Living the life of a spy is not an easy task. It consumes you entirely, leaving you with more enemies than friends. Even when you leave the job, you always have to look back over your shoulder. But the most difficult part of being a spy is that falling in love and having a family is part of fleeting moments waiting to be taken away from you. No Time to Die understands that and uses it touchingly to craft an emotional story that comes full circle.
No Time to Die opens with the past. Not James Bond’s (Daniel Craig) past, but from Madeleine Swan (Léa Seydoux). The film begins with a scene of Madeleine witnessing her mother’s murder by Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek), who she shots and runs away from, only to later be rescued by Safin when she falls into a frozen lake. In the present, Bond is enjoying his retired life with Madeleine on the gorgeous outskirts of Italy. While their relationship is full of love, their secrets from the past linger over them. Bond is still deeply affected by the events that occurred in Casino Royale. When he visits Vesper’s tomb to pay his respect, he instead gets ambushed by Spectre assassins, making Bond think that Madeleine has betrayed him, getting Deja Vu of what happened with Vesper, and leading him to break up with Madeleine.
Five years later we meet Bond again living his lonely retired life in Jamaica. He is approached by his friend from the CIA, Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), who is accompanied by Logan Ash (Billy Magnussen), to help rescue MI6 scientist Valdo Obruchev (David Dencik). Obruchev was kidnapped from the laboratory after developing a virus that spreads through touch and can also be coded to specific DNA. Bond refuses the request at first only to accept it later when he finds out that the project to create that virus was commissioned by M (Ralph Fiennes). This is where the plot drives the story forward with extravagant action sequences that take your breath away and a shocking twist that leads to the emergence of Safin as the new force standing against Bond.
One bothersome thing about Bond movies is how the villains are written. While Skyfall and Casino Royale are exceptions only because the villains mirrored Bond, the rest we don’t even remember. No Time to Die has the same problem. Bringing Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) back and misusing such an iconic character is such a shame, but at least we can remember what Safin’s motives are even though he is another disfigured opponent who could’ve been used more in some other variations.
One thing you can never take away from Bond movies is the action set pieces, which are not only thrilling to watch but enjoyable. Here in No Time to Die, the action is amped up from the previous outings. The opening ambush sequence is driven by emotional stakes. The Obruchev rescue mission plays the classic espionage module where Bond teams up with an inexperienced but capable agent Paloma (Ana de Armas) and the new 007, Nomi (Lashana Lynch). The finale blends the best of both worlds to create the already high stakes into a spiritual experience that makes you hold onto your seats.
Over the decades, James Bond has been known as the unkillable spy with no feelings, who thought women were disposable pleasures rather than meaningful pursuits, used cool gadgets, and saved the world at the end of the movie. But since Craig took over the reins, the questions behind his personality started to be asked. And with Casino Royale, things shifted as we saw James Bond as an agent struggling with his role, falling head over heels with a woman and losing her by his own mistake, a betrayal that haunts him. He became the guy who has to overcome his guilt and learn to fall in love again so that he can get his happily ever after. And that is what makes you care for Bond, not the plot of him saving the world, but will he get the chance to have all that again.
Director Cary Joji Fukunaga and his writing partners Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge knew that would be important for Craig’s final outing as James Bond. They build No Time to Die on that theme. They also made sure that the story is not going to be just about Bond, but about Madeleine’s past, M’s mistake, and once again for the one last time license to kill. The 163-minute runtime never makes you feel dull as the story flows smoothly with enough conflict, emotions, betrayal, and humor. The friendly banter between Bond and Nomi is quite the humor highlight.
Craig in his swan song gives his most emotional and vulnerable performance as James Bond. He knows what his character needs and this is love and family, and we can see him trying to achieve that. His scenes with Seydoux are truly beautiful to witness. Especially in the opening sequence where Bond looks into her eyes to truly know if she had betrayed him. He sheds the skin of the sly charming James Bond we once knew and opens to new heights that make him more connectable to the audience. Seydoux has a lot of time with her character with her past coming back to haunt her. While Malek as Safin also does an exceptional job with less.
Saying goodbye is never easy. It hurts. But the satisfying ending and wrap up of a decade-over arc for Craig’s Bond eases the pain. Everything comes full circle. The past, present, and future. No Time to Die is a swan song that Craig deserved to have, ending on his terms with a Bond that is not afraid to show what he really only ever needed in life was love and happiness.
