No Time to Die is the latest instalment of the James Bond franchise. Bond's peaceful life is short-lived after he is taken out of retirement when an old friend from the CIA comes asking for help. Bond is taken on his iconic goose chase as he searches for a new villain armed with the most dangerous weapon ever encountered by Bond. I have seen a few James Bond movies on television but this was my first ever full James Bond experience in a cinema, and it was pretty much what I expected.

Whilst watching No Time to Die, it was very hard not to take my eyes off the screen. There were even points where I didn't want to take notes on the movie because I was afraid I'd miss something. The action was really incredible, as should be assumed from a 007 movie, especially the Daniel Craig ones. And I loved how there were many different types of action; the car chases were a personal favourite of mine but there was also hand-to-hand combat, gunfights, and even a little bit of action in the sky. These action sequences were also quite extensive which made it even harder to look away! Unfortunately, there were some similarly long breaks from the action to fill in the story. It was at these points where I could afford to look away to jot down some notes.

For the last few weeks, they have been playing all the previous Bond movies on tv. Something I noticed during this movie marathon is that the Daniel Craig ones took a somewhat darker and more serious tone. I don't think that this was necessarily a bad thing as it potentially opened the Bond franchise to a wider audience. It also meant that there there aren't any ridiculous stunts in the new ones, however, there were still definitely some funny lines in No Time to Die and it wasn't overly violent.

While they have been playing all the previous Bond movies on television, they've also been playing a lot of trailers for No Time to Die; I could almost recite them. Modern movie trailers tend to show all the best bits of action from the movie so you basically know what happens in the action sequences before you set foot in the cinema. Fortunately, this was not the case in No Time to Die. Most of the action sequences shown in the trailers were in the first act of the movie, meaning that all later action sequences came as a surprise.

No Time to Die was slightly confusing, however, this might be because I haven't seen much of the previous Daniel Craig films. I'm sure many things would make much more sense if you had seen all previous Bond films but it was still just as entertaining even if you don't know all that much about the backstory. It also was a little complicated as to who the good guys and bad guys were but this might also have been clearer if you had seen the other Bond movies.

No Time to Die was basically what I expected from Daniel Craig's James Bond movies: thrilling action, memorable one-liners, incredible locations. However, the thoughtfulness and complexity of the film techniques did give me a pleasant surprise.

I'm going to call No Time to Die a must-see, whether you are a James Bond fan or not. I think that the movie will likely become iconic and some things that happened in this film will probably be important for any future Bond instalments, in whatever form this may be. I'm sure that it is helpful if you know what happens in previous 007 movies prior to seeing No Time to Die but it is not essential. The movie is long but you will not walk away regretting the last three hours.

No Time to Die is your classic James Bond film. With incredible action and locations, it is an entertaining and memorable experience. Although it is a little confusing, it will be enjoyed by hardcore fans, casual fans, or those who know near to nothing about the franchise.

Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga

Starring: Daniel Craig, Léa Seydoux, Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch

Year released: 2021

My rating: 8/10

Review by Tristan Carr

Last edited: 14/11/2021