Formula: Casino Royale + Quantum of Solace + Skyfall + Spectre
The Daniel Craig run as James Bond has been by far the most interesting. All the way through the Pierce Brosnan years, Bond remained pretty static. All the James Bond movies looked alike. He'd bed a couple ladies. He'd stop a criminal mastermind. He'd look cool doing it. Some installments were more effective than others, but the formula was largely unchanged since the 60s. Craig entered Bond with a mandate to make the franchise work for a new generation. Casino Royale ended up being an origin story and pulled from some of the Bourne elements of spy movies. Where most Bond movies exist out of time, Craig's movies were intensely serialized, sometimes picking up immediately after the previous movie. The sexual politics finally evolved somewhat. Bond had actual relationships with women lasting for more than one movie. Moneypenny got some autonomy. In No Time to Die, there's even a black female 00 agent (and - spoiler alert - she's not a double-agent!). Not all the movies were resounding successes, but the Daniel Craig era really proved that James Bond can last another 50 years if it wants, which wasn't as obvious where Pierce Brosnan left off*.
*That's not me blaming Brosnan. The Bond casting history is a useful benchman.
Unsurprisingly, No Time to Die picks up soon after Spectre. Bond (Craig) is still with Madeleine (Lea Seydoux) until a series of events leads to them splitting up and Bond retiring to Jamaica. The plot itself almost doesn't matter because it's a Bond film. However, this time, Rami Malek plays a man named Lyutsifer Safin who steal a weaponized virus. He has a personal connection that brings him into Bond's orbit and brings Bond out of retirement. If you're needing to know more than that, you might be watching the wrong movie. It couldn't hurt to remind yourself of what happened in Spectre before watching this, but even if you don't, it's not that hard to catch back up.
Daniel Craig is as reliable as ever in the lead role. His Bond remains as hyper-competent as ever, but he's not unflappable. That's the fun of this Bond: he can be shaken but not stirred*. Malek as the villain is a total whiff, and that's fine. Who was the villain in Tomorrow Never Dies? No one knows. As long as Malek looks rad and has a cool facility, that's all that matters. The big plus of this movie is the women. Lashana Lynch steps in as Bond's replacement after he retires, and she goes toe-to-toe with him as successfully as anyone. Ana de Armas is barely in the movie despite the marketing. And her scenes are only barely needed in the movie. If this was a TV show, I'd think they were setting up a backdoor pilot for an Ana de Armas project. She's really fun in her brief scenes. Lea Seydoux continues to have a big role; almost co-lead except for how late she reenters the film. It's kind of a shame this is the last Daniel Craig Bond movie, because they've built up this world nicely.
*Not, I don't fully know what I mean by that.
The movie is good fun. It's a fitting and somewhat unexpected way to end Craig's run. Director Cary Joji Fukunaga gets the look and feel of a Bond movie. Nothing looks cheap. I even like how he snuck in a continuous take a la his Emmy-winning True Detective episode. I do wish the movie was shorter. The Bond franchise isn't meant to feel epic, so 2h43m is too much. And it makes the standalone-ness of the Ana de Armas sequence stick out even more. Still, it's the end of Craig's tenure. They've done really well with this franchise, so I'll allow them a little indulgence. No Time to Die isn't as fresh as Casino Royale, and it isn't the technical achievement of Skyfall. It’s a very nice capper though.
Verdict: Weakly Recommend
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