She immediately leaves a favorable impression and struts her stuff while operating heavy machinery with confidence. She plays Paloma, a CIA agent working in coordination with Bond, and the two of them wreak havoc across a Cuban neighborhood while wearing their finest evening wear. There is a delightful mid-movie set piece that deserves its own attention mainly because of how actress Ana de Armas (Knives Out, Blade Runner 2049) steals the show. Fukunaga understands this, and while the action might not be the best in the series, it is lovingly orchestrated and displayed. Let us enjoy watching the masters of action operate at their highest level. I appreciate that action directors have creatively gone more in a direction of longer takes, wider shots, and a conscious effort to showcase the ingenuity and skills of its action choreography. For an era that began by trying to adopt the Paul Greengrass-style of docu-drama edits popularized with the Bourne sequels, it's quite a welcomed change. Fukunaga (True Detective) frames the action in clear shots and clean edits so the audience is oriented with every shot and each patient edit point. The visual arrangements are noticeably several levels higher in quality, elegantly composed and lit to make each scene so pleasing to the eyes even before the information of the scene translates. I mean that not just in the exotic locales and scenic vistas but simply in its depiction of action. It's a remarkably beautiful looking movie. Nothing will likely rival the superb cinematography by the legendary Roger Deakins on Skyfall, but this movie gets as close as you can get. Director and co-screenwriter Cary Fukunaga, the second director ever given a writing credit for a Bond film, has crafted a beautiful movie with a real sense on how to showcase the majesty and suspense. Bond agrees especially once he realizes that Safn and his dangerous organization are targeting Madeleine, who has a big surprise of her own.Īs an action movie, I will argue that No Time to Die is better than 2012's Skyfall, the Bond film that is widely seen as the high point of Craig's tenure but one I find overrated. Bond is recruited by the newest 007 agent, Nomi (Lashana Lynch), to help MI-6 locate a kidnapped scientist with a powerful nanobot poison that can be genetically targeted to a specific person. Years later, Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek) is determined to take down the last vestiges of the Spectre organization, the same group responsible for murdering his family. Spectre agents have found him and Madeleine (Seydoux) and now Bond is forced to ship off his love for her safety. Does anyone really care that the villain is meant to be Blofeld who means next to nothing to audiences in this era? After watching all 160 minutes of the longest Bond on record, for an actor who has portrayed 007 for 15 years, I have to say that No Time to Die is a terrific action movie and a welcomed second chance at a sendoff for the modern era of Bond that has gone through great artistic rebirth.īond's cozy retirement is short-lived. I was wary of another Spectre-like entry, one that was tying back to the elements of decades-old for empty homage. And then the Bond producers wanted one more shot, or more likely one more lucrative franchise entry, to send an even older, battle-tested Craig on his way. It felt like the end, and it felt very much like everyone was just done and tired. I thought that 2015's Spectre was the swan song for Craig as it brought back a famous franchise villain Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) made the man Bond's secret half-brother, and it tried to explain how every bad thing that seemed to befall Bond was the machinations of an evil conspiracy, and then it literally ends with Bond driving into the sunset in his classic car with his girl (Lea Seydoux) by his side. I'll try and dance around significant spoilers but the movie by design is meant to serve as the capper to the Daniel Craig era filling out the world's favorite martini-drinking British secret agent. One cannot talk about No Time to Die without talking about finality. Rating: PG-13 (Sequences of Violence & Action|Brief Strong Language|Some Disturbing Images|Some Suggestive Material) The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. In No Time To Die, Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica.
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