A franchise that has gone on as long as James Bond will definitely have divots and changes throughout each incarnation, but No Time to Die felt like a different monster from its trailer and advertising because it was making such a strong deal about this being Daniel Craig’s last film (something that wasn’t usually spelled out as heavily when other Bonds were recast). Considering Craig’s line-up has been the most recent and tied themselves together more cohesively, they’ve left a strong impression on the public. Skyfall and Casino Royale proved the strengths and unique aspects that came with Craig’s portrayal, while Quantum of Solace and Spectre proved to be pretty underwhelming entries, so this final one (along with all the build up behind it) had some big shoes to fill and people were anticipating what kind of movie it would turn out to be, the end results were something mixed in between. After escaping a near death experience (which is nothing new at this point), James Bond (played by Daniel Craig) is called back into the action of MI6 espionage when Lyutsifer Safin (played by Rami Malek) steals a bio-weapon containing nanobots that infect people like a virus and has the potential to wipe out anyone with a piece of their DNA. With the risk of Safin turning this weapon on the entire world, Bond is called back into duty once again. Returning to find that his title has been taken over by new agent 007 Nomi (played by Lashana Lynch) and that his ex-lover, Madeline (played by Léa Seydoux) has returned and has a past connection with Safin, things get even more complicated when Bond discovers Madeline gave birth to their child and that has put them in danger of Safin’s gaze. Bond will have to complete this mission and stop Safin before he uses the bio-weapon or does something to his new family. As the climatic film for the Daniel Craig Bond films, this one goes out on an unbalanced, but overall decent note.

Considering that this set of films basically lost source material to base itself on, it had to divulge into its own material , which led it down story avenues that might not be as tightly knit as other Bond tales. Thankfully, since these five movies are connected, it offers a sense of continuity that the others film hadn’t really tackled before, and it takes advantage of that with a continued cast of characters and themes, while still featuring the almost episodic nature of villains and world-ending threats. As a conclusive film, it feels like its making an attempt to wrap up previous plot points and tie up loose ends that would have needed decent resolutions. However, the handling of the plot and tone for the film is a bit of a mess. The director of this film is Cary Joji Fukunaga (who gained success from projects like the 2009 Mexican film, Sin nombre, Beasts of No Nation, and the HBO series, True Detective) and he proves to be a pretty solid director; the actors have great timing and chemistry off of each other, the visuals are detailed and well laid out, and several scenes work well within a vacuum. However, the movie’s narrative is strangely told, the script written by him (along with co-writers Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Phoebe-Waller Bridge) doesn’t wrap up this connective arc in a very fulfilling way, its oddly complicated despite the basic premise and it’s presented in a confusing non-clear format which makes it pretty awkward to watch and it doesn’t flow as nicely as previous films (in or out of this Craig section). The film’s tone is also a bit mixed; this one features elements and an atmosphere akin to one of the early Bond films (with the main threat essentially being a ‘Midas touch’ McGuffin, except with nano tech), but this line-up of films’ more grounded environment doesn’t really match as well with this ‘comic-book world’ type of atmosphere. It can be fun and enjoyable in that sense, but in terms of consistency, its not as effective.

This comic book like environment factors into how the characters operate, and the story issues flowed into them negatively as well. On the plus side, all the returning characters as well as some of the newer faces introduced are likeable, carry that enjoyable Bond charm while still feeling realistic, and everybody is very well acted, maybe even moreso than in previous films. Daniel Craig as Bond has always suffered a bizarre issue with having a fantastic and complex story set-up for his role, yet is a character that lacks strong personality to back it up, leaving him as a hollow slate in a pretty complex narrative. While the filmmakers have found good ways around this by making the plot more engaging than the character himself, here the confused plot makes his flaws even worse, because it’s a narrative that feels like it shouldn’t feature him. Despite being his conclusive film, nothing is developed from this experience and the entire plot doesn’t even have anything to do with him (honestly having more connection with his girlfriend than himself). Craig actually does pretty good here, but he feels completely redundant in his last film. The villain is also really weak in this; Rami Malek does his best to give this role presence and intimidation, but his unclear motives, bland personality, silly appearance, and lack of screen time makes him pretty forgettable. The newer characters introduced, mainly Lashana Lynch and Ana de Armas, don’t have too much screen time and therefore aren’t given allowed to develop much character and presence. They are acted well but feel like underutilized roles.

From a technical level, this is a very nice looking and sounding movie. Even in comparison to the other films, they all have their specific attributes that come from their chosen directors and crews that give them a specific style and look (Skyfall is obsessed with the color blue just as Spectre was obsessed with the color orange), but here, the film honestly has a shine and clearness to it that makes it look pretty fantastic. There are some glorious shots throughout this film done by cinematographer Linus Sandgren that really shows off the presence and scale of a lot of the environments. The musical score, along with the opening song done by Billie Eilish, definitely adopts a more melancholic stance as opposed to the more gun-flying fast-paced action score, but it definitely fits the mood and tone this film seems to be going for. A majority of the action sadly isn’t anything that special from a filming or even choreography standpoint, but it doesn’t hinder the film as it doesn’t put too much of a focus on it.  Its heavier focus on plot and exposition stretches the film out to an almost three-hour length, and while its not too much of an issue on the first viewing, other future re-watches with obtained knowledge may not keep people around for long.

As a closer to a Bond that goes out on a more daring note than others (without going into spoilers, it does make it clear that this will be the final one with Craig), No Time to Die is a perfectly solid watch for a Bond fan and closes this series of films off in a messy, but otherwise still entertaining manner. It goes to show how talented people behind and in front of the camera can make an otherwise less than great plot more enjoyable through good directing and acting, as the characters are still enjoyable (both old and new) and the technicals of the film honestly make it feel more climatic than it otherwise would have without them. For the Craig Bond films, its nowhere near as great as the two tops, but at the same time its nowhere near the lowest point either, it’s a middle of the road experience. Check it out and decide for yourself if this Bond went out on a high note.

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