Right now we are in the same state that we were in when Pierce Brosnan was let go from the role of James Bond. As there's no official James Bond as of yet and there are no James Bond films currently being made and with that in mind I thought that it was about right that I take a look at a film that was the last James Bond film to star Daniel Craig n the role of James Bond and so then join me as I review the film that quite literally killed James Bond with the film in question being called simply just "No Time To Die" enjoy.
The plot of this film is when a scientist is kidnapped it's up to Bond to find him before he helps to unleash a weapon that once it's inside someone system it stays there forever and kills all of those that they love. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty person ally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad as it was a plot in all fairness does feel like the concluding part of a franchise even tho that's never going to be the case with the James Bond film franchise and while the plot could have been a bit better in places overall the plot of the film was easily one the films better aspects and is easily better the plot of Quantum Of Solace for example as the plot of this film one that was something that made sense for this incarnation of James Bond to go through instead of feeling like a short story that was stretched out into a feature length film with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Of course starring in this film is one of this films co-producers Daniel Craig as James Bond and Ralph Fiennes as M. Also starring in this film is Ben Whishaw as Q , Naomie Harris as Eve Moneypenny , Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter and Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actual;y featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty person ally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good as all of the MI6 regulars really do turn in some really good performances in this film with Daniel Craig being on top form in this film as James Bond with the rest of the MI6 regulars cast doing there usual schtick and really making the most of what little screen time that they all share together and turning in some really good performances at the exact same time with it being clear as day that this version of the MI6 regulars really are from a performance point of view one of the best incarnations of the MI6 regulars in modern day James Bond films.
Also starring in this film is Léa Seydoux as Dr. Madeleine Swann , Rami Malek as Lyutsifer Safin and Lashana Lynch as Nomi. Also starring in this film is Billy Magnussen as Logan Ash , Christoph Waltz as Ernst Stavro Blofeld , David Dencik as Dr. Valdo Obruchev , Ana De Armas as Paloma , Dali Benssalah as Primo and Lisa-Dorah Sonnet as Mathilde. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad as while yes alot of the acting from these actors is indeed really good there are also one or two performances that aren't quite as good as they really could have been with the likes of David Dencik and Billy Magnussen being good examples of actors who in this film just aren't that good when you compare to any of the other actors that are appearing in this film with the acting in this film really being helped by the fact that the script for this film is just so good that all this films cast have to do is jus6t say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.
This film does kind of mark history by having the same Bond girl as the one that came before with this films main Bond girl being Dr. Madeleine Swann who is played by the seriously stunning Léa Seydoux. As even tho the films did have the same Bond girl appear twice before in both Dr. No and in From Russia With Love in which the character of Sylvia Trench appeared she was never the main Bond girl where as with both this film and Spectre Dr. Madeleine Swann was the main Bond girl for both of those films and to this films credit it does fix her character somewhat by making her more of an interesting character where as in the previous film she wasn't all that interesting outside of the fact that her father was a killer something which we do expanded upon in this film and we see how that affected her not only as a child growing up with drunk for a mother but as adult having really fallen in love with and had her heart broken by someone who is pretty much in the same profession that her father was in and seeing dealing with that and come to terms with that does make her a slightly more interesting character.
This films second and final Bond girl is Nomi who is of course played by the seriously stunning Lashana Lynch. With this character not only being the weaker of the two Bond girls that are in this film but also the weaker new female character as well as this character just in't all that fun to be around and while yes she does have moments of being a fun character like her running joke with Bond she's also not all that interesting of a character and is only there just so the film can have another female character in it and not because of the fact that she adds anything to the plot of the film as she really doesn't add anything to the plot of this film which does make her a pointless character which does make her feel like a wasted opportunity of a character as on paper a female double 0 agent could have made for an interesting character if the makers of this film made her important to the plot of the film and actually made her an interesting character but as they did neither one of those two things the character just comes across as being a better version of the Rosie Carver character from Live and Let Die as at least this character gets to take part in some cool looking action sequences.
Out of the two characters it's obvious which one is the better character as that's easily Dr. Madeleine Swann. Not only because we the audience have had more time with her as a character thanks to the previous film but also due to the fact that she's also the better written character as well with her character also serving a purpose in the films plot and while yes Nomi does have her uses as having another spy on the same mission as Bond is a good idea it just comes across as being a waste of a good idea due to the fact that the we the audience don't really get to spend all that long with her as a character where as with Dr. Madeleine Swann we get to spend alot of time with her character and thanks to also the previous film as well we get to really understand what it is that makes her tick and that makes not only her character the better Bond girl in this film but it also makes the emotional journey that the character goes through in not only this film but also in the previous film as well all the more impactful and while yes Nomi could have been better if she had one more film appearance as it is she's just not that good of a character.
What makes things worse is the fact that the film did have a fun character that very easily could have been the secondary Bond girl for this film with that character Paloma who is played by the seriously stunning Ana De Armas being a fun character that is really likable and actually has some small impact on the plot as she's Bond's contact in Columbia and even gets into a really fun filled action scene which does show of just how good of a character that she was and yet for some strange reason she pushed aside in favor of the less interesting and less fun Nomi and while yes Paloma wasn't all that interesting at least from the scenes that she appears in anyways there was the potential to expand upon her character by giving her a backstory explaining why she's in the spy business which if done right could have made her an interesting character and while the same thing could also have been done for Nomi the Nomi character wasn't all that likable either where as Paloma was and yet for some strange reason the makers of this film chose to go with the more unlikable character rather then instead going with the really more likable character.
One of this films writers is one Phoebe Waller-Bridge with her being brought int to polish up some of the female characters and the female characters dialog. With this being no more evident then in the character of Paloma who just screams "written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge" as everything about her character's dialog are the types of things that you'd possibly expect to see in an episode of Fleabag as it's that punchy and snappy dialog that's very quick and this is something that even this films co-writers and regular James Bond film writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade agree with with them stating in a 2021 news article for The Guardian “We had Paloma in our script, but she was just a contact. Cary wanted more, so one assumes that’s an area that Phoebe dealt with.” with that being something that really does show as the rest of the female characters dialog isn't as snappy and as punchy as Paloma's was which isn't a knock on Neal Purvis and Robert Wade rather it's just something that's very easy to pick up on and you notice really right away.
Doing the production design is newcomer to the franchise Mark Tildesley who is mostly known for working on Danny Boyle films like 28 Days Later , 28 Weeks Later , Sunshine , T2: Trainspotting and the upcoming 28 Years Later. With his work on this film not really being all that impressive as instead of giving us the large and lavish sets that we all want and expect in James Bond film he instead gives us rather small looking sets for the most part with the occasional larger set with the films larger sets being there most impressive sets and looking like that they actually belong in the world of James Bond where as the films more smaller sets whilst they do indeed look good and are some really impressive looking sets in there own right just aren't grand enough to be in the world of James Bond and while he is a newcomer to this franchise and so is most likely still trying to work out what his style of James Bond sets should look like if he is to stay on this franchise then he has to do better and do what he really should have done with this films sets and go bigger.
To give the film some more credit it's CGI effects are really good with the film having effects provided by TPO VFX , Double Negative , Framestore , Industrial Light & Magic , Cinesite , Lola Visual Effects , Blind , Territory Studio and Pix Entertainment. With the film making some great use of CGI effects as alot of the CGI that's in this film is what's more commonly known as hidden CGI in that you don't really notice that what your using is actually a computer effect with the best example of this being the chase scene at that the star of the movie as the rock that Bond hides behind when the car is chasing him is an effect as are they stairs that Bond uses when he rides a bike up them later on in that same sequence and this film is choke filled to the brim with the effects that you don't really notice but still look really good because of the fact that you don't notice them and aren't really paying attention to them all that much either and it's a good example of how to use CGI as well there not effects that are distracting you from what's going on in the film rather instead there effects that are there to help to tell the story that's going on in that scene right now.
Out of all pf the James Bond films that hinted at the death of James Bond this is the only one that actually did it. Which for this film does work but for the franchise moving forward it doesn't work as it now puts us in a situation that we haven't been in before now and that's that even tho actors have been replaced as James Bond all the time none of them have had there version of the character killed and as a result of that is the fact the makers of that film didn't have to explain why James Bond is now suddenly alive this is now something that the next film will have to do is it's something that alot of us will now be wondering and yet at the exact same time tho it is something that does work well for this film as the whole entire film was hinting at the death of the James Bond character and that is something that they did have to pay off and to be fair the death of James Bond is something that does work on an emotional level as this version of Bond is now not just leaving a girl that he met once behind he's leaving the love of his and daughter behind which does make his death come across as being a really tragic thing in this film.
For some strange reason this film chooses to have a whopping twenty minuet long pre title sequence which wouldn't be an issue if the sequence was fun and entertaining. However only half of it was entertaining and it's not the first half it's the second with the first half not really being needed and would have been much more better if it was used as a series of flashbacks spread all throughout the film which not only would have given more mystery to this films villain but also would have the films pre title sequence more easy to watch because as things stand the pre title sequence for this film isn't that easy to watch not because of it's content but because of how long that it was when it really doesn't have to be that long with the only bit of it that are fun and that you want to see are the final ten or so minuets as that's the half with Bond and Dr. Madeleine Swann essentially starting a new life together with that portion of the pre title sequence being the more interesting half of it where as the first half of it just isn't all that interesting and it really does bog down the pacing of that whole sequence as all your left doing is waiting for the sequence to get fun.
The opening titles for this film where created by James Bond opening title creator regular Daniel Kleinman. With him once again creating some truly breathtaking opening titles with the opening titles for this film not only including a tip of the hat to Dr. No thanks to the round coloured dots appearing at the start but also giving us soke truly striking visuals with the guns making strands on DNA being the most visually striking image in all of this films opening titles with this films opening titles also matching not only the tone of the film perfectly but also matching the darker tone of this films opening theme song as well and heck it could even be argues that this films opening titles could even be better then the the film that there attached to as well as the titles for this films really are truly breath taking to look at and really take your breath away with the opening title in this film also telling us how James Bond himself is feeling through it's more darker visuals something that Daniel Kleinman nearly always does in alot of his James Bond opening titles and it's something that really does work for alot of his titles this film included.
This films song is also called "No Time to Die" and is sung rather OK by singer and songwriter Billie Eilish. With the song being something that is sure to please fans of hers but at the same time it's not the kind of song that would go well with a James Bond film as it feels just like a stereotypical Billie Eilish song and nothing more then that and while that might work for people that are fans of hers for the James Bond franchise you need to do your best work as this is something that's always going to be remembered and always be talked about and yet because this films song is just bland it doesn't really make her look good as either a singer or songwriter either and while the song is fairly well sung by her it's also a song that could have been sung better if it was done in a style that's more fitting to the James Bond films or heck even a straight up rock much like "You Know My Name" would have worked as this version of James Bod is basically a rock star and having a rock song be the final James Bond theme song for a Daniel Craig James Bond film would have made alot of sense.
As a villain Lyutsifer Safin is a fairly decent villain but at the same time the villains motifs for being evil are pretty much fulfilled by the one hour and thirty minuet mark. AS he wants to get deadly revenge on SPECTRE as they were responsible for hiring Madeline's father and getting him to kill Lyutsifer's family and yet by the time he has Blofeld killed that goal is already achieved and as a result of that is the fact that there's no need for him to carry on being the main villain of the film and yet because the film has to carry on and didn't bother giving him a good enough goal that actually requires Bond to intervene at that point the film then has to pull something out to then make Bond want to defeat the villain when all throughout the rest of the film Safin was already archiving his goal and while the villain does have a good look about him he's not really that creepy of a villain something that could have been fixed if the film spread out the first ten or so minuets of the pre title sequence which really would have given him more mystery and make you wonder who he is and heck you even could have had interact with Bond before revealing that he's actually the bad guy as this would hit home the fact that you really can't trust anybody and it would make him really more of a smarter and sinister villain as he's really getting away with these crimes in plain sight.
Now then while I cannot for the absolutely life of me remember whatever this films grand total running even was I do that for a fact that this film has / had an exact grand total running tome of exactly two hours and forty three minuets and twenty three seconds. Which does make this film the longest James Bond film and while the film does have more then enough there interms of plot to really cover that large amount of running time this film also really didn't need to be that long either as having the film be that long does make it a really hard film to sit through and as a result of that is the fact that the film could have cut alot the films more pointless scenes to help make the film flow alot more better then what it already really is because as things stand there are portions of the film that don't really add anything to the plot of the film like those opening ten minuets of the pre title sequence which is just a pointless ten minuets in the grand scheme of things and is something that really could have cut out of the film and there are alot of scenes that are exactly like that as well but I will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is an action film that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. Which is really nothing new for the Daniel Craig James Bond films as even his bad films have always had some really good action in them with the same thing also being true for this film as well with the action in this film in this film as well being not only really exciting but also really entertaining as well as it's during this films many action scenes that we get to see some of the signature James Bond humor as well which is something that really does blend really well with the films action with the best action scene being the films opening car chase which is a really tense and exciting action scene with it also being something that not only advances the plot of the film or in this case starts the plot of the film but also starts James Bonds character arc for the film as well which is something that really does make that action sequence really fun to watch as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall this is a solid final film for this truly iconic version of the James Bond character to go out on but at the same time tho this film like alot of the Daniel Craig James Bod also have alot of flaws to it as well and it's those flaws that do keep this film from being a perfect film in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Tenor , Wikipedia , the official James Bond fandom wiki page and Google Images. With my personal favorite website to use to get the images that I used in this very review being the official James Bond fandom wiki page just simply due to the fact that pretty much all of the images that are featured / presented to us and are currently up and also on the official James Bond fandom wiki page are all fairly high quality and as well as being fairly high definition and well then boys and girls just freaking like James Bond I will return.
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