Reviews

Bond is back: No Time To Die

5 November 20214 November 2021By
Bond is back: No Time To Die

We review 007s latest instalment, No Time To Die after taking two weeks to get over the emotional roller-coaster and process Hugh Dennis’ surprise cameo. Review, connoisseur Alice Clifford is finally ready to give her thoughts on James Bond’s latest instalment.

Rating: 4/5

The Daniel Craig Era Comes to an End *cries*

Daniel Craig’s stint as Bond is unlike any other 007 generation. While the films that have come before can more or less stand alone, the Daniel Craig epoch is much more complex. Each film links to the next, leading the series to feel as if it were part of its own separate universe. 

While still possessing the charm and charisma of Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan, Craig gave 007 a more rugged edge. This evolution of the character leads us to question what the franchise will do next. Idris Elba, Henry Cavill and Eddie Redmayne are among a handful of people who have been rumoured to take Craig’s place, while others have pushed for a female Bond to take over the mantle. While we cannot yet know who it will be, one thing I am certain of is that the debate has engaged the masses.

The Views, the Gadgets, the Dresses

One thing people can agree on is that the film followed 007 tradition and was spectacularly extravagant. It was everything you would want a Bond movie to be. The cars, the fights, the gadgets and the dresses didn’t cease to amaze me. If I could, I would write a whole appreciation article on Ana de Armas’ dress in Cuba. Every scene also came with an incredible backdrop, with shots from Italy, Cuba, Jamaica and Norway, making the London skyline all the more grey and bleak.

We Have All the Time in the World

The producers also made sure the film was jam-packed with easter eggs for those hardcore fans in the audience.

Most notably is the reprisal of Louis Armstrong’s “We Have all the Time in the World”, which takes us back to On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Throughout the film, the song seeps through Hans Zimmer’s composition and is the song we are left with for the closing credits. Bond also says those famous title words to Madeline at the start of the film. This preempts unforeseen tragedy, as On Her Majesty’s Secret Service they are the words George Lazenby’s Bond says after his wife is killed.  Ah bittersweet irony. Another nostalgia trip for Bond fans is the return of the cars. After Q fixes the Aston Martin DB5 at the end of Spectre, we see it returned to its former glory as Bond drives it along the Italian coast. It brings the Daniel Craig era full circle, as we first see the car in Casino Royale.

We also see the return of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage at the end of the movie, which was driven by Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights.

James Bond, Family Man?

The film begins as a romantic epic, with a beautiful couple exploring a beautiful town. And while in James Bond tradition the peace is literally blown away, at Vesper’s grave no less, reminding us how tragedy follows Bond’s lovers, we continue to see Bond’s softer side throughout the film. He is a far cry from the Bond who referred to his lost lover as “the bitch” in Casino Royale. It’s this emotional development that brings Craig’s character arc to a perfect close.

Overall, James Bond goes beyond cinema. It is a cultural phenomenon that has the power to captivate the whole country. For me, the film exceeded all my expectations and despite being the longest Bond film of all time, I didn’t want it to end.