We all began somewhere, did we not? For some who are close to me, but a few years older, it started significantly sooner. For example, when I once asked my uncle what his first James Bond experience on the big screen was, he told me that it was 1983’s “Octopussy.” Despite the two of us being just six year apart in age, it was not 1989’s “A Licence to Kill” that I saw first. Rather, some eight years later, it came to me in the form of “Tomorrow Never Dies.” Certainly, there are specific moments from that movie which stand out, but overall, it was not bad a horrible first time, nor was “Octopussy” for others, I am sure.
However, I did not really begin to devote significant energy to the 007 films until the mid-2000s. I was an undergrad in college and I was looking for new experiences with the time extra time I had to kill. No, it did not begin with 2006’s “Casino Royale (CR),” but I eventually made my way to it and from that point, there was no turning back. I had, indeed, become a full-fledged fan of the franchise.
While the Daniel Craig era started out with a bang and something of a reboot, it continued onward with the uninspired “Quantum of Solace (QOS)” and shot back upward with “Skyfall.” “Spectre” was not the same, steep decline as “QOS” was to “CR,” but it was still a bit of a drop off. So, after years of delay, where would that leave us? The 25th entry is called “No Time to Die (NTTD)” and if you think that you have seen enough of a departure from the James Bond predecessors, get ready to rethink that, completely…
The opening segment goes about how you would expect any Bond film to start, although the first couple of Craig’s movies did not start in the traditional fashion. 
Still, for this one, there was a slightly different variation: no blood dropping down over the gun barrel. This introductory sequence might be the lengthiest in the whole franchise, as well. It contained a couple of references to former 007 stories, most notably “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” but also “For Your Eyes Only.” Those two movies had a link, as well, so it kind of makes sense. Above all else, we are reintroduced to the romance between James Bond and Madeleine Swann, played again by Lea Seydoux (“Oh Mercy!”). The new adversarial muscle, Primo, played by Dali Benssalah, also makes an appearance. Trust me, he gets quite annoying and goes out satisfactorily. Insert a famous James Bond one-liner.
One thing that makes “NTTD” unique is its level of backstory for characters not named James Bond. Madeleine has a history that makes her who she is in the present day and it includes a deep, dark secret that not even 007 knows about, right off. It helps to tie her persona along with that of Bond. In other words, they are “two of a kind;” they “move as one.” Yes, that was a reference to another James Bond film.
Beyond all this, the backstory connects our new arch-villain; the classic, brainy villain, that is. Lyutsifer Safin, played by Rami Malek (“The Little Things”). If you like the classic villains of the 007 franchise, then he will suffice, but some might consider his performance bland. I did not, however. His dramatic delivery worked within the framework of the character he was trying to convey, in my view.
Pretty much all of the people you became familiar with in “Skyfall” and “Spectre” have returned to reprise their respective roles, including: 
Ben Whishaw (“Surge”) as Q, Naomie Harris (“Venom: Let There Be Carnage”) as Eve Moneypenny, Christoph Waltz (“Rifkin’s Festival”) as Ernst Stavro Blofeld and Ralph Fiennes (“Doolittle”) as M. Returning for the first time since “QOS” is Jeffrey Wright (“The Goldfinch”) as Fenix Lighter. I might add that Jeffrey Wright has set a new record for personal appearances playing this character. I think it is well-deserved, to be perfectly honest.
Probably the most interesting new character, at least for the side of the team of protagonists, is the new 00 agent, named Nomi, who is played by Lashana Lynch (“Captain Marvel”). I enjoyed her performance because there was no major maneuver to point out that she is a anything other than just whom she is in the role. That adds confidence to the character, which is just what the character should be. She got to drive a very cool car and I badly want those shades she was sporting while in that car, I do not mind saying.
Allow me to compare and contrast this era closer to the previous one, “Die Another Day (DAD).” This is a far superior film, simply put. Both movies made a special attempt to make references and pay homage to other films within the franchise, but this execution did not feel forced. The story had much greater depth without taking itself too seriously. When “DAD” was released, it felt as though the franchise had run out of ideas, which is probably why we got a total reboot a few years later. The grittier nature of Craig’s delivery, so reminiscent of that of Timothy Dalton is still preferential, but be aware that in the next rendition, we will likely get something campier and lighter. That might not be a bad thing. Sean Connery and Roger Moore did fine with that, after all.
Who knows when we will get the 26th installment? Lord knows we’ve had a slow and drag-it-out pace for several years now. I was not into the fandom back when the movies were churning out nearly every other year, but I can imagine that it would make a good fan feel very spoiled. Frankly, I am grateful that James Bond still lives on in our present day and is still slated to continue. Dare I say, I do not want things to change too dramatically, but even if they do, I will likely never lose interest in the character or the films, on the whole. I will always come back for more and I would expect that my fellow fans will, too. “No Time to Die” puts a very definitive marker on the backside of the Daniel Craig era. It was a good era and the future variants will have extremely large shoes to fill. I am ready to see that flesh out…
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga (“It”)
Screenwriters: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Music: Hans Zimmer (“Wonder Woman 1984”)
Starring: Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Lea Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, Billy Magnussen as Logan Ash, Ana de Armas as Paloma, David Dencik as Valdo Obruchev, Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner, Dali Benssalah as Primo and Lisa-Dorah Sonnet
Distributor: United Artists Releasing (North America) and Universal Pictures (International)
Release: September 30th, 2021 (UK) and October 8th, 2021 (US)
