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t is obvious that EON Productions and the writers decided to make Craig’s final chapter in the 007 franchise the pivotal element for drama and tons of actions.  Obviously for an actor who has been in the role and wearing the shoes of Bond for more than a decade, after six decades of hits and failures, Craig is able to the task of portraying unusually emotional scenes for the normally stoic character.  He and studio have had plenty of practice.  The latter, with MGM/UA, more than 24 films and one of the most successful cinematic brands after Marvel’s Avengers and Lucasfilm’s Star Wars.

No Time To Die has some inside jokes and fan service as it is the first and only movie that brings in Bond’s replacement while the agent is still alive and kicking.  This adventure formally introduces us to the new 007 and she hasn’t yet started sipping martinis and bedding lesbian women to” feel them up for information”, a lovely line in a previous Sam Mendes (movie director) outing for M Director Judy Dench.  The other funny bit, I thought, is the new M’s name, turns out it is Mallory. Crickets, talk about easy to remember.

Would Q be Quinn? And Moneypenny be Penny?

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ith this 25^th installment of the Ian Fleming superspy, the intro with the signature Bond beautiful silhouettes montage leads to a different introduction than has been customary.  Rather the usual action laden montage, No Time To Die starts with a very deadly flashback that is more similar to The Shining with Jack Nicholson than to regular James Bond fare.

I was thinking, oh how appropriate, any moment now the killer is going to leave a Joker card next to his victim.

Right, so now for the movie review’s traditional roll call of actors, we already know that Craig Daniel is in the titular role while Lea Seydoux of SPECTRE marks her return as Dr. Swan, daughter of Mr. White, a leading player in the SPECTRE organization, Chris Waltz as Bloefeld, Lashana Lynch as the new 007, Malek as Safin the new supervillain, a small delightful package as …. hmmm you’ll find out, Ralph Fiennes as M, Ben Whishaw as Q, Jeffrey Wright as the CIA’s Felix, Naomie Harris as Moneypenny, and Ana de Arnas as CIA agent Paloma.

Looking back over to Casino Royale we can see clearly that Craig has visibly aged but yet remains in top physical form, at least enough to convincingly play a retired 007 returning to action – after all SPECTRE has been part of his entire career at MI6 (and the studio series with Connery, Moore, Brosnan, Dalton and Lazenby) so yes, clearly, it doesn’t take Mallory a lot of doing to torture Bond back into “Business”.  The moviegoer cannot mistake the Mendes flavor coloring new director’s Cary Fukunaga turn at the helm, because Bond is All Business even when tending to personal issues.

We couldn’t possibly have a James Bond movie with the superspy both retired through the entire story and yet taking care of business, it would be a completely different tone … something like … Jason Bourne.

So yes, no faster had I leaned back in my seat than Bond is Back to Business.

“Because I am Baatmann!!!” Oh wait that’s a different line, from the HISHE online animated series.

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This of course creates an internal tug of war in the storyline which attempts to create a new Bond flavor at the end of its latest series, perhaps it was more of an effort to squeeze in many ideas Mendes had for Skyfall and Spectre but was never able to weave them into tight action installments that oozed brisk, brutal and mysterious from its pores.

So now in its final piece, wanting to give Craig something more than just a regurgitation of his previous acts, the movie has a bi-polar streak straining underneath, underlying the plot, trying hard to infuse a more congenial, shrewd and human assassin.  Bond looks and feels a little unfamiliar in No Time To Die, but at times I welcomed this new complexion and at times it felt false and like an added prosthetic.