The fifth and final Bond film with Daniel Craig has been a long time coming (seven years since Spectre hit the big screen). And as one would expect, it’s a big, bold, adventure playground of a narrative (x10 for Craig’s finale) traversing the globe.
Licking his wounds from a sense of betrayal by love interest Madeleine (Léa Seydoux – Spectre, Blue is the Warmest Colour), Bond is comfortably settled in island Jamaica. But not for long as both British and American operatives seek him out for help – it’s that man Blofeld (Christoph Waltz – Spectre, The French Dispatch) causing problems in spite of being held in isolation in maximum security. Only there’s an even bigger threat from Russian poisonous substance expert, Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek – Bohemian Rhapsody, The Little Things).
Everything about No Time to Die is, as one would expect, expansive – the characters, the threats, the storylines, the locations. But director Cary Joji Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation, Jane Eyre) has introduced a higher level of wry humour and personal narratives to proceedings. It does not always work – an overlong, dragged out No Time to Die fails to reach the dizzy heights of Skyfall. But it remains, nevertheless, an archetypal Bond entertainment.
Nominated for 3 Oscars in 2022 – sound, visual effects, won 1 for original song (Billie Eilish).
Rating: 66%
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