Film Critique || No Time To Die (contains spoilers for NTTD)
I like to watch movies. Here are my thoughts.
I once did a little project comparing Ian Fleming's infamous MI-6 operative to Leslie Charteris’ ‘The Saint’. It was a fun exploration of the Spy Genre and I came to see a lot of interesting connections between the stories of this genre. Spy stories are fun. They are filled with action and intrigue; cultural archetypes as solid as the statues in a museum and a dash of mystery to keep us interested. These spy characters often share many of the same characteristics; a certain embodiment of a very specific (an very often harmful) masculinity, a rogue-like sense of good and evil, often attempting to blur that line, a witty, dry humor and access to infinite resources to complete their ever-growing list of urgent missions.
James Bond is arguably the most famous spy in our literary and film lexicon. Spanning 27 films, 12 actors, 59 years and 14 books, James Bond is a name synonymous with international intrigue and spy craft. Most recently, actor Daniel Craig has taken on the titular, Martini-sipping agent in a series of five films that are all sequels to one another: Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, Specter and, most recently, No Time To Die. Which I watched last night.
I will start with the end; I have come realize I was never supposed to ‘like’ James Bond. He is not a hero in the sense that Luke Skywalker or Katniss Everdeen are heroes. Nor is he an anti-hero, similar to Walter White or Kylo Ren. Daniel Craig’s James Bond is a blunt instrument; as so eloquently described by “M” in Casino Royale. As I re-watched the films leading up to No Time To Die, I kept wanting to like Bond. I felt myself wanting to identify with him or root for him or feel sorry for him. Instead, and this is partly due to Craig’s intentionally personality-void portrayal of the spy, I felt apathy. Until I watched No Time to Die, I thought this apathy was a feature of bad filmmaking; of a movie that did not do a good job characterizing the ‘hero’ and connecting me to him. Perhaps this is due to how Marvel films have created this type of relationship over and over and over and I have been trained to expect this type of connection to the protagonist. Either way; as I watched No Time to Die and I saw a very different Bond, I began to realize that this character is not the hero I thought he was.
I would argue that the Bond in No Time to Die is much closer to a standard ‘hero’ character than in any of the previous films. He makes selfless choices. He has funny one-liners (I showed him your watch; it really blew his mind) and he saves everyone. This film felt much more like a standard ‘hero saves the day’ film than any previously; complete with the ultimate sacrifice and a laughable eulogy crammed into the end like a luggage rack attached to the roof of aa Aston Martin. I was disappointed that the bigger, over-arching themes and stories did not pay off in this film. Specter became a silly joke. Blofeld reduced to a cackling puppet-master with a bionic eye (lol). Vesper Lynd literally blown up and forgotten after the first 10 minutes. And the villain in this film, or lack therefore, was the worst part. I would have preferred to just see Bond drink Martini’s for two hours than have to deal with a completely one-dimension villain with zero (and I MEAN ZERO) backstory whatsoever. Why the mask? (Sith science). Why does he love deadly flowers? (Dad, Sith science). Why did he save Madeline as a girl? (Love? (eww) Sith science). A victim of Specter, sure, but Specter was meaningless in this film by the end of the second act. Anyway, I digress. Back to Bond.
If a victory can be recognized here, it is that I finally got to see the Bond from the previous films as something more than an emotionless killing machine. This final film, with a much different Bond, gave me a new perspective on the previous films. So I applaud Cary Joji Fukunaga (a writer/director I really like) on these choices; to make a more human Bond as a foil for the previous Bonds. To create a Bond that makes a few jokes, that had a few laughs and that humanized the blunt weapon from the past four films. But was this the Bond I wanted? Looking back now, I think I wanted the other one. Shaken. Not stirred. Bond’s famous drink order. Perhaps a metaphor for the way we see Bond himself in these films; a man shaken, beaten, jostled around, his parts violently mixed together to create a drink so still that it seems like placid water. Perhaps No Time to Die just tried too hard to stir things up.
PS: I cannot deny the interesting intersections I see in this film with the work of Hideo Kojima; specifically in the Metal Gear Solid video game series. Add to that the fact that Léa Seydoux stars in this film and also starred in Kojima’s latest creation, Death Stranding. No Time to Die has a Tactical Espionage Action Vibe; from the soldiers breaking into the chemical research base in the first act to the notion of a virus that can kill specific people only (this idea was called FOXDIE in the original Metal Gear Solid video game circa 1996). I would not be surprised if Fukunaga is a fan of Kojima; Solid Bond anyone?
Justin Cary is a freelance writer. You should hire him! Please send inquires to justinrcary@gmail.com
