Gustaw Szymański

In October, agent 007 finally came back in “No Time to Die”. There hasn’t been a Bond movie since 2015 and the fact that it was the last adventure featuring Daniel Craig as the agent at Her Majesty’s secret service set the expectations high. This resulted in the miraculous rebirth of cinemas. Nothing, during the pandemic, has driven so many people to watch a movie, as opposed to inside of their houses. However, was this excitement justified, and did Daniel Craig go off in a way that will be remembered for many years? Unfortunately, not really. 

“No Time to Die ” is a direct continuation to 2015’s “Spectre”. It begins with James living a peaceful and happy life with his love from the previous movie, Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux). Of course, he has quit his job, for the I-don’t-know-which time and wants to move on from the past, forget about everything that’s happened. However, not only Bond has a dark past, and when Madeleine’s secrets are revealed, he again must put on a tuxedo and jump in an Aston Martin to save the world. This time he will be helped not only by fan-favorite Q (Ben Whishaw) and Miss Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) along with other well-known characters but also by many new faces. In my opinion, the best one was Nomi (Lashana Lynch), another 007. Because both agents have the same code-number, they compete and mock each other which is quite a fun dynamic to watch. On the other side, there is Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek) with his evil plot to destroy the world. This plan is one of many things that feel like they were taken from a superhero movie, which in my opinion contradicts what the previous Daniel Craig films have established.

“Casino Royale”, which I regard as one of the best installments in the franchise, presented 007 from a new perspective. The plot was more realistic, more down to earth, and feelings started to play a greater role. Craig’s James Bond was more human. He had his issues and expressed more emotions than in earlier movies. This attitude not only was present but also was more thoroughly explored in the next films, especially in “Skyfall”. In “No Time to Die”, I think that the director, Joji Fukunaga didn’t fully understand this formula, presented for the first time in “Casino Royale”. Although feelings played an even greater role here, they were paired with magnet bombs, mad scientists, and crazy plans to destroy the world. This contrast not only in many moments destroyed the viewer’s immersion, but also minimized the impact of emotions, on which this movie is based. Although it was quite fun to see 007 again fighting guys with cybernetic eyes using a watch with hundreds of hidden features, this wasn’t a favorable trade. 

Because of the earlier described approach to the plot, there is a lot of action, and I must admit that it was great. Every sequence was creative and stunningly shot. The fight scenes were intense, the chases thrilling and shootouts exciting. Also, as I mentioned, fans of explosive pens and jetpacks will be happy because gadgets made a grand comeback. Furthermore, Daniel Craig’s performance was one of his best. He has been stuck with the role of 007 for 15 years and, as expected, he got tired of it. You could especially feel that in “Spectre”. Here, maybe because he knew it was his last time playing Bond, he is far more engaged and plays with a ton of enthusiasm. You can see that he is just simply happier than in previous movies. 

There is one more important thing. In every great 007 movie, one of the most exciting things is the relationship between Bond and the villain. Scenes, where they are playing cards together or just simply talking over a martini, are in my opinion the core element of the series. They, in a great to watch way, explained the villain’s motives and his evil plans. This chemistry between Bond and the antagonist always increased the tension and gave viewers more reasons to want to see him lose. Here, even though the movie has more than 2 hours 30 minutes to develop this relation, there is no such thing. As a result, till today I am not sure what were Safin’s motives. He was just a bad guy who wanted to do bad things, which was disappointing, considering the talent of the actor who played him.

This movie concludes Daniel Craig’s agent 007 and its ending truly feels like a grand finale. However, a mediocre finale it was. Although the action was great and Craig’s performance was one of his best, this film didn’t capture the spirit of previous releases and had one of the worst villains in the whole franchise. I will fondly remember Daniel Craig’s Bond, just not for “No Time to Die”.