Daniel Craig makes his final outing as Bond memorable. The log-line says: “James Bond has left active service. His peace is short-lived when Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), an old friend from the CIA, turns up asking for help, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.” During a pandemic, a weapon that is a microscopic bio-rocket that can enter your bloodstream via the slightest contact with your skin is certainly timely. No wonder the studio pulled the $250 million-dollar film for 18 months. The ploy seems to have worked, as it grossed $56 million in 4,407 North American theaters this past weekend and was the fourth-best opening in the 25-film series history.
I’m not a particularly avid Bond fan—(although I am the target demographic, as the audience is primarily older)—but I really liked almost everything about this Bond epic. The cinematography and score (Hans Zimmer), including a Billie Eilish song that opens the film, are Top-Notch.
ACTING
Daniel Craig is great as Bond. He really seems to be doing all the fighting in the many fight sequences. The stunts are spectacular and, again, special mention should be made of the contribution to the mood and tone from Hans Zimmer’s score. Of course, there is also the Billie Eilish song at the beginning of the film, which will, no doubt, be remembered come Oscar-time.
The female lead, Lea Seydoux, while not as glamorous in appearance as previous “Bond girls,” was a good actress.
Lashana Lynch as a Black female 007 could have been omitted to shorten the film, and Ana De Armas’ appearance seemed sort of gratuitous, to me. If you added up the screentime of these two and remove them from the 2 hour and 43 minute run-time, the film would come down closer to what it should have been. This is a movie that should be seen on a big screen, as the cinematography in Norway and England and Jamaica and elsewhere is breathtaking, but the long run-time and other factors may well cause otherwise dedicated theater-goers to stream it at home when it is available. More’s the pity.
Rami Malek is weak as the villain and Christoph Waltz’s Hannibal-Lecter-like appearance was simply weird, but the main love story between Bond and the Bond girl makes up for a lot.
WRITING
Writers never get the credit they deserve. This film’s script is credited to Neil Purvis, Robert Wade, Director Cary Joji Fukunaga and Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag”). Here are some memorable lines:
(1) “There’s something I need to tell you.” (Lea Seydoux)
“I’ll bet there is.” (Daniel Craig)
(2) “We all have our secrets. We just didn’t get to yours yet.” (Daniel Craig)
(3) “Seems intelligence isn’t central any more” (re the blonde aide, Ashe, of Felix Leighter’s)
(4) “I gave up trusting pretty faces a long time ago.” (Daniel Craig)
(5) “You seem like a man who only has time to kill—nothing to live for.” (of Bond)
(6) (Felix Leighter after being shot by Ashe) “I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a feeling in my gut that Ashe may not be on our side.”
(7) (Bond to “M”) “Either the desk is getting bigger or you’re getting smaller.” (Followed by “Definitely not the desk.”)
(8) “I wanted to give you an empty world like the one you gave me.” (Rami Malek to Daniel Craig)
(9) “I wanted everything with you. I have loved you, and I will love you, and I do not regret a single moment of my life except putting you on that train.” (Bond to Madeleine).
(10) “Life is all about leaving something behind. We want to be told how to live and then die when we are not looking. We are built for oblivion.” (Bond)
(11) “We both eradicate people to make the world a better place.” (Rami Malek to Daniel Craig as Bond.)
(12) “I just showed someone your watch. It really blew their mind.” (Bond about the Cyclops device)
(13) “We are two heroes in a tragedy of our own making.” (Bond to Madeleine)
(14) “You made me do this. This was your choice.” (Rami Malek to Bond)
(15) “Our function is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.” (Bond)
As of Sunday, global grosses for “No Time to Die” were estimated to be over $313.3 million. The film cost $250 million to make and another $100 milliion to advertise, but it is on target. Said Head of Distribution for United Artists Releasing Erik Lomis, “It’s right where we thought it would be and right where tracking predicted it would be.”
One factor in the improvement at the box office is that 25% of movie-goers returned to theaters for the first time in 18 months this past weekend. Many audiences erupted in spontaneous applause at the end of the film; it’s definitely a crowd-pleaser.