Bond 25 is finally here. For many this film is a symbol of the general unpleasantness that movie goers have had to endure for the last two years, and to see it on the big screen is enough to make us all sigh in relief. It's good to see blockbusters return to the screen in force, and No Time To Die Is one of the year's most impressive studio productions.
Long billed as Daniel Craig's final performance as Bond, No Time To Die is a fitting send off to the leading man who managed to make the polo shirt cool and drag James Bond out of Mike Myer's crosshairs. Though he has had his ups and downs in and with the role, after fifteen years Craig has become adept at peeling back 007's steely skin to expose the man beneath the number. There's no attempt to reinvent the wheel here as Cary Fukunaga seamlessly blends this vulnerability with the darker tones we've expected since Casino Royale as well as the old favorites that have made the series popular since 1962; the breathtaking locations, gratuitous gunplay, supervillain lairs and all the boys toys we can't afford ourselves but don't mind seeing Bond crash, shatter and shoot up.
But what really sold me on this film is the photography and production design, which might just be the slickest in the series to date. Costume design has always been one of the recent Bond film's strong points, but they're really gone all out here. Each piece, especially those worn by the enigmatic and rather confusing supervillain played by Rami Malek, physically adds to characters both new and old. And the lair is easily one of the top five locations in the entire series, it's almost enough to make you forget just how threadbare his character was, and if that doesn't matter to you then at least consider the importance of a carefully elaborated masterplan, another thing missing from the film. It would be unkind to call it style over substance, but even with a 164 minute runtime the attempt to cram several years of story and a barrage of emotional bombshells into the film lead to a plot stretched to the point of transparency. But if you wanted someone to nag your ear off about "plotholes" and the like you would be watching a Youtube video. No Time To Die can proudly stand next to Casino Royale and Skyfall, and as millions rush into movie theaters as its international release slowly but surely unfurls one question will be on everyone's lips: "What's next for James Bond?"
We can only hope that it's something like No Time To Die.