by Deborah Lipp
The twenty-fifth official James Bond movie, No Time to Die, was originally scheduled for release in April, and was the first major movie to suffer delay due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is now scheduled for release on November 21st and a new trailer recently dropped.
How badly do we want to see it? Let’s break it down…
YES
- It’s a Bond movie! I know not all of you feel this way, so I won’t dwell on it, but I mean, it’s a Bond movie!
- The stunts look heart-stopping, the sets look gorgeous, and those costumes! What is that fab thing Lashana Lynch is wearing in the nightclub?
- Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s contribution to the script is bound to be sparkling.
- The core “MI6” cast of Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, and Rory Kinnear is as impressive a lineup as Bond has had since the 1960s. Add in the return of Jeffrey Wright as CIA agent Felix Leiter, and it’s just about perfect.
- The women this time out are pretty exciting: Ana de Armas was wonderful in Knives Out!, Léa Seydoux takes my breath away, and Lashana Lynch was stellar (see what I did there?) in Captain Marvel.
- The 1964 Aston-Martin DB5 using its gadgets gives me all the feels.
- This looks to be an actual “save the world” plot. The Bond movies haven’t had one of those since Moonraker in 1979.
- It’s Daniel Craig’s last (no really) Bond movie. Craig’s tenure has reshaped this franchise, and his work has elevated the character in unexpected ways. People who’ve stuck a microphone in his face as he’s still recovering from injuries incurred filming his most recent movie will find he’s always swearing off doing another, but now it’s definitely his last. His contract is up, and more importantly, he’s 52 years old. With three-to-five years between Bond films lately, he really has aged out. All the more reason to see his swan song in the role.
NO
- The film follows in Spectre’s footsteps in too many ways. For one thing, No Time to Die has the longest run-time of any Bond movie, a record previously held by Spectre, and one of the main complaints about the earlier movie is how bloated it was.
- Other Spectre sins being repeated are emphasizing continuity in the franchise (returning characters and plot points) and casting Christoph Waltz as Blofeld. Waltz is so wrong as Blofeld, and his prominent presence in the trailer suggests that no one on the production team regrets his casting.
MAYBE SO
- It’s possible that Rami Malek is amazing? I was less impressed by him as Freddie Mercury than the rest of the world was, so I’m withholding judgement.
- Ana de Armas is twenty years younger than Daniel Craig; Lashana Lynch nineteen years younger. This makes me a little uncomfortable.
- Ana de Armas’s action scenes in the trailer look unconvincing to my eyes.
CONCLUSION?
Who am I kidding? I race past “Bond enthusiast” and land comfortably on “obsessed.” I’d see No Time to Die if it was A View to a Kill. I’ll be there opening night, in a hazmat suit if needed. But this one looks promising. I suspect it could break down in the latter half, as Spectre did, but surely portions of it will be outstanding.
What say you?
SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION TIME:
The fully-revised, up-to-the-minute, new edition of my book The Ultimate James Bond Fan Book will be out in October, in advance of No Time to Die and in plenty of time for holiday gift-giving. I’ll announce it widely when advance sales are available. Meanwhile, follow me on Twitter and Instagram for the latest.