Film Review: In "No Time to Die", Daniel Craig’s grand finale ends with a bang, but somehow the whimper is louder
No Time to Die marks Daniel Craig’s final go at James Bond, the debonair British MI6 agent with a licence to kill. If it’s true that previous Bonds were all machines of traditional masculinity - cool, competent, virile - then Craig’s run will have been about the slow deconstruction of that machine. Whether that’s a plus or a minus will, I suspect, greatly influence how you feel about No Time to Die. Personally, I don’t care for it. Or at least, after 15 years and 5 entries, I don’t really care for it anymore.
See, Craig’s Bond has been just a man all along; if it’s not his heart that’s breaking (‘Casino Royale’, ‘Quantum of Solace’) then it’s his body (Skyfall). And finally, well...let’s just say it’s doubtful you’ll be leaving ‘No Time to Die’ in the best of spirits.
Director Cary Fukanaga’s ‘No Time to Die’, despite being a vibrant adventure film filled with all the extravagant action one could hope for, maddeningly opts to keep its star in the grip of dourness. Rami Malek and Christoph Waltz as villains Safin and Blofeld seem highly attuned to the ridiculous frequency of the plot (a convoluted plot revolving around a fatal bio-weapon that targets specific DNA), as does Ana de Armas in her brief turn as an over-eager young agent.
Speaking of Ana de Armas, it’s really not an exaggeration to say that she steals the show. It’s the stuff of pure delight - for that time you’re reminded of what pulpy fun feels like - and I wished the movie played more on that level.
However, too often we’re pulled kicking and screaming into the tragic drama of Bond and his problems with Madeline Swan (Lea Seydoux). Seydoux is a fine actress, Craig is a fine actor. Yet somehow when they are intimate it is the most unbelievable thing in a movie about a DNA hacking virus. Unfortunately, their love story is the core of ‘No Time to Die’, and if the core is weak...then the competent supporting cast and well-staged action can only offer up so much.
If a movie could be beautifully made but still underwhelming, then it would have to be ‘No Time to Die’.