When you try a Bond film, you know you’re in for some gun-blazing and car-chasing action, along with some witty remarks and dialogues between Bond and his co-workers and adversaries. What you don’t get are slices of drama since Daniel Craig’s version got a ton of them, indulging us with a different flair than what the 007 franchise was known for before Casino Royale made its debut, and certainly did not disappoint with its fifth installment—No Time To Die.
Are you watching this for the first time though? No worries. You can try it, even though this is a sequel to Casino Royale and Spectre. Regardless, the movie does explain tidbits, enough to get you along with the story’s nuance if you decide to hop into the movie theater with no time for the previous ones.
Looking back to the days of Sean Connery’s version, this series played an important role in showing the human side of James—a unique approach, something that is unprecedented. Perhaps the critique it received from doing so makes sense since Bond should feel invincible according to how the world around 007 used to be back in the days.
However, Craig did a fantastic job portraying the brutal emotions while keeping his conversations piquant enough that got the story going. We have seen Bond exercising his license to kill in one scene while letting out a witty remark in the next. However, Craig plays out his stoniness on his enemies, showing he’s Bond, while when the lights are off him, he goes back to being the heartbroken and frustrated human being that got sick of all the lying and bullshit he has been under while protecting his country at the most dangerous level.
Interesting is seeing Bond breaking down while keeping his guard on and off, composure as quieted down while thinking about his past choices. After all, James Bond, with all his talent and sophistication, is a human. You can relate to some of it – which is crazy enough to make you think that it is happening to James Bond.
Perhaps, as brutish as Craig appears, he also showed a remarkable amount of how a 00 agent can go through when battling with arrays of betrayal from people whom he trusts the most.
It shows that an agent can hardly have a peaceful life with everything they go through. Even after retirement, peace is a rare commodity.
Although Rami Malek’s character ‘Safin’ puts his genius on the surface, the antagonist lacked depth and sounded relatively soft, especially when compared to how villains in typical Bond films appear. Also, that this is the last movie of this series, it could have done better.
Impression
Although not a regular premiere watcher myself, and preferred the comfort of my home, I could not resist but to chance to see this out in the theaters. You’ll find a drama-induced action film, which is natural considering you saw the other ones.
I was going through a web of different scenarios this film could have finished with instead of how cliched it ended up being. Perhaps it would have had more grace. Despite all that, this movie is surely an 8/10 for taking on the challenging task of showing a machine that can also be human.
Image Credit: Nicola Dove/MGM