No Time to Die (2021)

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Star Daniel Craig exits the James Bond franchise in his fifth entry, No Time to Die. Craig’s Bond begins the film in peaceful, secluded retirement. But when an old friend and comrade (Jeffrey Wright) summons him back into service, he finds himself up against a new ultimate bad guy (Bohemian Rhapsody‘s Rami Malek) with a new evil plan involving DNA and genocide. Along the journey, Bond’s relationship with an assassin’s daughter (Léa Seydoux, returning from the last film, Spectre) becomes deeper and more complicated.

No Time to Die, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, tries desperately to tie up Craig’s tenure with a satisfying bow, seeming to ignore the fact that no other Bond actor has ever received a similar fond farewell — and for good reason. James Bond is meant to be replaced and to stay on the job. The only punctuation needed at the end of an actor’s stint is an ellipses with the promise that, indeed, “James Bond will return.” No Time to Die bucks the trend, wallowing in sentimentality as a means to that end. The last third of No Time to Die is uncharacteristic of the franchise — forced and unsatisfying.

The lead-up to that schmaltzy ending is slightly better. There are car chases and gun battles, a sinking ship, and a gratuitous ‘Hannibal Lecter’-like encounter with the previous film’s imprisoned baddie (Christoph Waltz). The film’s most exciting sequence sees Craig battling motorcycles in a foggy woods. Craig is always good, though there’s no chemistry between him and Seydoux. Rami Malek tries his hand at a creepy, soft-spoken evil genius, but with Waltz’s character still on the board, he’s never allowed to fully own the role of the film’s ultimate villain. Ana de Armas is the liveliest cast member, playing a spy fresh out of training who is far more talented than she lets on. She has immediate rapport with Craig but her screen-time is sorely limited. Returning players Ben Whishaw and Naomie Harris (as Q and Moneypenny) are also given short shrift.

It’s not the worst of Craig’s Bond movies — that would be Quantum of Solace. But Craig deserves a better, less conspicuous send-off. By imposing a sense of finality to the franchise, Fukunaga and his co-screenwriters only end up robbing No Time to Die of the fun and joy James Bond movies are designed to deliver. With Ralph Fiennes, Lashona Lynch and Rory Kinnear.

Academy Award: Best Song (“No Time to Die”)

Oscar Nominations: Best Visual Effects, Sound