The Daniel Craig James Bond-era was rougher and tougher than earlier Bonds with a very high body count. This particular era of 007 also had connecting storylines and recurring characters in more ways than one than the previous entries. Sure, we had Bond grieving for his slain wife in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" to the point that Moore's Bond visits her grave in "For Your Eyes Only." The seemingly unkillable Blofeld always showed up in key moments in different sequels since he was always so damn nefarious. In "No Time to Die," it is not just Blofeld returning but also a deepening storyline with the fabulous Léa Seydoux as Madeleine Swann, his love interest who could change our favorite superspy's future forever (For those who are unaware, at the end of "SPECTRE," Bond almost kills Blofeld point blank and chooses not to while Madeleine is waiting on a London bridge).
As in previous Bond films, there is always the electrifying teaser of an opening. Here, it begins ominously with some armed menacing figure in the snow approaching a house with a drunk mother and her child listening to music - it has the look and feel of some horror film. Then it segues to a somewhat mild encounter with Bond on holiday with Madeleine in an Italian hotel. Bond is about to visit the grave of Vesper Lynd (from "Casino Royale") when an explosion occurs that practically knocks Bond out. A chase ensues with various minions shooting at him on a connecting bridge and he's able to jump off with some thankfully sustaining cables. It is thoroughly intense and leads to Bond thinking that Madeleine betrayed him and we get a cold finish where he tells her they will never see each other again. Never say Never as five years pass and SPECTRE has infiltrated an MI6 lab where a pathogen has been developed that can track targets by their DNA - all of this under the supervision of M (Ralph Fiennes). Explosions galore as Project Heracles has been breached at the lab headquarters. Meanwhile, Bond is living off the grid in Jamaica and gets a visit from returnee Jeffrey Wright as reliable Felix Leiter, requiring his services for her Majesty's Secret Service. Bond can't use his 007 number since it had been retired and it is now belonging to Nomi (Lashana Lynch) who can drive fast cars, fast planes and shoot with dead accuracy. In other words, why do we need Bond? And when lovely, exquisite and sexy Ana de Armas shows up in an explosive cameo as a nervous CIA agent who does her share of firing on all cylinders, you think for a moment that James Bond's character might be on the outs.
"No Time to Die" has a new villain with facial scarring issues named Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek, playing the role with an icy stare) who wants to kill Blofeld (once again, played in a quickie cameo by Christoph Waltz) - Safin's desire, like all Bond megalomaniacs, is to infect the world with this pathogen and kill everyone. And then what? But there I go again, questioning the logic of the illogical villains and their deathly wish to neutralize all.
"No Time to Die" has killer car chases through vast fields of forests and countrysides, not to mention the aforementioned Italy opening which had me on the edge of my seat. My one complaint is that Bond kills so many faceless minions that you lose count, especially in the island fortress towards the end (this reminded me of the Chris Walken psycho villain Zorin from "A View to a Kill" where he gets a machine gun and kills all his workers. This is perhaps not what the new Bond filmmakers intended but it occurred to me). I also love how Safin sees that Bond is a killer and questions why Madeleine want to be with such a man, an assassin. These are questions not normally probed in a James Bond movie. That, and James's passionate love for Madeleine and her...oh, you have to see it to believe it. This movie gives Bond a bit more soul and heart than usual, though it all started with his care for Vesper in "Casino Royale." It all comes to a hellish end but, boy, what a ride. No question in my mind that Daniel Craig is the second best Bond since Sean Connery.
