No Time to Die – 2021 – PG13
First of all, I’m not a James Bond aficionado, my most vivid memory will show my age: a sleek woman covered in gold, unfortunately dead from the dreaded “skin suffocation” revealed five plus decades ago in Goldfinger, 007’s third movie. That said, let me offer a few reflections on installment #25, No Time to Die. My summary comment and accompanying suggestion is this: settle down and watch 2015’s Spectre in order to prepare for this 2021 storyline. Otherwise you risk spending the entire 163 minute run time wondering what, who and why—like I did. Until I got home and read a few reviews I thought Spectre was an incognito character, only to be illuminated that it’s a long established (genesis 1965’s Thunderball) international criminal organization, Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion. Then there is the mayhem at Vesper’s tomb, a pivotal plot moment that, without any prior context, I puzzled over the chaos to the point of dozing off. If I don’t know the characters it’s a stretch to care and, apparently for me, stay awake. Admittedly my reclining heated theater lounge chair didn’t help. After ho-humming through the human carnage from bombs, guns, knives and car chases across Italy, Cuba and London, my more alert moments were in Norway when young Madeleine witnesses the murder of her mother by bad boy Safin (Rami Malek) in a failed attempt to kill Madeleine’s bad guy father. Definitely broke the big screen ice. I also perked up in Jamaica where James (Daniel Craig) retires to a life of isolated, fishing bliss only to be talked back into global spy action by the British Secret Service’s new 007, Nomi (Lashana Lynch), and Bond’s reconnection with grown up Madeleine (Léa Seydoux) after a five year hiatus since a sadly severed love affair. A sweet Norwegian surprise is tucked away. The charming revelation awaits but, but, but….the Madeline/James rekindled romance is too May-December for me. Not quite dirty old man but a tiny bit ewwww. The finalé is staged at an abandoned World War 2 submarine base on an island between Japan and Russia, Safin’s eve of destruction nanobot headquarters. The destiny of untold millions of humans are at stake. Shocking. Positively shocking. Can Bond open the silo doors to enable a missile strike and save humanity? What do you think? Uh……fill in the obvious blank. Relax and relish the epic annihilation. What’s in 007’s cinematic future? This film will leave you wondering. No concrete ideas to offer except whoever or whatever’s next, without a doubt the name’s Bond. James Bond.
