No Time to Die

The enormous runtime hides one feature-length Bond film, which has great action, works on an emotional level and contains a passage that ranks among the best ever (not only) from the Craig era. The snag is that there's another feature-length Bond film in that runtime, tedious, full of wadding and lame line closures after Mendes, with a dime-a-dozen villain and no hints that lead to anything substantial. A solid farewell, but not memorable. It is absolutely true that less would be more. A lot more. (30/09/2021)

A fitting and remarkable end to Daniel Craig’s era as James Bond — something the franchise has never quite seen before. It’s both epic and deeply personal, with action sequences that are nothing short of flawless. By the end, I even found myself tearing up — a rare occurrence for me. I’ll admit, at first, I wasn’t sure what to make of Rami Malek’s villain, but as the story unfolded, through stunning set pieces in Italy, Cuba, and Norway, it all started to click. The film’s conclusion hit me so hard that I couldn’t stop thinking about Bond for days. There’s no point in saying more until you’ve seen it yourself, but if you’re a fan of Craig’s Bond, you’re in for a treat. Also, Ana de Armas was an unexpected highlight — her role was an absolute scene-stealer. (14/10/2021)

The days of going to see Bond for the explosions, gadgets and cleavage are definitely over. Daniel Craig has taken Bond to a time when protagonists bleed, feel and have a finite amount of time. No Time to Die beautifully concludes the arc begun by Casino Royale and, despite a chaotic villain, delivers exactly what I expected: a surprisingly intimate and moving finale for the best Bond of all time, Daniel Craig (29/09/2021)

This time the Broccoli party played nicely on emotions. And in the role of Bond, Craig tried out the broadest range of inner developments and facial expressions not only of his five appearances in the franchise, but all of the Bond films. As an emotional viewer, I was thoroughly moved. The relationship with Léa Seydoux was nicely deepened. But what about the faulty logic in the main villain’s (Malek) motivation and behavior and the other ill-conceived things? Is it so difficult to polish the screenplay of a much-anticipated, worldwide mega-film also in this respect? A repeat viewing of Spectre the day before was helpful, and No Time to Die follows directly from it. Zimmer is excellent in the suspenseful scenes, particularly in the encounter with Blofeld (Waltz). (29/09/2021)

No time to Breath! If I was an army general, I'd mobilize my entire army of fans and make a mandatory trip to the cinema with everyone. What an exquisite film. I'll freely admit that Bond films have never been my cup of tea, they never earned a star studded full house from me, I’ve always preferred tom Cruise with his Mission Impossible, but once Sam Mendes wass deposed and replaced by Cary Joji Fukunaga, the film took on a completely different dimension, and for me No Time to Die is the best Bond film ever, I can't imagine it could have been done better. Everything here works as perfectly as a Swiss watch and, after three hours in the cinema, I said to myself I want another hour because it's a hell of a ride. From the opening the film rushes from one action scene to the next; PG-13 action, admittedly, but this time I’ll turn a blind eye. Daniel Craig is literally diabolical (the guy deserves an Oscar), Rami Malek and Christoph Waltz are a double villain feature, Ana de Armas doesn’t have much space, but even for that moment she managed to fully grab my attention. The whole story raced incredibly forward, you could tell this was the finale and every single shot and moment was delivered with utter precision and excellence. I hadn’t held my breath for so long as I did here during the dialogue exchanges (maybe the last time was with The Dark Knight), and this is coming from someone who practically can't do without gore. Hans Zimmer’s score once again game me goosebumps. There’s an hour long action opening, an hour long action finale, I couldn't have asked for more. The ending of the film is downright heartbreaking though. The New Bond film put me on the edge of my seat at the end and kept pulling until the final credits. Tears were flowing and the packed cinema hall was blown into space as I was, otherwise I can't explain that three-hour long silence. Together with Suicide Squad 2 the film of the year for me. Story 5/5, Action 5/5, Humour 2/5, Violence 1/5, Fun 5/5 Music 5/5, Visuals 5/5, Atmosphere 5/5, Tension 5/5, Emotion 5/5, Actors 5/5. 10/10. (02/10/2021)