No Time to Die (2021)

[Eric Atreides]

Discuss

[solaris]

My spoiler free reaction

 

- Probably my favourite pre-credits sequence in a modern Bond movie. 

- On the other hand, the credits (and Billie's song) are generic as hell

- Can we have more Ana de Armas in everything please? Her sequence with Bond is another early high point.

- When it flies, it really flies - when it gets bogged down in exposition it feels like the boring bits from TDKR.

- Daniel Craig has never been better - this is a great swan song for him. He'll forever be my James Bond.

- I was skeptical about Lashana Lynch / girl boss 007 but it works very well, nowhere near as clunky as it could have been.

- Rami Malek is indeed fairly forgettable - not that he's to blame... The film can't decide who the main villain should be and never makes anyone's intentions particularly clear.

 

Overall, a massive step up from Spectre. With a more tightly focused plot it *might* have unseated Skyfall for number 2 in the Craig era ranking, but as it stands it's a slightly saggy but ambitious number 3 (CR will be my forever number 1). 4 QoS and 5 Spectre.

[CJohn]

Rami Malek is absolute trash with a been there done that villain that has deadly plants but also nanobots and somehow it is sort of connected with Léa's character (EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED, I AM THE CAUSE OF ALL YOUR PAIN and all that) because fuck logic. We should all be happy that he isn't in it much (literally every scene is in the trailer besides the one where he poisons Bond). But this is Daniel Craig's time to shine and he is fucking majestic in it. It is his movie the entire time, he grabs it and never lets go. The rest of the cast is charismatic as well and it all works together with fantastic direction by Fukunaga. The crowd was bawling with Craig's Bond dying even if I feel that could have been better done, I had all the tissues in my hands cleaning up my macho tears. They can retire the franchise, this shit is done. Daniel Craig IS James Bond/007. Nobody else can touch him.

[ddddeeee]

Sometimes fun, sometimes boring.

 

Malek really thinks he's doing something here and it's hilarious to see. Dude could have just been himself and been 1000x creepier.

 

I'm happy it exists because Spectre would've been such a lame send-off for Craig, but it's really all a bit eh.

 

 

[Avatree]

Man I feel baaaaaaaaaaaaaad. I just told my parents how impressed i was by the ending, that they actually killed Bond. And my dad just quietly says, "Oh... I'm going to see it next week, you've just ruined it".

 

Like DAD YOU LITERALLY HAVEN'T WATCHED A FILM IN THREE YEARS, HOW WAS I MEANT TO KNOW THAT??

 

 

 

I thought this was FANTASTIC and extremely enjoyable. It's the first Bond film I've genuinely enjoyed and been excited about. So much more fun than Spectre or Snorefall but also more moving when it needs to be. Though I didn't feel invested in the death of Freddie or whatever his name was. Didn't even realise he was in previous movies.

 

Rami Malek was really bad and the villain's background/reasoning was poor, I know that's par for the course for these films but the fact he doesn't even get involved in the film until like the last hour just kind of sucks.

 

I did take issue with the ageing of the characters too... Madeline is like 30, and under 10 in the first scene? So it's been about 20 years. While Malek's character (wow, dont even know his name and I finished watching the film only an hour ago) is under 40, so like... how old was he at the start? Teenager? Certainly didn't look or sound like one.

 

Malek aside, all the actors are very engaging and I thought this was a really good performance from Daniel Craig.  Ana De Armas was funny. The 007 Woman was good even though the constant jabbing at the 'sexist' bond fans was annoying.

 

All the action scenes are great, the opening one in particular, but also the lab heist and the Cuba scenes & the end.

 

The song sucks.

 

I saw it with my mate, he is a Bond superfan, I am not really a fan of the franchise/movies; we both thought it was great. Hopefully that bodes well for the general audience.

 

 

Edited October 2, 2021 by Avatree

[jb007]

I have been Bond fan since I first watched Diamonds are forever as a kid. 

 

I watched the movie with great trepidation given that I did not like QOS, Skyfall and Spectre. I was worried that I would hate the movie.  But I ended up loving the movie. While the pacing is uneven and the villain forgettable, the movie has an emotional core that appealed to me. There are a lot of moments that are  really good. 

 

The action sequences are excellent. Loved the interaction between Bond and 007. Even Ana de Armas was fun in her short role. 

 

The last few minutes made me cry. 

 

Rating: A

 

 

 

 

 

[CoolioD1]

His death scene was very 'Doctor Who regeneration episode'. and lol i can't believe it took 25 movies and they let the lamest bond villain kill him off. i didn't even like waltz in SPECTRE that much but his one scene here is an oasis in a desert compared to what Malek's doing.

 

thankfully though he has less screentime than i would've thought in this long ass movie and the rest of it is pretty fun. i wasn't a full-on ana de armas simp like half the internet seems to be but i might be converted by her scene here.

[dudalb]

On 10/1/2021 at 5:24 PM, CJ Sarandos said:

Rami Malek is absolute trash with a been there done that villain that has deadly plants but also nanobots and somehow it is sort of connected with Léa's character (EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED, I AM THE CAUSE OF ALL YOUR PAIN and all that) because fuck logic. We should all be happy that he isn't in it much (literally every scene is in the trailer besides the one where he poisons Bond). But this is Daniel Craig's time to shine and he is fucking majestic in it. It is his movie the entire time, he grabs it and never lets go. The rest of the cast is charismatic as well and it all works together with fantastic direction by Fukunaga. The crowd was bawling with Craig's Bond dying even if I feel that could have been better done, I had all the tissues in my hands cleaning up my macho tears. They can retire the franchise, this shit is done. Daniel Craig IS James Bond/007. Nobody else can touch him.

 

Funny, the franchise was declared DOA when Connory quit.

It was declared dead after the Six Year delay (for legal reasons) between 1989 and 1995.

The Brosnan fans went crazy when he was dropped and they started a on line "Danial Craig Is Not Bond" campaign.

I love Craig as Bond, but Connory was just as good.

This rant goes into my "over the top and silly rant" folder.

[dudalb]

On 10/4/2021 at 10:23 AM, CoolioD1 said:

His death scene was very 'Doctor Who regeneration episode'. and lol i can't believe it took 25 movies and they let the lamest bond villain kill him off. i didn't even like waltz in SPECTRE that much but his one scene here is an oasis in a desert compared to what Malek's doing.

 

thankfully though he has less screentime than i would've thought in this long ass movie and the rest of it is pretty fun. i wasn't a full-on ana de armas simp like half the internet seems to be but i might be converted by her scene here.

Of course He might not be dead.......

 

Fleming grew bored with Bond and killed him off ...apparently ..at the end of From Russia With Love..the novel. But he found a way to bring him back to life in the opening of "Dr No". (the chonology of the films has nothing to do with the chronology of the novels".

I have not seen the film yet, but I admit I did want to be spoiled here. And I have no doubt ,if they do not want to do a total reboot of the series in the next 007 film, they can find a way to bring Holmes back from the bottom of the Reichanbach Falls.

[CoolioD1]

1 hour ago, dudalb said:

Of course He might not be dead.......

 

Fleming grew bored with Bond and killed him off ...apparently ..at the end of From Russia With Love..the novel. But he found a way to bring him back to life in the opening of "Dr No". (the chonology of the films has nothing to do with the chronology of the novels".

I have not seen the film yet, but I admit I did want to be spoiled here. And I have no doubt ,if they do not want to do a total reboot of the series in the next 007 film, they can find a way to bring Holmes back from the bottom of the Reichanbach Falls.

once you see the movie... i feel like they made his death as definitive as they could have so you won't see this kind of "maybe he got away" theorizing once everyone has seen it. incurable nanobot poison + a missile dropped on him. they're gonna reboot it in the next one anyway no point in leaving it at a maybe.

[ViewerAnon]

CASINO ROYALE's a hell of an experience after watching NTTD. We witness the death of every major character by the end of Craig's run!

[Cap]

TBH, I feel like the movie goes off the rails after Felix dies.  It was cruising and then just... stalls out.

 

My mind spent a lot of time wandering elsewhere.  I always want to talk to that critic who was like "This is a Live Action Archer Movie" and ask them what Archer show they watched.

 

The Pros: 

• Daniel Craig is fucking fantastic.  Nostalgia wins out and Pierce Bronson will always be My Bond, but DAMN is Craig just GREAT in this role.
• Production looks stunning.  Great locations, great cars, great looking women, great lighting and set design.  Everything in the film was just SOOO pretty.

The Cons:

• Oh My God, it's so effing long I needed a pee break.

The Choices:

• Lynch is WAAASTED Like to the point that I was kind of like this is terrible.  She’s playing the new 007, and her gimmick is that she’s just upset that James is there to like take Her spot back, and they spend a lot of the movie kind of antagonistic to each other. It just kind of is weird vibes.  It's like she's just there to be a party pooper.  It's that type of feminism where we need to treat Women like they are super serious and take their job super seriously and because of that they’re super competent.  Which is normally great.  But this is James Bond.  C'mon.  Let her drink some martinis and seduce some laaaadies while she's being super competent.
   
• Billy M was WAAAAASTED.  You could have totally cut Rami, who was AWFUL, and let Billy ham it up more.  It probably could've saved you like 15 minutes too.
   
• I would politely request anyone who was upset that Marvel hacked up the Flag Smasher storyline in TFATWS because it was too like COVID, to maaaybe rethink that position after watching this.  Because it was super weird to watch a movie about a virus that was manufactured by some government lab as a weapon to eradicate like half of the fucking planet.  I was like I am sure I would’ve really liked this movie before COVID, but right now I’m just kind of uncomfortable!! 
   
• I don't think I really bought into the whole "finds the true love and DIIIIIES" angle.  I was like, Okay, sure.  Craig murdered that scene tho. I was getting all the FEELS even though I was thinking "why am I getting the feels?" [Insert Patrick Stewart ACTING.gif]
   
• I think killing him was Choice, and I was like is this necessary?  You're just recasting him?  So is this universe gone and you're gonna do a new James Bond universe and none of this is gonna matter?  I guess.

These are neither pros or cons, really, just more Observations and "Well, That Was A Choice" vibes.  Just stuff that didn't quite click me with in the moment I was watching it.

 

Ultimately, I thought the movie was good.  Not great, not bad.  Just good.  (And sometimes good is good enough.)

[dudalb]

in the later   Fleming novels, a constant theme is that Bond knows very well he is living on borrowed time,he has already far esceeded  the life expentecny for the Double 00 section and the chances of him living to retirement age are almost nil.Bond constantly thinks and talks about this.,once saying he goal is to die with as little left in his bank account as possible. The films have really passed over this aspect of Bond's charecter.

But looks as if the law of averages finally catches up with him.

Seeing the film tonight.

I wonder if Brocolli and Wilson want to have a totally clean slate for the next James Bond,since a total reboot worked well for them with the Craig Bonds.

[dudalb]

18 hours ago, Cap said:

TBH, I feel like the movie goes off the rails after Felix dies.  It was cruising and then just... stalls out.

 

My mind spent a lot of time wandering elsewhere.  I always want to talk to that critic who was like "This is a Live Action Archer Movie" and ask them what Archer show they watched.

 

The Pros: 

• Daniel Craig is fucking fantastic.  Nostalgia wins out and Pierce Bronson will always be My Bond, but DAMN is Craig just GREAT in this role.
• Production looks stunning.  Great locations, great cars, great looking women, great lighting and set design.  Everything in the film was just SOOO pretty.

The Cons:

• Oh My God, it's so effing long I needed a pee break.

The Choices:

• Lynch is WAAASTED Like to the point that I was kind of like this is terrible.  She’s playing the new 007, and her gimmick is that she’s just upset that James is there to like take Her spot back, and they spend a lot of the movie kind of antagonistic to each other. It just kind of is weird vibes.  It's like she's just there to be a party pooper.  It's that type of feminism where we need to treat Women like they are super serious and take their job super seriously and because of that they’re super competent.  Which is normally great.  But this is James Bond.  C'mon.  Let her drink some martinis and seduce some laaaadies while she's being super competent.
   
• Billy M was WAAAAASTED.  You could have totally cut Rami, who was AWFUL, and let Billy ham it up more.  It probably could've saved you like 15 minutes too.
   
• I would politely request anyone who was upset that Marvel hacked up the Flag Smasher storyline in TFATWS because it was too like COVID, to maaaybe rethink that position after watching this.  Because it was super weird to watch a movie about a virus that was manufactured by some government lab as a weapon to eradicate like half of the fucking planet.  I was like I am sure I would’ve really liked this movie before COVID, but right now I’m just kind of uncomfortable!! 
   
• I don't think I really bought into the whole "finds the true love and DIIIIIES" angle.  I was like, Okay, sure.  Craig murdered that scene tho. I was getting all the FEELS even though I was thinking "why am I getting the feels?" [Insert Patrick Stewart ACTING.gif]
   
• I think killing him was Choice, and I was like is this necessary?  You're just recasting him?  So is this universe gone and you're gonna do a new James Bond universe and none of this is gonna matter?  I guess.

These are neither pros or cons, really, just more Observations and "Well, That Was A Choice" vibes.  Just stuff that didn't quite click me with in the moment I was watching it.

 

Ultimately, I thought the movie was good.  Not great, not bad.  Just good.  (And sometimes good is good enough.)

That is why they almost allways put intermissions into movies that ran over two and a half hours until the 1970's.

If fact I think The Godfather was the first major release with a  really long running time (two hours and fifty minutes) to go out without an Intermission. Coppola has revealed he did plan for an intermission in the film (the break happens right after Michael Kills Sollozo in the Restaurant) but the studio head decided against it, thinking without an intermission they could squeeze in a couple of more showings a day.

But I for one miss intermissions.and would like to see them come back.

As for"So is this universe gone and you're gonna do a new James Bond universe and none of this is gonna matter?  I guess."

that is what they did in Casino Royale. None of the previous Bond movies happened. Only hang voer was Judi Dench as M, and that was because seh was so damn good in the role rather then any implied continuity (Brocolli and Wilson make that clear in the commentary in the director edition of "Casino Royale"

 

 

Edited October 8, 2021 by dudalb

[DAJK]

This is probably my number one movie of 2021 so far. Thought it was really great. 

[Webslinger]

After an extra year-and-a-half build-up, No Time to Die proves to be worth the wait as a big, rousing swan song for Daniel Craig. After five films and fifteen years, Craig rounds out his tenure as James Bond with a highly ambitious and often highly entertaining affair that delivers the expected stellar action sequences while also taking some bold chances with its storytelling decisions. Director and co-writer Cary Joji Fukunaga ably balances the many plot threads at play in the film’s hefty 163-minute running time, and he does so while lending the quieter scenes a moodier, more contemplative edge than we typically see in an action-driven blockbuster. (On the other end of the emotional spectrum, Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s contributions to the script also make for a surprisingly funny Bond experience.) The film does run a bit too long and does not have quite the same verve as Skyfall or Casino Royale, but it’s often exciting and capitalizes on Craig’s strengths in the role. From the very start, Craig has played Bond in a manner that leans into the character’s vulnerability and hidden tenderness, and those qualities lend the proceedings the emotional weight Fukunaga is going for. With the knowledge that this outing is his last in the role, Craig succeeds in embodying the suave nature of James Bond while also selling the emotions entwined in the third act like a pro. The supporting cast boasts a big collection of actors who show up and make the most of their somewhat limited screen time (with so much story to get through, most of the supporting players outside of returning love interest Lea Seydoux – still effective in her disarming tenderness – don’t stick around for long), though Rami Malek is a little bit of a letdown in an underwritten and under-utilized villain role. The ending will certainly leave viewers with something to talk about, and without giving anything away, I thought it was a fitting and well-executed decision. More than a decade-and-a-half after Craig was first cast as James Bond, his run comes to a pretty stellar end here. Though the decision to lean on explicit continuity across his five films has made for some messiness and division of opinion among viewers, it pays off here by giving us a Bond film that succeeds not only as a deeply entertaining action film, but also as a satisfying conclusion to the journey of Craig’s iteration of the iconic character.

 

B+

[Menor the Destroyer]

Quite an enjoyable film until the ending, which leans too heavily on melodrama with Madeleine. Not a fan of the way Bond's death was handled. Still, Ana de Armas was great, I liked Lynch as well, and of course Craig owns the role as always. Villain was mediocre and his reasoning and plan seemed like they were either cut or nobody bothered to write a character beyond the bare backstory. 

 

B

Edited October 10, 2021 by Menor

[filmlover]

An exciting and effective conclusion to the Daniel Craig era of Bond. Billie Eilish's melancholic title song perfectly sets the tone for the rest of the movie, as Cary Joji Fukunaga proves capable of balancing human-based drama with thrilling action set pieces. And the bold climax, though threatening to lean too much into melodrama, works for the most part.

 

This is Craig's swan song in the role and, as always, he never misses a beat. This is arguably his best performance out of all his Bond adventures. He's also backed by a superb supporting cast with strong work from returning cast members (Lea Seydoux, in particular) and fresh faces in the Bond universe (Lashana Lynch, Ana de Armas). Unfortunately, Safin might be the weakest of all the enemies he faced, and Rami Malek (in what was his first major post-Oscar gig) gives a flat, wheezy performance that elicits an "lol nah bro" during all of his very few scenes. And what a criminal waste of Billy Magnussen. 

 

It's not nearly on the same level as Casino Royale or Skyfall and there are a couple of dull stretches (this certainly didn't need to be over 160 minutes long), but it's a solid and bittersweet curtain call for Craig that is worth the COVID-induced 18 month wait it had to endure and affirms his status as perhaps the definitive James Bond. Whoever succeeds him in the role in 5 years will have a lot to live up to.

 

B+

[IndustriousAngel]

ok ending for the Craig Bond series. Good action and acting. The plot and villains walk pretty close to the border of parodyland, crossing it sometimes (as was the case in most 007 movies; if you want realistic, get yourself a Le Carre) and I liked the nods to past movies (not only Craig's; the whole island setup at the finish was a nice modernisation of the set in You Only Live Twice for example).

 

Don't know if I'll feel the need to watch this again soon but those were three very entertaining hours