Random Movie Review - 007: No Time to Die

 

Took ya long enough! I think it's fair to say that out of all the films to be delayed or affected by Covid, this one takes the cake as the biggest one. Delayed multiple times and causing cinemas to almost go out of business. But it's here now, and boy does it live up to expectations. Don't think I have ever seen any film franchise that isn't popular or well known, make it to film number 25. Marvel did it this year with the release of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (which I will review eventually) and now 007 does the same. So let's not waste any more time and get right to it:

The film begins with the iconic opening (which may make this film to be the only one of the Daniel Craig films to have that opening at the start) as we watch a young Madeleine Swann (reprised by Lea Seydoux) bear witness to the murder of her mother at the hands of terrorist Lyutsifer Safin (played by Rami Malek) and then escapes before he does the same to her. Back in the present, Bond (reprised for the last time by Daniel Craig) is with Swann in Italy following the capture of Ernst Stavro Blofeld (reprised by Christoph Waltz). Spectre agents ambush the two, which leaves Bond no choice but to cut ties with Swann. Five years go by and Bond has since retired from MI6, only to be bought back in when a bioweapon falls into the wrong hands in what could be his most deadly and challenging mission yet.

I gotta say, it may not be quite as good as Skyfall, but it manages to kick Spectre out of the water as being a better made film than that one. And despite it being primarily an action spy film, it got a mix of horror, comedy, drama, heartbreak and tons more within. Making this one of the best films of the overall franchise. It's also a bit of a tearjerker too at the end, even though we are probably going to get more films after this one. But yes, definitely worth the wait, surpasses my expectations and is just a fantastic Bond film that should've been released a bit sooner. 9/10