Thriller
Rating: M

‘No Time To Die’ is Daniel Craig’s fifth, and final, time playing James Bond, and puts him up there as the  second best Bond (after Sean Connery). This film follows closely from ‘Spectre’, even though six years have passed in real life, and adds more relevance to that film’s plot. The opening is interesting, as it delves into Madeleine (Seydoux)’s background, introduces Safin (Malek) and only then do we get to present day Bond and Madeleine in Italy (since Bond has “retired”) and the titles (average song).

This film has a great ensemble cast, with Felix (Wright) back for his 3^rd time, Paloma (de Armas) having a fun CIA cameo in Cuba, Nomi (Lynch) as the next-gen 007 who grows on you, Primo (Benssalah) as the henchman and Blofeld (Waltz), Q (Whishaw), Tanner (Kinnear), Moneypenny (Harris) and M (Fiennes) all back. I find some of the most enjoyable aspects are when Bond works/interacts with the MI6 team – Q, M, Tanner & Moneypenny – rather than as a lone wolf.

While long, it’s a pretty well-made save-the-world story, with Safin having some sort of nanobot WMD, with high stakes and a fair bit of heart, as you hope Bond and Madeleine end up together, unlike Vesper. There’s good intrigue and great locations, including Norway, Jamaica and the Japanese island finale (although filmed on the Faroe Islands). Plenty of excellent stunts and fight scenes, with a satisfactory ending. Thanks for the fun 15 years Daniel Craig! Looking forward to seeing what’s next…

Overall: Fitting finale for the Craig-era of 007.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.