No Time to Die Review

It's been quite a long time that the world had to wait for Daniel Craig's swan song as James Bond in No Time to Die, but it's finally in theaters now for audiences to cherish one final adventure with Craig's 007. After two years of delays, the question can finally be answered of whether or not No Time to Die was everything the fans wanted it to be as the grand finale for Craig's Bond. In short, was it worth the wait?

When Daniel Craig debuted as James Bond in 2006's Casino Royale, he completely revitalized a franchise that I honestly never had any interest in. I remember feeling great excitement at the possibility of where the series could go from there with him as a lead. Unfortunately, none of his subsequent films really got close to matching that same feeling I had from Casino Royale (though Skyfall came close). It's not that I didn't enjoy the other films or feel entertained by them, they just never reached those same heights again. Neither, sadly, does No Time to Die, though it definitely has its moments.

No Time to Die picks up where Spectre left off (and unfortunately with such a gap between films, it's hard to remember exactly where that was). But all you need to know is Bond is happily in love with Madeleine Swan (Léa Seydoux) and ready to give it all up and be with her....until it appears she's betrayed him and he vows never to speak to her again. Years later and retired, he gets pulled into one last job where once again their paths will cross.

There's a lot of great action to spare in No Time to Die, but the film's main problem is it's a bit bloated overall. The film easily could have shaved off a good 30 minutes or so and have been all the better for it. This is particularly frustrating when while the film feels way too long, it still manages to waste Ana de Armas by using her exclusively for one sequence. And I must also add that Rami Malek's villain just doesn't work here for me. His connection to James feels convoluted and his motivations feel far-fetched. He just wasn't intimidating to me at all.

Still as a closer to Craig's stint as Bond, No Time to Die works and really actually does feel like one of the stronger films he's done even though it has its flaws. While his ending isn't completely satisfying, they definitely gave all the closure they needed to. While a lot of the films during his tenure were a bit uneven, Daniel Craig was a fantastic James Bond and we were lucky to have him.

RATING: 7/10