In 1967, Sean Connery announced that after five films as 007, he was done with Bond. As a result, the franchise employed forgettable model George Lazenby in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Ironically, while Lazenby rates little more than an answer to a trivia question, the film itself wasn’t forgettable and instead added canon to the James Bond world, giving him a wife … and then a wife to mourn with the wistful proclamation, “We have all the time in the world.”
Fast forward a few decades: Daniel Craig assumed the role of James Bond in 2006 and the canon started anew as if Craig was the only Bond there has ever been. Casino Royale was not only Craig’s first Bond, the film essentially called itself a prequel with no knowledge of the films before it. The culmination of this idiocy came during Spectre when Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) taunts Bond with images of only people that have appeared in the Daniel Craig Bond films. Ok, so that’s how we’re going to play it, eh? Daniel Craig is the only Bond, eh?
So what happens in No Time to Die? Bond is roaring around scenic Mediterranean coastlines with Léa Seydoux, the woman he’s given up the spy game for. And he’s driving an Aston Martin DB5. In On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Bond’s wife dies while they’re touring in a 1969 Aston Martin DBS. And Daniel Craig is assuring Léa Seydoux they “have all the time in the world.”
You, know, as long as you’re gonna re-canon old Bond stuff, can you remake Moonraker; that one kinda sucked.
Bond is still Bond, of course, which means that however we imagine his steady monogamous relationship working out, it won’t. And, indeed , while visiting the grave of an ex, Bond is attacked setting up the film’s first big action sequence and ending the relationship between Bond and Madeline Swann (Seydoux) all in one fell swoop.
Ok, so that’s the girl. Now all we need for a Bond film is a megalomaniac and a mega-evil weapon. Check and check. and then some. Just about everything about No Time to Die is bigger; it’s like the Texas version of Bond films. For a partial remake of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, No Time to Die is nearly three hours long, gave us two-and-a-half megalomaniacs and even had a spare 007, Nomi (Lashana Lynch). You see, Bond might have retired, but the 00 system did not.
The weapon is biological, well … sort of biological. It’s a series of self-replicating DNA-sniffing nanobots that can essentially be programmed to kill anybody you can identify by DNA. Basically, these things can be used to kill anybody with a
specific genetic trait while ignoring those who do not have it. Yeah, that has “genocide” written all over it. As for villains, Blofeld appears from jail. While chained up, Waltz does his best Hannibal Lecter thing to taunt Bond; and while the true villain of the film is Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek), the guy who is actively farming the nanobots (seriously, how does that work?), there’s a fair case to be made that M (Ralph Fiennes) is the guy should be stopped. M invented the film’s weapon, you see, which makes it hard for reasonable people to imagine him as a good guy. When you’ve landed that post-life job interview, you might not want “invented a weapon that promoted genocide” on your résumé, dig?
So in some ways, this is standard Bond stuff, globetrotting, purging villains, and saving the world in a tux. On the other hand, Bond has heartache, there are more villains here than a Batman film, and somebody who isn’t James Bond actually gets a backstory…but before you worry that writer/director Cary Joji Fukanaga has gone soft, do note that Bond’s female replacement is relegated to babysitting during the film’s climax. Woohoo! Bond is still sexist! Awesome!
No Time to Die is a lot of film, but doesn’t feel like it. Not always, at least. I wouldn’t call it taut, exactly, but one can get lost if not paying attention. I’d still Casino Royale my favorite Daniel Craig Bond, but I think this is a close second. And there’s enough here to want the franchise to continue with new blood. Personally, I’d be more than happy to see a James Bond of color or female or LGBTQ or any combination of the above. Seriously, why not? Representation is important; we’ve already seen white guy Bond; let’s see something else.
Craig’s departure will create a Bond stir
Replacement? Not just any blondster
For the role can now feature
Any manner of creature
Personally, I’m rooting for Cookie Monster
Rated PG-13, 163 Minutes
Director: Cary Joji Fukanaga
Writer: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Cary Joji Fukanaga
Genre: Rethinking Bond canon
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People who have waited six years for a James Bond film
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People who can wait another six years
