NO TIME TO DIE
****
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Screenplay: Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and Cary Joji Fukunaga and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
Principal cast:
Daniel Craig
Léa Seydoux
Rami Malek
Lashana Lynch
Ralph Fiennes
Ben Whishaw
Country: UK/USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 163 mins.
Australian release date: 11 November 2021.
What a wait it’s been for No Time to Die, the 25th film in the James Bond spy franchise, which was originally scheduled for release way back in November 2019 (postponed when original director Danny Boyle left the project), then February 2020, then April 2020 (delayed due to the Covid outbreak) and so on and so on. Talk about bad luck! Finally, it debuted at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 28 September this year. In the meantime, many big budget productions suffered, dollar-wise, because they either had very short theatrical seasons or went straight to streaming services, but the team behind the marketing of No Time to Die decided to hold on and ride out the pandemic. Was it worth it? Well, yes and no. Yes, for Bond fans, because this is most definitely a movie made to be seen on the biggest screen you can – it’s big in every way – and no, for the studio, because the cumulative effect of all these delays has undoubtedly taken a toll on the box office returns and many millions were wasted on advertising release dates that never materialised. Now, finally, Australian audiences have the opportunity to see ‘Bond 25’ and I would suggest that you run, don’t walk, to the cinema for your tickets. It’s a blast.
As is habitual in Bond films, there is a pre-credit sequence. This one gives us the back-story of Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), Bond’s love interest in Spectre and again here. We then jump forward to a time not long after the events seen in Spectre, and Bond (Daniel Craig) and Madeleine are having a romantic interlude in Matera, Italy, when their idyll is dramatically interrupted by Spectre assassins. Bond becomes suspicious of his lover, however, because absolutely no one apart from him and her knew where they were, and he puts her on a train, declaring that she will never see him again. Cut to five years later and Bond is living in secluded retirement in Jamaica when he is approached by his old friend, CIA agent Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), to help with the capture of a kidnapped scientist who has developed a deadly new bio-weapon. Initially refusing, he is drawn back to MI6 when he realises the terrible implications for the world if this new weapon is ever released and he once again encounters M (Ralph Fiennes), Q (Ben Whishaw), Miss Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) and, of course, his nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christopher Waltz). It’s not only Blofeld Bond and co. have to worry about, though – there’s a new villain in town and he’s possibly even worse, Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek). With a name like that, you just know he’s going to be the epitome of evil.
For the first time in the Bond franchise, No Time to Die has been helmed by an American director, Cary Joji Fukunaga, and he’s done an excellent job. There are the usual high-octane chase scenes and people being despatched in terrible ways (although very little blood, oddly) but there is also a great deal of light and shade amongst the action. Of course, this is not just down to Fukunaga. The screenplay has been written by Bond regulars Neal Purvis and Robert Wade with input from the director and Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who was brought in to add a bit of levity to the script and, collectively, they’ve nailed it. Their Bond is a wounded man, a guy who has lost everyone he’s ever loved and he’s become bitter and aloof. Daniel Craig conveys this kind of jaded ennui very well but, behind the tough facade, he manages to suggest that Bond hasn’t entirely given up on life and love; thus, when he meets Madeleine again, the spark of humanity that he has so desperately tried to quench is ready to be rekindled. It’s a great performance from Craig, a fitting end to his five-film career as Bond. He says, “I have always been very happy with the way the 007 films I've been a part of have turned out. It’s been a lot about the relationships and how those relationships affect him and how they change and steer his life. Whether it’s with the villain or whether it’s the people he works with, this movie has tackled that head on. And the biggest themes are love and trust. You can’t really get much bigger than that.”
All the usual Bond-ian elements are on display in No Time to Die. There’s the stylish opening credit sequence accompanied by a song (this time by Billie Eilish), the famous theme music, the luscious cinematography, the incredible stunts and amazing gadgets, the femmes fatales (Ana de Armas and Lashana Lynch) and the exotic locations (London, Jamaica, Norway, Italy and the Faroe Islands) – everything a Bond fan wants. It’s all terribly improbable but highly entertaining. Even at almost two-and-three-quarter hours, this 007 never wears out its welcome. For this reviewer, it was indeed worth the wait.
Screenplay: Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and Cary Joji Fukunaga and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
Principal cast:
Daniel Craig
Léa Seydoux
Rami Malek
Lashana Lynch
Ralph Fiennes
Ben Whishaw
Country: UK/USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 163 mins.
Australian release date: 11 November 2021.
What a wait it’s been for No Time to Die, the 25th film in the James Bond spy franchise, which was originally scheduled for release way back in November 2019 (postponed when original director Danny Boyle left the project), then February 2020, then April 2020 (delayed due to the Covid outbreak) and so on and so on. Talk about bad luck! Finally, it debuted at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 28 September this year. In the meantime, many big budget productions suffered, dollar-wise, because they either had very short theatrical seasons or went straight to streaming services, but the team behind the marketing of No Time to Die decided to hold on and ride out the pandemic. Was it worth it? Well, yes and no. Yes, for Bond fans, because this is most definitely a movie made to be seen on the biggest screen you can – it’s big in every way – and no, for the studio, because the cumulative effect of all these delays has undoubtedly taken a toll on the box office returns and many millions were wasted on advertising release dates that never materialised. Now, finally, Australian audiences have the opportunity to see ‘Bond 25’ and I would suggest that you run, don’t walk, to the cinema for your tickets. It’s a blast.
As is habitual in Bond films, there is a pre-credit sequence. This one gives us the back-story of Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), Bond’s love interest in Spectre and again here. We then jump forward to a time not long after the events seen in Spectre, and Bond (Daniel Craig) and Madeleine are having a romantic interlude in Matera, Italy, when their idyll is dramatically interrupted by Spectre assassins. Bond becomes suspicious of his lover, however, because absolutely no one apart from him and her knew where they were, and he puts her on a train, declaring that she will never see him again. Cut to five years later and Bond is living in secluded retirement in Jamaica when he is approached by his old friend, CIA agent Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), to help with the capture of a kidnapped scientist who has developed a deadly new bio-weapon. Initially refusing, he is drawn back to MI6 when he realises the terrible implications for the world if this new weapon is ever released and he once again encounters M (Ralph Fiennes), Q (Ben Whishaw), Miss Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) and, of course, his nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christopher Waltz). It’s not only Blofeld Bond and co. have to worry about, though – there’s a new villain in town and he’s possibly even worse, Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek). With a name like that, you just know he’s going to be the epitome of evil.
For the first time in the Bond franchise, No Time to Die has been helmed by an American director, Cary Joji Fukunaga, and he’s done an excellent job. There are the usual high-octane chase scenes and people being despatched in terrible ways (although very little blood, oddly) but there is also a great deal of light and shade amongst the action. Of course, this is not just down to Fukunaga. The screenplay has been written by Bond regulars Neal Purvis and Robert Wade with input from the director and Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who was brought in to add a bit of levity to the script and, collectively, they’ve nailed it. Their Bond is a wounded man, a guy who has lost everyone he’s ever loved and he’s become bitter and aloof. Daniel Craig conveys this kind of jaded ennui very well but, behind the tough facade, he manages to suggest that Bond hasn’t entirely given up on life and love; thus, when he meets Madeleine again, the spark of humanity that he has so desperately tried to quench is ready to be rekindled. It’s a great performance from Craig, a fitting end to his five-film career as Bond. He says, “I have always been very happy with the way the 007 films I've been a part of have turned out. It’s been a lot about the relationships and how those relationships affect him and how they change and steer his life. Whether it’s with the villain or whether it’s the people he works with, this movie has tackled that head on. And the biggest themes are love and trust. You can’t really get much bigger than that.”
All the usual Bond-ian elements are on display in No Time to Die. There’s the stylish opening credit sequence accompanied by a song (this time by Billie Eilish), the famous theme music, the luscious cinematography, the incredible stunts and amazing gadgets, the femmes fatales (Ana de Armas and Lashana Lynch) and the exotic locations (London, Jamaica, Norway, Italy and the Faroe Islands) – everything a Bond fan wants. It’s all terribly improbable but highly entertaining. Even at almost two-and-three-quarter hours, this 007 never wears out its welcome. For this reviewer, it was indeed worth the wait.
