Bye bye Daniel Craig, the longest-lived James Bond in history: with No time to die ends his service as a British spy on the big screen. The film – which did not achieve the much desired “wow effect” – arrives in Italian cinemas on 30 September, after the royal premiere in London and the preview at Zurich Festival.
Regardless of whether the audience appreciates the final twist or not, this time his Shaken, unmixed martini it has no hoped-for taste, that allure of unattainable perfection worthy of 007’s twenty-fifth feature film.
Excellence is expected and when it does not arrive then everything else seems boring, but despite the duration (almost three hours), it is not. With surprising – but not epic – moments this film seems full, even as it always struggles to keep up. But let’s go in order …
History
James Bond returns to the field after having previously left MI6 and sets out on the trail of a missing scientist, after a paradisiacal interlude with his Madeleine (Lea Seydoux), one of those with gramophone and pieces from La Boheme in the background. Duty – indeed friendship – calls and, when the shadow of Specter looms, he returns to the field, in the usual spectacular way with acrobatic chases and heart-pounding fights.
Long live women, long live
To avoid running into too explicit revelations, you can navigate by sight starting from the “certainties” of the Bond universe, that is spectacular stages in enchanting places, which also include Matera, in addition to the London base and trips to Jamaica, Norway and Cuba. The scenarios are very different because the tones change suddenly passing from action to romance as perhaps never before. Many, many women in history and none too undressed: Lea Seydoux is also covered in bed and during intimate scenes, to underline once again the feminist turn of the franchise. Good Lashana Lynch (Nomi), for heaven’s sake, but you can give more.
Which villain?
Rami Malek tries to be the very bad Lyutsifer Safin but he doesn’t really scare anyone, except perhaps the character of Lea Seydoux, who goes from lioness to kitten in a matter of seconds. In his oriental kimono he wanders hieratically concocting diabolical plans to bury the world with a DNA sequence-based extermination weapon, only to never understand why he doesn’t put them into practice. Christoph Waltz (Blofed), on the other hand, manages to shake his wrists even when tied up in a cage, in the style of Hannibal Lecter.
Watch out for romance
And yes, we love that behind Daniel Craig’s glacial gaze a creamy heart emerges from time to time capable of quoting phrases from Baci Perugina, because even a little less romanticism would have been enough. Sometimes dear 007 loses credibility and gets distracted. It is not surprising, then, that between one drink and another, it is replaced in a flash. And not because of the tight boxer with which he is seen fishing in Jamaica with his bare hands or the habit of using the toothbrush under a natural waterfall in the jungle.
To lose your mind
The only presence that really makes you lose your mind is Paloma, a freshly trained CIA recruit who – after three weeks at the academy – is sent to the field to join him in the extradition of a missing Russian researcher. Ana de Armas has that exotic and unsettling freshness that the saga needs to get out of the natfalina and amaze again. The jokes about the “bunga bunga” or the size of M (Ralph Fiennes) are not exactly the best. Of course, this isn’t cabaret and Bond isn’t a comedian, which is why everyone now believes that the only bright moments are the brainchild of Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag). Thank goodness, one would say.
I make it weird
For most of the time Daniel Craig sports an expression between complacency (perhaps thinking of the cachet that awaits him after 15 years as Her Majesty’s agent) and the anonymous alcoholic in withdrawal, as if to say: “Let’s get it over with, shall we? ? “. But no: more and more explosions arrive, more fast cars, more henchmen of crime, more technological devices. Too bad that this “more” is never “enough”.
It is true that the average Italian has problems with suspending disbelief as soon as Lea Seydoux is sent on a regional to Puglia, but all in all, nothing is surprised at all, neither by the submarine-plane and nor by the white-mask-from. -horror-movies, and perhaps the problem lies here. Craig’s Bond has gone well past its maturity date e No time to die, although capable of entertaining as one does with children at the carnival, it becomes a stretched and forced goodbye, already outdated. Come on next, please.
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
