No Time To Die is a good movie, but does too much messing around with the James Bond formula

As a lifelong fan of the James Bond franchise, I’ve been waiting for what feels like a decade for No Time To Die thanks to all of the multiple delays caused by society’s response to COVID. I finally got the chance to see it this past weekend. I’m going to start with a spoiler-free review, and then move into talking about spoilers after providing a clear warning, so don’t worry about accidentally getting spoiled in this review. Also, you really, really should see No Time To Die before you read any reviews of this film.

The film begins with a flashback to a traumatic event from Madeleine’s (Léa Seydoux) childhood. I guess the scene has some parallels to Melina Havelock’s parents being murdered in For Your Eyes Only, but otherwise feels somewhat out of place for a Bond film opener. It felt a bit like the opener from The Bourne Legacy actually. From there it cuts back to Bond and Madeleine right after the events of Spectre, trying to start a new life together. That’s interrupted when Spectre assassins try to kill Bond and he suspects that Madeleine might be involved. After the opening title sequence the film jumps five years in the future. Bond has been living alone in retirement, but is unexpectedly approached by his old friend, CIA agent Felix Lighter (Jeffrey Wright) who needs his help. He also makes the acquaintance of Nomi (Lashana Lynch) a female MI6 agent who now has the 007 designation. I’ll stop there with the plot recap to avoid spoilers for now.

First of all, No Time To Die is entirely too long at 2 hours and 43 minutes. It does feel like it’s well-paced, but sadly it also has a pretty convoluted plot. It feels like they crammed an entire TV season’s worth of content into a single movie.

To its credit it has some incredible action sequences. The sequence with the 1960’s Aston Martin DB5 near the beginning of the film is possibly one of the best action scenes in franchise history. Likewise there’s a chase sequence in the last third of the film that starts with a car chase and ends on foot that is very satisfying.

It’s also a gorgeous film as any James Bond film should be. Linus Sandgren, the cinematographer who lensed First Man (a movie I love) did a phenomenal job with No Time To Die.

This is oddly a film that often doesn’t feel at all like a Bond film, and clearly wants to break out of the Bond formula, while at the same time paying homage to the franchise’s past in a way that feels like a greatest hits album. That’s an odd coupling. There’s a sequence where we see portraits of the former Ms. Of course we get the aforementioned DB5 from Goldfinger and we also got the Aston Martin V8 from The Living Daylights, which is probably my all-time favorite Bond car. Most pointedly the Bond film that No Time To Die recalls the most is On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. That’s one you should watch anyway because it’s absolutely one of the best films in the franchise, but also because of how important it is to this film.

From a character/actor standpoint my biggest disappointment is with Rami Malek who plays the villain of the film. In many ways he feels like a throwback to classic Bond villains, most notably Dr. No. I can see why many suspected his character actually would be Dr. No. Malek’s quirky, over-the-top performance felt just too odd for me and out of this film’s tone.

Ok! Time for spoilers. If you haven’t seen No Time To Die, stop reading now and come back once you’ve seen it. You have been warned!

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No Time To Die will go down as the most controversial Bond film of all time. Some people are going to absolutely love what they did in the final act, and some won’t. I actually really like the Bond film template, and generally don’t like it when Bond films stray from it. Particularly when it feels like the filmmakers are bored with or don’t like the Bond template and want to go in a different direction. That’s something that has been a hallmark of the Daniel Craig era, and one reason why this is my least favorite run of Bond films. Personally, I want a Bond film, not a film made by and for people who don’t like Bond movies.

Another thing I think is worth explaining is that I think a Bond film has to be assessed along two major criteria: A) Is it a good film? B) Is it a good James Bond film? I think No Time To Die is a good film, but not a great one. Its biggest drawback is the convoluted, crowded plot. But the cinematography and action sequences are so good that it’s worth watching for those reasons alone.

To me it’s not a good Bond film though. I think James Bond should have an air of aloofness and mystery about his character. I don’t want to know anything about his backstory, and I don’t want to know what’s going on in his heart, beyond fleeting glimpses perhaps. I think it was a mistake to give Bond a daughter, and I think it was a mistake to kill him off. For some people those very things will make No Time To Die their favorite James Bond movie, but it’s not my cup of tea.

I did very much appreciate the direct homage to On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Both deal with suffering tragic, tragic loss. In the former film, Bond’s wife is murdered by Blofeld as the couple is driving away from their wedding. In the latter, Madeleine survives and Bond perishes. (Insert the clip of George Lucas saying, “It’s like poetry. It rhymes.) And I really liked the way Hans Zimmer worked “We Have All The Time In The World” into No Time To Die’s score and how he featured Louis Armstrong’s version at the end of the film. However, I like the jarring suddenness of the tragic ending of OHMSS better. You can see the ending of No Time To Die coming from a mile away. And it’s too much like the ending of Armageddon weirdly enough.

In addition to the decision to kill Bond off, it didn’t feel like Bond’s sacrifice was strictly necessary. Yes, he had to make sure the doors were open so that the missiles could destroy the base, but it felt that in part he died because he felt like he had nothing to live for. And indeed, the punishment inflicted on him by Malek’s villain was tragic. But it didn’t seem convincing to me that either the audience or Bond himself should have no hope that a cure could be found to the virus he carried. And even if a cure couldn’t be found, it strikes me that Bond’s daughter would be better served to have her father in her life, even if it had to be via FaceTime, than not having him present at all.

Frankly I’m glad to see the door close on the Daniel Craig era. I plan to do a piece in the near future looking back on his era of Bond films as a whole. So stay tuned to that to get a better handle on why this hasn’t been my favorite era of 007 movies.