Review of No Time to Die (2021) by Jluis_001 — 18 Oct 2021

After fifteen years and with almost two of constant delays, Daniel Craig's cycle as James Bond has come to an end.

His introduction with Casino Royale was a more than clear proposal to take the character to the 21st century, after the forgettable Die Another Day of 2002.

Certainly it can be said that he became a more ruthless spy, inspired by what had been seen with Jason Bourne, but Bond certainly retained and elevated his status, and with the exception of the more than irregular Quantum of Solace, Daniel Craig's run with the character is the strongest I've seen in my opinion.

No Time to Die, does not surpass Skyfall, but it's superior to Spectre. More than anything because even with the excessive duration, the people involved in the creation of this film understood that a story was getting a closure, and they achieved an emotional level that had never really been seen in this franchise before.

Perhaps the biggest flaw I should mention is the poverty of its villains.

Christoph Waltz's brief return as Ernst Stavro Blofeld is basically irrelevant for the plot in general, while Rami Malek's character and performance were sad disappointments.

From then on, No Time to Die is a very entertaining film that manages to give cohesion to its plot, bearing the weight of having made all of Craig's films plot-connected rather than individual stories, as had always been the case with character.

When the closing comes, is emotional, and more than worthy for the character.

It certainly raises some interesting questions about the future of the franchise, particularly because it will be interesting to see if the studio will continue with this cast and with Lashana Lynch as a 00 agent, or if they will decide to start from scratch with Daniel Craig's successor.

Right now it's all assumptions and speculations, but whatever comes up for the character will undoubtedly have a very high bar to reach. But in the meantime, enjoy this great film.