Monday Movie/Tuesday Trends: No time to Die by Keeley
Bond-No Time to Die – The end of an era by Keeley Craig (Sorry Keeley Lengthorn)
After the longest 18 month wait in living history, Daniel Craig’s much awaited comeback as 007 hit the big screen last week. It is with much sadness (tears and some mourning)that I review Daniel Craig‘S last outing as Bond.
So, how does No time to die fare compared to his previous 4 Bond films?
Well, I’ve seen it twice this weekend, so it can’t be bad! My first viewing was at the Selfridges cinema (review for this incoming) and the second time I saw it at my local Vue cinema.
Over the past 15 years, the Daniel Craig era has captured the nation’s heart and in particular the younger generation and made them love Bond the way that generations before have. This is certainly the case for me. My Dad and I have made it our tradition to go to the cinema together for every Daniel Craig Bond film.
Of course I can’t not comment on the fashion! Bond starts off, in what is for me a questionable combo, suit-wise with a quite unattractive blue shirt and maroon tie combo (the tie costing $227 from Alexander Olch!-Ouch). But what follows is epic. The tux, well no one can quite pull off a tux as well as Daniel Craig and then there’s the suits and my personal favourite, the tie pin, which is sophisticated and very stylish. No one pulls off a Saville Row suit like Daniel Craig. BUT the suits, despite the tradition are not Saville Row and have not been for some time. The lovely Tom Ford has produced the suits for Bond since Skyfall. Given the traditional London skyline throughout the Bond films it’s a pity there isn’t this British touch from Saville row and that we have had to call on our New York counterpart for this touch of Suit-ful-ness.
My faves, however, were the Barton Perreira sunglasses he sexily pulls off in the plane as he heads for the island! No Bond film would be complete without the famous Omega Watch. The one in this film being the The Omega Seamaster Diver 300M ‘007 Edition’ (at the bargain price of $13,075 ). I always wonder “do they get to keep the clothes/accessories?”
A big shout out from me goes to wardrobe and the skill involved in keeping the Cuban agent (Ana de Armas) sternly in her low cut, high slit dress ball gown, whilst kicking villains to the ground.
Bond necking drinks with the Cuban agent in her saucy dress and her joking that she’s only been in the job for three weeks was amusing but generally one thing missing in this film is Bond’s chemistry with his female counter parts. For instance, there were no flirty exchanges between him and Money-penny and I was secretly hoping for bit of a raunchy encounter with the Cuban field agent Paloma. Surprisingly, there’s no flirting with his new side kick Nomi (Lashana Lynch) either! Instead, we were left with him in a relationship with the beautiful but rather drab Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux). Not very Bond!
For those of you wondering if there’s a repeat of the image from Casino Royale where Daniel Craig leaves little to the imagination in his swimming shorts in the famous beach scene, there is one in No Time to die, where Daniel Craig manages to make brushing your teeth look sexy!
Bond is all about the villain and I love the fact we were treated to not only one villain in the fantastic Rami Malek, but there was also a welcome reappearance from the delectableBlofeld (Christoph Waltz), with Belmarsh prison getting a shoutout!
The Bond effects and gadgets didn’t let us down, with there being a few great ones to make me smile with wonderment. My favourites being the watch and the bullet proof Aston Martin with the spinning gun! I may request this from Nissan for my next car.
One criticism I have is that the film is confusing in places, but this may have just been me and matters became clearer on watching it a second time.
My dad’s favourite part was the references and nods toast Bond films most notably the reference (and song) to “we have all the time in the world” from Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
Without giving away any spoilers, have your tissues at the ready. With all of Ian Fleming’s books exhausted and Daniel Criag hanging up his watch and putting his Aston Martin well and truly to bed where does this leave us now? Who will be the next Bond? Will it be a woman? Is this the end of Bond as we know it? My hope is that this is not the end and that Q (Ben Whishaw) will make a comeback in whatever form Bond takes.
This is the longest James Bond film to date, its duration being 2 hours and 43 minutes but it is honestly worth every minute and you will be glued to your seats in what leads to a highly emotional and dramatic finale. I was certainly shaken and stirred!
So, as Daniel Craig takes his final bow as 007 and the curtain drops on what has been a remarkable era in the history of James Bond here are some thought on No time to Die from those who saw the film with me and other friends
“One of the best bond films I’ve seen… fantastically written and Craig was outstanding, a real cinematic masterpiece by Cary Fokunaga”
‘The best part of No Time to Die is Daniel Craig. In his last outing in the role he cements his position as, arguably, one of the top 2 Bonds ever. Whether he is first or second with Sean Connery is a matter of personal taste but he will be a VERY hard act to follow’
“Although the plot was more linear than other bond films, I felt on the edge of my seat for the whole film and it was a great experience on the big screen”
“A fitting end to the brilliant run for the Craig era”