There are few Bond movies more poignant or tear-jerking than this one, and that stems not only from Craig's complete performance, but how it pulls in elements of his other movies - most notably Casino Royale and Skyfall - to bring his arc full circle. The continuity that hurts its story also aids its character work, themes, and overall emotional resonance.
Safin himself feels like a Bond villain leftover from a bygone era with his secret lair, deathly garden, scarred visage, and overwrought plan to destroy the world and remake it in his image, it feels like a regression for Craig's Bond era.Īnd yet, for all its flaws, No Time To Die comes through in the end.
The specters of both Spectre and SPECTRE loom over it as well Bond is forced to deal with both elements, which means forcing Blofeld into the narrative alongside a new villain, Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek), and the collision of those elements makes the story needlessly complicated. No Time To Die does have some real issues, not least pacing, ignoring the warning of its own title, and instead going with its preferred mantra of having 'all the time in the world,' there's a bloated runtime coming close to three hours that could (and should) have been trimmed down further in the editing room.
