No Time To Die
No Time To Die is an overlong spectacle with weak characters and a confusing plot
No Time To Die is the latest James Bond film, and the last one with Daniel Craig in the title role. Aware of this, it suffuses itself with a solemnity and finality that's lovely to behold. But aside from that, it's not very good. The action, the speed, the setpieces - most of the things that define Bond are missing, and the film's inability to be efficient makes it twenty minutes longer than it has to be.
The premise is two-pronged - Bond is convinced his girlfriend has betrayed him, and at the same time, a DNA weapon that could kill the world is stolen. Bond must recover the weapon before it's put into action, and at the same time resolve his relationship with his girlfriend.
Bond is as likable as ever - Craig delivers one-liners and stoic wit as well as anyone. The weapon itself is very interesting - meant to only affect certain individuals, it ought to reduce collateral damage by one hundred percent. The film's locations - from Cuba to London to the villain's tropical lair - are all suitably beautiful, awash in color and marble. And the action - when it happens - is coherent and impressive.
But aside from this, the film has serious problems, most of which come down to the girlfriend problem.
Craig's tenure as Bond was marked with a strong debut - Casino Royale featured him falling in love with the gorgeous Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) and then being betrayed by her and watching her die. The leads' performances and a strong script turned a run-of-the-mill character into a strong dramatic tale - the story of how James Bond becomes a heartless killer. But a later film was marred by Lynd's replacement - Madeline Swann (Lea Seydoux). After her debut film Spectre was critically savaged - the love story in particular being decried - you would think the filmmakers would make some course corrections. Lynd and Bond felt like two kindred spirits; closed-off professionals who connected instantly. Bond and Swan felt like a poorly forced romantic comedy, forcing Craig to act like the uncool person he most certainly isn't. The two's obvious age difference - Craig was forty-eight while she was thirty-one - only intensified this awkwardness.
The marketing for No Time To Die suggested that the two would be on the outs, or at least forced to reconcile their relationship in the face of a new struggle. But instead, the film deliberately avoids facing this, sending Swan away for about half the film, and then dodging the issue for its second half, and having it be the central dramatic tension! The last half desperately needs us to know that Bond is willing to risk it all for this woman, but the first half has us convinced that he'd drop her in a second if she bothered him. The actors do the best they can, but they can't act what isn't in the script.
Similarly, the rest of the film suffers from a weird amount of padding. We see the return of most every character from the Craig run, giving a kind of curtain call for this era. Hugs are given, farewells are said. But the main plot feels weirdly drawn out - saying in three scenes what could've been said in one. And the plot threads of the film - juggling previous films' and its own - feels pretty disjointed, characters flowing in and out of the narrative with little explanation as to who they are. While keen fans will understand who this next chap is, casual audiences are likely to feel locked out of the loop.
Furthermore, the film suffers from both explaining things too many times and not explaining others enough. The villain - played by Rami Malek - is appropriately menacing. But it's never explained how he got his island lair, or why he wants to destroy the world. A related backstory lends a certain amount of sympathy, but after the opening it's not really clear how he got here. Neither is it explained why he knows about Bond's history, or his enemies, or where everyone's going to be. Characters just go where they need to with little explanation as to why.
I musn't overlook the film's strengths. The moments of action - when they happen - are clearly thought-out. Sequences of hunting in the woods and fighting through a stairwell convince us of Bond's clear badassery. The film takes a gutsy approach to the Bond mythos, treating him like a person more than ever before. And its commitment to its storyline gives it a clearly memorable ending, a fitting end to the Daniel Craig era. But overall, it's a failure to measure up to the Craig era's highs. Lacking its signature wit, tension, character, and charm. And at two hours and forty-three minutes it is far longer than its content justifies.
No Time To Die debuts in theaters worldwide October 9
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