L Everett Scott

Just saw this and quite enjoyed it until it went off the rails in the final act. Safin's plan to get back at SPECTRE made sense but after that was completed, he kept on going for reasons the movie doesn't make clear. In all those wordy scenes where Malik rattles on about his father's garden and how 'most people want things to happen to them', he never explains what he'll gain by murdering millions of people with the nanobot virus. I seriously have no idea WTF his plan was, which was really irritating considering how much dialogue there was in the last act.

As for the Daniel Craig timeline, this movie (unintentionally or otherwise) leaves room for the story to continue, even without Bond (which most fans of the franchise probably aren't interested in seeing). There's a lot of fuss made about Safin's base being in disputed territory and that blowing up the island would have serious political repercussions. With M greenlighting the missile strike and presumably not telling the Russians and Japanese that he needed to take out a DNA-based weapon he sanctioned, we have the makings of a major conflict. Russia and Japan would going after the UK, so MI6 will have a lot on its plate, and if Bond isn't around anymore, Nomi is going to have to step up.

None of this going to happen, but it's odd how all this is set up by the climax of the film but is just swept under the rug.

DJariya

I guess this could be interpreted as "good" news. No Time to Die has now crossed $605.8M in 23 days of release

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/showdo...?ref_=bo_hm_sd

It's now the 4th highest grossing Craig Bond movie and will soon become the 3rd.

Spiderbite

Really enjoyed this one. It seemed more "film" Bondian than any of the prior Craig movies (Casino Royale came more across like the best book Bond of the Craig movies).

It seemed like he finally let his hair down and enjoyed playing Bond this time around instead of coming across as a sourpuss that hates making these movies. I was initially excited when Craig was chosen for Bond since he came across so well in Layer Cake. But then it appeared that he (and the producers) wanted a super serious Bond mixed with Jason Bourne. So when you grow up with Bond your whole life, this was not what I had envisioned or hoped for.

Had he made his prior Bond movies with a similar feel that he portrayed in this one, I likely would have enjoyed him a lot more. Oh well, that was just 5 films and 15 years lost to get two good Bond films. The others aren't horrific (except the beloved Skyfall which watching it makes me wince like Bond getting hit in the nuts in CR).

This wasn't the perfect movie but hardly any JB film is. The main Bond song was simply horrible and may outrank Madonna's song as the worst of all time. Quit chasing the flavor of the month and just get a solid song by a solid artist, dammit! Could have used a couple of fun gadgets or used Q a little more in that vein. Him sitting at a computer the majority of the time is not as much fun as him actually showing off the cool shit his branch invents. The main villain was weak sauce though I did enjoy the kind of "cult" super villain weird garden thing going on. Bond's obsession with Vesper Lynd still turns its ugly head once again. Seriously...how long did he know the girl? A week? And she double-crossed him at that. Jesus...how long are you gonna carry a torch for a woman that you sucked blood off the fingers of (that scene still makes me shudder...vomit)? And couldn't they have cast a love interest that didn't look like she was just out of toddler pull-ups when our hero looks like he is close to ageing back to diapers? Anyhoo...

There were some great parts. Really enjoyed the various callbacks via a few prior music queues, quotes, pictures and various other Easter eggs for the eagle-eyed and bat-eared. The humor was good. The new 007, while underused, was not obnoxious. The CIA agent Paloma was freaking awesome and deserves her own spin-off (TV show or movie...preferably TV). The introduction of the daughter wasn't forced and seemed a nice touch. And the death of JB was honestly unexpected for me. I had read nothing about it and was quite surprised even though I probably should have read the signs a mile away. Jeffrey Wright as Felix is always welcome and the two actually have a nice friend chemistry together.

There was also a great scene that stuck with me. It was when JB was making his daughter breakfast. For 3 seconds there, you can see on his face that this could have been the life that he might have enjoyed and/or secretly wanted instead of the continent hopping super spy that he was. It was a fantastic bit of acting in just that brief moment and hats off to Craig for it.

So all in all...one of his best flicks as Bond if not THE BEST. I would have to watch CR again (even though I rewatched it a year ago) but they are in a close race with me.

My rating: **** out of *****

I glad that Craig is done. And as a prior poster asked...can we have our fun Bond back now?

story

I finally caught this last night before it leaves theaters. Wow, with such a packed October going into the rest of the year, movies are moving quickly. Like, if you do t catch something in IMAX on opening week, you're going to miss it because the next movie is ready to go.

I liked Casino Royale, never saw The Quantum of Solace, really enjoyed Skyfall, and I saw Spectre but didn't remember much from it. I had no idea if Madeline was from it or not, so I just rolled with it. In the opening scenes, even without knowing if she was from a previous film, I figured okay, Bond is retired and happy, this will get messed up, let's go.

I avoided all spoilers so the ending was pretty shocking. They established early nothing can change the nanobots so between that and his wounds I thought wow, this is it, and it was. Felix has always been a favorite of mine, a sad ending for him. When that happened I thought, this movie is going to tie up every loose end whether it needs tying or not. And it did. Felix. Blofeld. Bond!

I love chase scenes. I absolutely adore the constant need to solve yet another problem while not being able to slow down, all in the midst of am overall pursuit and getaway. This movie had plenty of that! It got really slow in England, which was fine but very noticeable. Well-acted, all-around. The villains plot was cool, but the goal was unclear. Oh, those nanobots. What can't you do?!

This morning I drove my kids to school with the "Cuba Chase" soundtrack cue on my phone. I told my kids I'd seen a new spy movie last night and this was from a chase scene. They really liked it. I said, you have no idea how hard it is not to floor it right now and drive 90 miles per hour! My oldest observed this music makes it feel like you're driving 90 miles per hour! That was fun.

DJariya

If you need a little extra Ana de Armas fix

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General Zod

Just watched this. Safin's plan of killing people for the sake of killing people because he thinks they want something to happen to them.. was pretty stupid. Obviously all the bad guys are off-duty stormtroopers. I thought it was OK for mindless entertainment. I doubt I'll ever give it a second viewing though.

OldBoy

This was a damn entertaining finale. It wasn’t the best of Craig’s bunch but up there. This just oozed Bond and wow, what a way to go out. Entertaining, thrilling and to have it end like that was sad but fitting. Loved this last hoorah for Craig.

4/5

[email protected]

Saw this last night, thought it was pretty good (3.5 out of 4). Moved along a pretty good pace, considering the length.

I do have two small nitpicks though. I thought the child-in-jeopardy plotline was a bit trite. And the new 007 has almost no charisma.

Also, and I know I'm not supposed to think TOO logically about this, but I have a problem with the technology.
- when the EMP watch used to shut down the cameras and door locks, how come their earpieces still worked?
- for that matter, nanobots still have to be powered in some way. Why doesn't the EMP kill them, thereby "cleaning" Bond?
- and if the nanobots are DNA-specific, was everyone in SPECTRE related? Otherwise, they would have needed a separate gas for each person at the party

Rob V

Saw it and didn't love it. I was going for a better end for James... as Hollywood as that would have been.
I'm still trying to understand how James' love interest actually ended up with him as she was tied to Spectre from the beginning... coincidence?

OldBoy

wasn't Vesper working for Spectre as well?

Rob V

^^ Yes, but the coincidence of Madeleine being tied to Safin is too difficult to ignore. It's clear that, in the end, she loved James... but is the Bond universe that small whereby you have a kid with the person who was stalked then saved by Safin -- a diabolical Bond villain?

rocket1312

I guess? But Bond's initial introduction to Madeleine was via Mr. White. Safin's connection to Madeleine was also via Mr. White. Mr. White was a high ranking member of Quantum Spectre. It's not like Bond met her at Starbucks and she just happened to have ties to Spectre. Why do so many people in show business end up married to someone else in show business? Why do people in the medical field end up with others in the medical field? It's just the circles they run in.

Rob V

Ah, ok. Thank you. I totally didn't remember that...

OldBoy

I forgot she was in Spectre.

asianxcore

Finally got a chance to watch this film earlier today.

Really enjoyed it, though it ranks right in the middle for me amongst the (5) Daniel Craig Bond films.

Thought the overall cast was solid, as well as the action scenes, which were really fun.

I do wish that Rami Malek's character Safin was written a bit stronger, which would have fixed a few of the issues I had with the final act (all were mentioned by other posters).

Also chalk me up as another viewer who was shocked at the death of Bond, as I kept myself completely in the dark about this film.

rw2516

Watched this last night and loved it.
1. Run time. I was home so it may be different in theater. Could have watched more.

2. The EMP. Bond asked Q the range and Q didn't know. It had never been tested. Turns out the range is just inches. It was right next to Cyclop's head. Thing doesn't really work. Also there was something on the watch's back, a black disc or something that may have protected Bond from the EMP. Big plot hole if all you have to do is EMP somebody infected with nanobots to cure them.

3. Music queues. During the scene with Bond and M talking outdoors in London. The music leading up to attack on Piz Gloria from OHMSS is played. That was cool.

4. Portraits of previous Ms was cool. I only noticed the Judi Dench and actor Geoffrey ? from the Moore films.

5. Always like it when they include unused elements from the Fleming novels. The "death garden" of exotic poisonous plants is from Blofeld's death garden in YOLT novel. Given the proximity to Japan, NTTD felt more like a YOLT movie than the Connery film does.

6. Bond coming out of M's office, then tossing something clear across room without looking and making the trash can. Homage to Connery throwing the hat and always making the hat rack. Fucking awesome!

7. As someone mentioned. The scene in kitchen where Bond makes the little girl breakfast. The life we may have had given the decisions we made.

8. The ending felt very final. Although it's not, still felt like the end of the series. I was half expecting a rundown of the previous actors at beginning of credits, or memorium of two who died "Sean Connery 1930-2021" "Roger Moore 19xx-20xx" . It just felt like the end of everything that's come before and a fresh new start is coming. This may be the end of the series and the next film may begin a new series without the trademarks of the series. No more gun barrel logo at beginning, James Bond theme, Aston Martin, credit sequences with theme song. Excited to see what they come up with.
This was number 25? The next may not be Bond 26. It will be number 1. They may give the series a name like "Her Majesty's Secret Service". like "The Kingsman" Subsequent films are titled "OHMSS: (insert title)"

GoldenJCJ

I watched this last night and loved it. It may be my favorite Craig Bond movie. The runtime didn’t bother me much at all and I wasn’t bored at all throughout the movie. The movie kept a pretty good pace throughout.

I was glad to see Craig having fun again with the role. It was nice seeing Bond crack jokes and smile from time to time. It felt like that has been missing from the last few movies where Craig seemed miserable the whole time.

I had avoided spoilers for this so I was also surprised that Bond died at the end. It was sad seeing him go but it felt like a solid send off for him.

Did anyone else notice the homage to the POV gun barrel shot we see at the beginning of all Bond movies when he was running around the old missile base? He entered a round tunnel and it showed a POV shot of the bad guy getting shot. Craig turned and shot exactly like he does in the title shot.

I’m sad to see Craig go. I’ve enjoyed all of his Bond films to varying degrees but it was time for him to hang it up. I look forward to see how they re-start the franchise. It’s good the “James Bond will Return” because the lady they used as the current 007 wasn’t particularly interesting or charismatic.

JeremyM

Part of me would like to see them now go the "James Bond is a cover name" route for the subsequent films because I really like the supporting players they have assembled--the story could be that they bring in someone new to take on the Bond name to keep their enemies off the track or something. Unless they just plan on keeping the crew the same way Judi Dench as M carried on after the Brosnan films.

This is either a good idea or a completely dreadful one--I could go either way.

DJariya

This excerpt from a one on one interview with Craig and Javier Bardem is hilarious. You have to see it

JayTL

Eh, I feel like this series can pull off a soft reboot with the same supporting cast. I underlined my hope for the future.
I'm kind of afraid that they're going to try to be "too" different or out there for the next entry.

Draven

At this point I think they just call the next person "James Bond" and explain nothing else. People can figure out the continuity all they want but it's obviously not the same person over the decades and it's silly to try to fan-wank it into something that makes sense.

I just rewatched this over the holidays and I really enjoyed it again, more than I did in the theater. I also like all the Craig "Bonds", even Quantum of Solace - that opening car chase it wild and starts minutes after Casino Royale, which is fun. I've watched them back-to-back before and it really works that way.

Although Ana de Armas is so good that she's almost in a different movie.

RichC2

Yeah I don't think they have anything to explain. It's Bond. It's a perpetual reboot.

Unless they do like, James Bond: Into the Jimmiverse.

JayTL

In my opinion, that makes sense.

There are people who are convinced that one secret agent has been on the payroll for 60+ years and has only aged maybe 10-20 years.

I honestly don't care what the canon/continuity is...give me good Bond movies.

GoldenJCJ

Exactly. It’s one thing to talk canon about Star Wars or the MCU or something but who gives a shit for Bond?!

Personally, I’d be ok if they perpetually reboot the Bond franchise with each actor. Do a complete 5-6 movie arc and then start again when a new Bond actor is hired.

B5Erik

Well, Michael G. Wilson, the guy in charge, thinks it's stupid to assume it's a code name and NOT the same guy.

It's clear it was the same character throughout the run up to Brosnan. Connery's return had his first action as going after Blofeld for killing his wife in OHMSS (Lazenby). Roger Moore's Bond visited Tracy's grave and was obviously still not over her death. Dalton's Bond was still affected by it, so much that when Felix Leiter's wife was killed and Leiter was maimed he quit to go after the people responsibile. Same guy, just using sliding time scale like Marvel Comics from the 60's to the early 2000's.

Then a soft reboot with Brosnan. Sort of the same guy, different era.

The only hard reboot was with Daniel Craig. Now they'll hard reboot again. Start over.

This isn't hard to figure out.