Movies: No Time to Die

[alko]

Final trailer came out a few days ago:

 

[Hockeyfrilla]

Looks beautiful. The latest bond-flicks had some top tier DP's, Van Hoytema, Roger Deakins and now Linus Sandgren.

 

[Mrgnwllm]

I haven’t been this excited to see a film in years .

 

[Rabid Ranger]

It looks like they have gone back to the roots of what makes Bond great. Can't wait.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

Early reviews looking good.

 

[Jumptheshark]

I get the ending---but it made me sad

Spoiler

just happy they did not take the Nolan Batman route

 

[Jumptheshark]

I think having the pictures on the wall of all the actors who played M on the wall is a bit of foreshadowing. Not a spoiler but it was interesting to see the franchise address one fan theory

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

Really liked it. Not Casino Royale good, but still really good. Loved all the OHMSS throwbacks too

 

[Fantomas]

Maybe the worst Bond I've ever seen and I'm surprised people like it.

Bond is getting increasingly self-serious. There's no fun and barely any humour. Instead Bond cries crocodile tears over two women. I just wanted to see some good casual sex.

I felt so embarrassed for some of the actors, especially Lea Seydoux who tried her best to conjure up tears at the end like it was a rehearsal for Sophie's Choice. Are people really this emotional for this franchise?

The plot is overly convoluted. Was I supposed to re-watch the previous film to get who Blofeld is? They cart him out in the middle of the movie in a real suspenseful moment and I absolutely couldn't give a crap.

I hated the murky cinematography as well. After two really good set pieces to begin the film, this one looks dreary. I guess they're copying a trend?

Liked the opening scene (the flashback) and then the action setpiece on the bridge (the one you've seen a million times in trailers already). Everything after that sucked the big one.

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

Maybe the worst Bond I've ever seen and I'm surprised people like it.

Bond is getting increasingly self-serious. There's no fun and barely any humour. Instead Bond cries crocodile tears over two women. I just wanted to see some good casual sex.

I felt so embarrassed for some of the actors, especially Lea Seydoux who tried her best to conjure up tears at the end like it was a rehearsal for Sophie's Choice. Are people really this emotional for this franchise?

The plot is overly convoluted. Was I supposed to re-watch the previous film to get who Blofeld is? They cart him out in the middle of the movie in a real suspenseful moment and I absolutely couldn't give a crap.

I hated the murky cinematography as well. After two really good set pieces to begin the film, this one looks dreary. I guess they're copying a trend?

Liked the opening scene (the flashback) and then the action setpiece on the bridge (the one you've seen a million times in trailers already). Everything after that sucked the big one.

If that's the worst Bond you've ever seen than I'd be curious as to how many you've seen, lol. I don't disagree with a lot of what you said, but the Craig Bond movies almost have to be viewed as their own entity, and not as part of the Bond universe. There was a post-9/11 tonal shift in the 2000s towards edgier, more "realistic" storytelling, as evidenced by things like the later Harry Potter books and the Dark Knight series. Casino Royale was another byproduct of that, especially after how goofy things got towards the end of Brosnan's run, and the time was right for Bond to be more of a human and less of a superhero. That's been a running thread through all of the Craig Bond movies and I anticipated that things will boomerang back towards goofy fun with this next phase.

 

[Fantomas]

If that's the worst Bond you've ever seen than I'd be curious as to how many you've seen, lol. I don't disagree with a lot of what you said, but the Craig Bond movies almost have to be viewed as their own entity, and not as part of the Bond universe. There was a post-9/11 tonal shift in the 2000s towards edgier, more "realistic" storytelling, as evidenced by things like the later Harry Potter books and the Dark Knight series. Casino Royale was another byproduct of that, especially after how goofy things got towards the end of Brosnan's run, and the time was right for Bond to be more of a human and less of a superhero. That's been a running thread through all of the Craig Bond movies and I anticipated that things will boomerang back towards goofy fun with this next phase.

I know all this, I just don't like it. Generally speaking, big corporate franchises trying so hard to be dark and emotional is extremely cringe to me.

And I say this as someone who liked Casino Royale and Skyfall, which had a lot of colour and fun.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

? I felt there was actually a decent bit of humor thrown into this one.

Blofeld isn’t done the best in the newer movies, but any Bond fan would certainly know who he is. It’s not like he didn’t just show up in every movie in the 60’s/early 70’s anyway.

 

[Eisen]

Maybe the worst Bond I've ever seen and I'm surprised people like it.

Bond is getting increasingly self-serious. There's no fun and barely any humour. Instead Bond cries crocodile tears over two women. I just wanted to see some good casual sex.

I felt so embarrassed for some of the actors, especially Lea Seydoux who tried her best to conjure up tears at the end like it was a rehearsal for Sophie's Choice. Are people really this emotional for this franchise?

The plot is overly convoluted. Was I supposed to re-watch the previous film to get who Blofeld is? They cart him out in the middle of the movie in a real suspenseful moment and I absolutely couldn't give a crap.

I hated the murky cinematography as well. After two really good set pieces to begin the film, this one looks dreary. I guess they're copying a trend?

Liked the opening scene (the flashback) and then the action setpiece on the bridge (the one you've seen a million times in trailers already). Everything after that sucked the big one.

You didn't know who Blofeld is?

 

[Fantomas]

You didn't know who Blofeld is?

A bad guy?

Seriously though, I know he's a villain from old Bond movies whom they didn't develop well at all in this iteration.

 

[ManwithNoIdentity]

The reviews for this franchise has been so polarizing and seemingly all over the place

I’ve never been a huge fan but most of them were entertaining enough, still deciding whether to see this in theaters or wait it out. With HK coming out next week, I’ll probably wait this one out

 

[Mrgnwllm]

I really enjoyed it .
I rank the Craig bonds movies as

1. Casino Royale
2.No Time to Die
3.Skyfall
4. Quantum of Solace
5. Spectre

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

I really enjoyed it .
I rank the Craig bonds movies as

1. Casino Royale
2.No Time to Die
3.Skyfall
4. Quantum of Solace
5. Spectre

That’s probably how I’d rank them too, although I want to see NTTD again. I’m also one of the few who thinks Skyfall is overrated and Quantum is underrated (and I hated Quantum leaving the theatre).

 

[Osprey]

I was thinking of finally watching Spectre tonight. Now, I'm really looking forward to it. Thanks a lot, both of you.

 

[kook10]

Saw it tonight and quite liked it, but I really don't like Rami Malek. Thankfully he didn't have a massive amount of screen time.

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

Liked the opening scene (the flashback) and then the action setpiece on the bridge (the one you've seen a million times in trailers already). Everything after that sucked the big one

Surprised you didn't find any joy in the Cuba sequence. Ana de Armas was great and she and Craig had excellent chemistry. Almost felt like it was from a different movie (in a good way).

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

I really enjoyed it .
I rank the Craig bonds movies as

1. Casino Royale
2.No Time to Die
3.Skyfall
4. Quantum of Solace
5. Spectre

Saw Spectre for the first time last week. I'm one of the few, but I loved it. Haven't seen NTTD yet.

1. Casino Royale
2.Spectre
3.Skyfall
4. Quantum of Solace

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

Quantum is underrated (and I hated Quantum leaving the theatre).

Quantum is solid until they go to the desert compound. There's nothing compelling about desert compounds. I don't think it's a coincidence that's the same time when Spectre starts to fall apart as well.

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

My thoughts:

Only the 2nd theater movie I've seen since the beginning of the pandemic. Definitely a big screen movie, and I got my money's worth. It's good, but not without it's flaws.

There are plenty of excellent set pieces. The core cast is great. Lashanna Lynch sadly was underwhelming. Waltz hasn't settled into Blofeld. Rami Malek was expectedly underwhelming. Ana de Armas was a huge bright spot. She had excellent chemistry with Craig. If covid hadn't happened and this movie came out a few months after Knives Out as initially planned, no doubt she would be one of the biggest stars in the world. Lea Seydoux does great work, but her chemistry with Craig never gets close to the heights of him and Eva Green (or even de Armas), which is a problem since it's written as Bond's de facto romance.

My hope for the next Bond is that they drop the serialization and go back to standalone films. You definitely start to feel the weight of the history 2/3rds into this entry. It's just too much to handle from a screenwriting perspective.

I think the ending could've been handled differently. The route they went was executed as well as could've been, but I thought a different route could've yielded more profound results

 

[Stealth1616]

The writer of this Bond movie must have just watched Avengers Endgame based on that ending

 

[Cloned]

I thought it was pretty good up until the point where Bond decided he would go back and fight the entire ship to open the blast doors. To me it makes less sense than if Nomi were to go back to do that instead, and if Bond had stayed on the boat with his family.

I get the dramatic reasoning behind it, but it just makes the ending less fulfilling than it should be because of what ultimately happens.