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Tried to avoid story spoilers...
No Time to Die (2021)
First off, I'd really recommend re-watching 'Spectre' (even though it's not very good) before watching 'No Time to Die'. You'll get more out of it as it heavily ties into the previous film and recreates past events we only heard about before. I've never been a big fan of the Daniel Craig era's decision to make these films a continuos narrative (rather than stand alone adventures) but if you are into all that, I'm sure you'll feel this has wrapped it up in style, with emotional impact. The action, especially the car chases are directed with real flair and excitement. My highlight was when Bond whipped the covers off his black Aston Martin V8 Vantage (my favourite Bond car, from my favourite Bond film 'The Living Daylights'). The plotting is quite complicated, so I admit I might have missed some bits of exposition but a couple of points didn't seem to add up:
Having just re-watched 'Spectre', one of the (few) best things about it was Ralph Fiennes' steely 'M' but he looks a bit bored here. Hans Zimmer's score does the job but nothing more, the most memorable moments in the score are when he does a full reprise of John Barry's music. New cast members Lashana Lynch and Rami Malek are top notch but the best was Ana de Armas. I'd happily watch a spin off movie about her bubbly, kickass CIA agent. This is a satisfying conclusion to a 15-year journey but next time can we just have some some outlandish fun, some mad gadgets, some sexy romance and not get bogged down in contemplating death all the time.
No Time to Die (2021)
First off, I'd really recommend re-watching 'Spectre' (even though it's not very good) before watching 'No Time to Die'. You'll get more out of it as it heavily ties into the previous film and recreates past events we only heard about before. I've never been a big fan of the Daniel Craig era's decision to make these films a continuos narrative (rather than stand alone adventures) but if you are into all that, I'm sure you'll feel this has wrapped it up in style, with emotional impact. The action, especially the car chases are directed with real flair and excitement. My highlight was when Bond whipped the covers off his black Aston Martin V8 Vantage (my favourite Bond car, from my favourite Bond film 'The Living Daylights'). The plotting is quite complicated, so I admit I might have missed some bits of exposition but a couple of points didn't seem to add up:
Safin is pictured in the flashback with a weird face (hidden behind a kabuki mask) and appears to be hobbling on prosthetic legs, then magically comes back to life as if he's immortal. Years later when we see him again, none of that seems to still be true?? Safin keeps mentioning his father but that goes nowhere either. A big deal is made of the "Delectados" cigars (a call back to 'Die Another Day') that Bond gets for Felix (there are a few close-ups drawing your attention to their importance) but they don't appear again. I felt sure one of the last scenes would be Bond lighting it up but no. I wondered if they weren't allowed to feature smoking to get a 12A now, just as they seemed unable to show blood, despite many scenes having needed to show a lot of it and looking a little ridiculous as a consequence. Perhaps as the longest Bond film already, they had to cut some stuff and it's absence has left some holes?
Having just re-watched 'Spectre', one of the (few) best things about it was Ralph Fiennes' steely 'M' but he looks a bit bored here. Hans Zimmer's score does the job but nothing more, the most memorable moments in the score are when he does a full reprise of John Barry's music. New cast members Lashana Lynch and Rami Malek are top notch but the best was Ana de Armas. I'd happily watch a spin off movie about her bubbly, kickass CIA agent. This is a satisfying conclusion to a 15-year journey but next time can we just have some some outlandish fun, some mad gadgets, some sexy romance and not get bogged down in contemplating death all the time.