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No Time to Die


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Not sure if there is a big love of the Bond films on here, but I’ve always been a big fan!

Me and the wife were at the cinema last Saturday to see the latest, and what a good film it was! Definitely one for the big screen and brought the Daniel Craig era to a close. 
 

He has been a great Bond, with only Quantum of Solace being the weaker link in the chain. Tough act to follow for the next chap to play him.

Think it’s released in the US a little later than here in the UK for some reason, but would definitely recommend it.

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I’m really keen to see it but still in lockdowns and cinemas don’t look like they’ll be opening anytime soon so probably won’t see it until next year.

But Craig has definitely been one of the best Bonds. I’d probably put Spectre lower than Solace but even the ‘bad’ Craig flicks are better than some of the good films from others, so good note for him to finish on. 

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Yeah, I know what you mean about Spectre, but I’ve come to like it more on recent rewatch. Still no higher than 4th place in the Daniel Craig list though!

This was out first trip to the cinema this year as things get back to normal(ish). I did manage to sneak in a trip in September 2020 to see Tenet in a screen with only 1 other person! So that was as safe as I could get I guess. Had to watch that one!

Having thought about it in the week, there are a couple of things I would have changed with No Time to Die (surrounding the bad guys), but that did not spoil it at all! Great fun!

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Was my first time in a movie theater since The Rise of Skywalker. Suffice to say it was a much more enjoyable experience. This is a great movie. Maybe just a shade below Casino Royale and Skyfall but just a shade. Craig has been a magnificent Bond, in fact I'd say the best. He gave us everything Bond we love but then so much more on top of it. Even the lesser of his movies, Quantum of Solace and Spectre, he is great in. The next guy has a tough act to follow. 

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Also my first theater movie since TROS.

Craig has been a great Bond, but I have found ALL of his entries over-bloated. I should never be bored during a Bond film, but with maybe the exception of Casino Royale, I haven’t loved any of them and they are all way over complicated and seriously drag from a solid hour of exposition in the middle.

This one had a few great bits, but the action was NOT up to par and there were so many potentially great moments that fell flat.

The villain had terrible dialog, the new 007 was wasted, and there were so many times I thought a cool moment was being set up only for it to never happened.

I think it’s the only Bond film made where the actor knew it was his last outing, which made for a little bit of unexpected fun— but not enough to save it for me.

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Ok, now I feel safer talking more on the plot as a few of you have seen it.

I loved it - didn’t feel it drag at all. My thoughts since watching it that I hinted at above are on the villain, Safin. He was much better realised in the opening flashback, and should have remained more of a henchman type character as on his return to the film in the “present day”, he didn’t contribute nearly enough.

This could have been primed for a great finish with Blofeld and Bond at the end. But that’s my only criticism. Thought Lea Seydoux was excellent.

He’s been a great Bond. Dalton was in this mold, but he just came along too early you might say. Licence to Kill is still my favourite Bond film though!

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Whats interesting is the impact of the increased serialization of the series has had on the Craig movies. I feel its been a bit of a double edged sword. It increases the stakes and has made Bond more of a human being but at the same time it's maybe taken a bit of fun out of it. When you watch the old Bonds the terrible things that happen have almost not effect on Bond. In Goldfinger that poor girl who helped Goldfinger cheat at cards dies for no reason other than Bond broke into the room and found her. She died simply because she met James Bond. It has little or no effect on him. 

Fast forward to now and I don't think you could make a movie where a young girl dies simply for her association with Bond and then it has such little effect on him. Then you couple in that its far more serialized and you end up with just a catalogue of horrors that he has dealt with. It can't help but make movies that are a bit less fun.

In another way I felt Quantum was just too much basically him seeking revenge for what happened in Casino Royale. Then in Spectre they try the old trick of Blofeld having pulled the strings of everything thats come before which almost never ever works (ie Rise of Skywalker). The serialization hurts those movies. However then at the end of No Time To Die it really does feel like the climax of a series in a way no other Bond ever has or even could. So it helped that movie big time.

Going forward in the age of Marvel its hard to think they can go back to the movies being more stand alone. Its just not what people want or expect. And although I love Casino Royale I hope whoever the next Bond is doesnt get an "origin story" but more or less drops us in mid career to give us a coupe just fun old school Bond movies before the weight of everything starts to weigh on him.

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Yes I agree Choc - spot on with what you are saying. 
The origin was brilliantly done in Casino Royale and we don’t need to revisit that so soon.  We had 20 films prior to that with 5 different Bonds and so I see no need to start again. Drop him in either wrapping up a previous mission pre-titles (Indy style) or a cheeky teaser for what’s to come which is the standard for Bond.

Maybe they go more with the stealth than the brute force of Craig as well? Be interesting to see who they cast, and whether any of the others stay on - M, Q, Moneypenny. I get the feeling we might see changes there from what Ben Whishaw has said in interviews, but Fiennes might stay on again.

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The problem with Bond is this-- while they made Craig's movies more serialized, they sort of botched what it was supposed to be about. It was intended with the first two to be all about resetting Bond to being young and dangerous and not as suave-- but then with the last few they suddenly decide4d to plkay up that he was old and a relic. Both are interesting angles, and I wished they'd stuck to one.

The other problem is, these movies have a very precise formula-- and it's the same one they have had for 50 years. The problem is-- you put everything a Bond film needs on paper, look at it, and you'd say-- holy crap this is so over-done and trite. ANOTHER madman that wants to take over/destroy the world? But on the flip side, if you DON'T make a James Bond movie with those things it would be a Bond movie.

They've really got themselves in a tight spot and if they knocked on my door tomorrow and asked me to pitch on a new Bond I'd be sweating bullets.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Just rented this last night. I liked all the call backs to Bond history, but the CG Stunts need more work as they were glaring. Bond on a motorcycle was particularly bad. The middle of the film also dragged (which, as Tank has said, is a weird reoccurring issue for Craig’s films) and I feel as if most of the surprises were telegraphed way too early. Solid performances throughout however. I really enjoyed Mr Robot as a Dr No, fantastic mask design too. I think that mask could become a cult favorite.

Overall I think that Craig’s films are probably the most consistent: whether in story, quality, or audience enjoyment (which is all subjective, duh). I think Pierce’s films as a package are probably next using that criteria, then Dalton. What I mean here is these Bonds feel I dunno aware throughout their stories. As a viewer you sorta feel as tho you saw an arc or something, and even tho the films individually have pacing issues or whatever, they fit like a set not just because of one actor as Bond.

However I totally think that there are gems throughout the entire franchise. I will always make time for From Russia with Love, and The Spy Who Loved Me.

As for what happens now, I think the franchise might need to blow up its cast, figuratively obviously. I think not just a new Bond, but an M, Moneypenny, and Q etc etc should all probably happen.

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