Daniel Craig’s fifth and last outing as James Bond in No Time to Die has met mixed reviews from critics. Some loved it, some not so much. But going by what we’ve read online it seems most young fans loved it.
Here at Zip Movie Hub, we’re also in the ‘loved it’ camp. We thoroughly relished what director Cary Joji Fukunaga did with what is officially the 25th Bond movie* produced.
No Time to Die was smart, creative, and looked gorgeous on the big screen. It might be pure escapism, but for once, Craig had a storyline that served his take on his somewhat worn out, yet stoic and competent, version of Ian Fleming’s fictional British MI6 agent.
In this outing, Craig’s 007 gets the chance of redemption anchored along the lines of his having a family of sorts. In short, Bond gets his priorities right and puts his life on the line for something that, most would appreciate, really matters.
Sure, No Time to Die is not a perfect film (but hey has there ever been a perfect Bond movie?) and many points made by critical reviewers are valid, especially regarding some implausible parts of the script.
But given the visual scale of the film (and Hans Zimmer’s score) and the craft that went into making it — it was just an easy movie to get swept away with and even moved by, especially for those of us who’ve been starved of a big cinema experience courtesy of the pandemic.
You can check out a sampling of reviews for No Time to Die below. If you hover and click on the bold byline for the reviewer at the end of each snippet will take you to the whole review.
JUDGEMENT
“It remains to be seen what comes next after No Time to Die so comprehensively blows up the franchise formula. Whoever takes on the role after Craig has a very big bow tie to fill. But a new bar has been set for the series, with Craig going out in incendiary style. It may not be true anymore that nobody does it better, but Bond still does it pretty damn well.” Richard Trenholm, C-Net
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“With a feeble and maudlin coda, No Time to Die is a perfect match for singer Billie Eilish’s coma-inducing opening credit theme song. We get a lame villain, a tame love interest, little technical dodads, few fights and chases, and next to no wit — what a pity that this perennial franchise, one which provided so much joy to so many fans the world over, has been obliterated.” Michael Clark, The Epoch Times
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“Craig’s Bond, of course, has taken a beating over the years, as has the character’s reputation. In 2021, the womanizing, devil-may-care attitude of Sean Connery or Roger Moore’s Bond has been largely replaced by a more emotionally vulnerable, scarred 007, which Craig has portrayed with aplomb. It’s richened the character and deepened the potential of what these movies can be.” Cory Woodroof, Nashville Scene
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“When Casino Royale burst on the scene in 2006, it really changed the action landscape. The Bond mythology had grown stale — it was your father or even your grandfather’s franchise — and Daniel Craig gave it adrenaline. For something that once felt like it so deftly balanced the old of a timeless character with a new, richer style, perhaps the biggest knock against No Time to Die is that there’s nothing here that hasn’t been done better in one of the other Craig movies.” Brian Tallerico, rogerebert.com
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“The creators behind Craig’s Bond films have clearly clocked significant time on thinking about how to innovate the blockbuster, and how to reshape a historically fraught, hyper-masculine action star with so many sexist overtones built in. Their answer was always to increase his suffering, but with No Time To Die, that tactic not only rings false, it renders Bond into a cliché.” Beatrice Loayza, Polygon
Watch Chris Stuckmann’s review for No Time to Die below.
*Not counting the 1967 version of Casino Royale or 1983’s unofficial Never Say Never Again