No Time to Die Review

 

The end of an era. The quintessential Bond film, even with it flaws. It's not until the last 20 mins of this film that it truly hit me that Daniel Craig had been Bond since 2006 (much earlier than RDJ as Iron Man) and that he's basically the Bond that I grew up with; and this is his last outing. It stays with me even after the film ends, that it's finally the end of an era, just as Logan did for Jackman's Wolverine and Endgame did for RDJ's Tony Stark.

As his last and the send-off film, I think the film worked well in delivering that and it is also one of the good Craig's Bond films. Definitely miles better than Spectre. But still far compared to Casino Royale or Skyfall. NTTD feels fresh with great action sequences in the early parts of the film - exciting action scenes since Casino Royale. Also, it's fresh because this is the first film in Craig era that we get to see James Bond as a normal guy, with quippy banters and romantic side to him. Overall, the first half was pure thrill-action packed fun Bond adventure - the one that I've been asking for in a Bond film for years. Performances by other characters were stronger in this as well. Lea Seydoux was great in this, playing the broken-doe-eyed love affair Madelaine Swan to Bond, and the addition of Ana de Armas as CIA agent Paloma was great as well.

But as the second half unfolded, so does it's flaws. The structure got messy, the pacing got a bit slow and the film started to feel a bit too long for its own sake. Rami Malek's villain Lyutsifer Safin was a bad villlain.. I guess? His motive was vague, his performance was unclear and weird. While his character and persona was a perfect homage to classic Bond villains, but it didn't work here. For a final outing for Craig, the film should have a solid villain, instead of a last minute established villain like Safin. 

And of course, the third act and the final scene was very unexpectedly emotional for me, as the whole third act was nothing but pure the-end-of-the-world mission ala Mission Impossible and it was closed with a very emotional and powerful scene delivered by Daniel Craig. 

There it was, the end of an era. 

Thank you, Mr. Bond.

7/10