NO TIME TO DIE

WE'VE BEEN EXPECTING YOU, MR. BOND.

Bond is back - And he's back bigger and bolder than ever.

We have waited a very long time for this film. Being the follow-up to SPECTRE (2015), No Time to Die was originally scheduled for release in November 2019.

However, production delays prompted an initial release date postponement and subsequently, a certain global pandemic occurred which put everything on hold.

It is a known fact that James Bond movies don't come around very often. Having already waited five years (since SPECTRE) only for the film to be postponed again four times made this Bond fan here as well as the entire fandom very anxious and frustrated.

The fact of the matter is that we made it. James Bond has indeed returned. So, is it any good?

The 25th film in the franchise picks up immediately where SPECTRE ended. In a nutshell, Bond has apprehended the leader of the titular terrorist organisation, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), and drives off into the sunset in his Aston Martin DB5 with Dr. Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux).

Structurally, No Time to Die is very different from most of the previous Bond films. There is a prologue at the start that is set at different periods of some of the characters' pasts, before the film catches up with our heroes five years later.

The last time a Bond film had this type of shift in time periods within a movie was 1995's GoldenEye, where the pre-titles sequence occurs nine years before the film's events.

The prologue and the entire pre-titles sequence had everything you could wish for in an action movie. It had great drama, intrigue, bucketloads of suspense, and some of the very best action set pieces not only in Bond's history, but in the entire action genre.

Personally, it is my favourite pre-titles sequence in the entire Bond canon - and that is extremely high praise because there have been some absolutely outstanding sequences.

One thing that is evident in this film right from the get-go is the film's focus on its characters and their arcs, especially Bond and Madeleine's.

A common criticism of SPECTRE was how forced the relationship between the pair was. Thankfully, the two characters are written far better this time around, and you actually believe that these two are very much in love with one another.

Considering how plagued this production was with issues as well as the number of writers that had to be roped in to fix the script (Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the director himself Cary Joji Fukunaga as well as the uncredited duo of Scott Z. Burns and Paul Haggis), the writing is surprisingly solid and cohesive for the most part.

More humour is injected into the writing which gives the movie a refreshingly light tone reminiscent of the Roger Moore Bond films without reaching those levels of cheesiness or camp. The writing also allows for Daniel Craig to deliver his most all-rounded portrayal of Bond yet, and you can tell that he's having fun with the role while absolutely nailing the action and dramatic/emotional scenes at the same time.

I think Daniel Craig deserves a lot of credit for his portrayal of Bond over these five films - mainly for the fact that he never repeats a performance. With previous actors, you realise that they grow into the role after a couple of movies before they plateau within their comfort zone. There is none of that with Daniel Craig.

He went from this raw and vulnerable new Double-O in Casino Royale (2006) to this multi-layered and conflicted veteran in Skyfall (2012). I reckon it's his best portrayal of Bond simply due to how much he's able to flex his acting chops in No Time to Die. There are even conversations on social media talking about a potential Oscar nomination.

The performances by the cast in general are all very good, and I feel that director Cary Fukunaga handled all the characters, no matter big or small (there are A LOT of characters in the film) very well in that they all had a decent amount of screen time and were able to tell enough of their own stories.

Some standouts include Léa Seydoux who returns as Bond's love interest Dr. Madeleine Swann and, to my surprise, Ralph Fiennes as M. The former brought a lot of heart and emotion to the character, which was sorely missing in the way Madeleine was written in SPECTRE. I also think the choice to include some scenes in the actor's native French helped her to deliver the terrific performance which she gave.

As for Ralph Fiennes, he brought more complexity to a character who seemed to always be quite simple in theory - He gives Bond his mission briefing or the odd bollocking every now and then, and communicates with the MI6 team [Q (Ben Whishaw), Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), Tanner (Rory Kinnear)], that's about it.

In this film, M has a slightly bigger role than I expected and the dramatic exchanges he has with multiple characters make for good tension.

A lot of the chatter about the film on social media has been about the character of Paloma, played by the absolutely stunning Ana de Armas - and rightfully so.

Paloma is an absolute delight that simply isn't in the film enough. She pops up to aid Bond on a mission in Cuba (it's a brilliant sequence), and the energy, bubbliness and badassery that she brings to the screen made her limited role so memorable.

Notice that I've yet to mention the film's main antagonist, Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek). That is because he's not really that impressive or interesting, which is a shame because Rami Malek is such a talented actor.

Sure, his character has his moments and some good scenes, but all it left me feeling was a bit underwhelmed and just craving a little bit more drama or menace. 

I guess the good news is that he ticks the basic boxes for a main antagonist, and there is enough there to make Bond and fellow Double-O agent Nomi's (Lashana Lynch) attempts to go up against his evil scheme feel earned.

Given, the mammoth 163-minute runtime does give that much needed breathing room for all this character development. To some, the runtime could be daunting prospect and maybe even a factor to avoid watching the movie.

However, the film is paced remarkably well. Not once did I feel that the movie was dragging at any point, and it was going along at a very good pace. In fact, I actually wanted a few more scenes or characters to have had an additional scene or two. I think the only thing that would tell you that the film is long is your bladder. Would definitely not recommend that large Coke Zero with your popcorn combo.

There are scenes in this film that have absolute peak-Bond moments. Moments where I couldn't help but sit there with my mouth grinning from ear to ear as Bond did something epic or Hans Zimmer's score kicks in with a really brassy or cool rendition of the James Bond theme.

There are also, however, scenes in the film that are not so great. While they are thankfully few and far between, some of these scenes would leave you a little shaken and stirred. I attribute this to the filmmakers and with some of their surprisingly bold choices made for the plot of this film. I have to give them credit for that because they know full well how well the "formula" works. To mess with it even in the slightest could offend the odd hardcore Bond fan.

I would say that the first two-thirds of the film make for an absolutely delightful Bond adventure. It is the final third that sort of polarises audiences - mainly the hardcore fans like myself. You either love it or hate it.

For me, I hated it on my first viewing but on my second, I was okay with it and even grew to like it a fair bit.

On to the technical side of things.

This film is absolutely gorgeous. The Director of Photography Linus Sandgren photographs the entire film exquisitely. It is probably the most beautifully shot film since the legendary Roger Deakins worked his magic on Skyfall - And Hoyte van Hoytema's work on SPECTRE wasn't too shabby either so you can imagine how well shot No Time to Die is.

This is also the first Bond film to have sequences shot with IMAX cameras, and having seen the film in IMAX, it really makes an incredible difference. Those IMAX scenes pop on the mega screen quite like nothing else, and gives an incredible richness and depth to the images. A must-watch in IMAX for those who are keen on the format.

The stunts and the action sequences in the film are all very well-choreographed and shot. It was also nice that the film started off with some terrific action during the pre-titles sequence and managed to maintain that level throughout.

All the hand-to-hand fights that occur are some of the most brutal I've seen in Bond. They are raw, gritty and scrappy. It is so refreshing after the relatively subdued fist fights of the past two films in the series.

Gone are the hopelessly chaotic shaky cam and hyper edits we got in Quantum of Solace (2008) when Bond tried a bit too hard to be Bourne. We now get some very steady takes that don't have a new cut every millisecond.

There was also this single, uncut take during a stairwell fight which was simply stunning in execution.

The sound design is incredible as well. I don't usually think about sound design all that much when I watch any movie but this film handles the sound particularly well. From the deafness and that high-pitched ringing in the ear you get from being near an explosion to the sounds of the guns firing and glass shattering, they do a great job on this.

The music by Hans Zimmer is pretty darn good for the most part. You can tell from the score that he's a big fan of classic Bond composer John Barry, but he also brings his trademark moodiness and melancholy in spades. He also manages to incorporate the equally moody and melancholic tune from the fantastic theme song by Billie Eilish into some of the score, which was something I've wanted in a Bond score for a very long time.

If there is one criticism I have about the score though, it's that it needed more use of the Bond theme in big and bombastic form, especially during heroic or, "Bond" moments.

All in all, No Time to Die is a fitting finale for an actor who has really given his all during his five-film tenure as the character of James Bond. 

The film is truly epic in scale, has some of the best action sequences in the franchise's history, and has a surprising amount of heart at the middle of its story.

As much as it is a James Bond film with all the usual tropes, it is also a movie about - believe it or not, love.

You will gasp, you will grin, you will laugh, and you may even cry.

... There's just no time to die...

I will see myself out now.

8/10.