NO TIME TO DIE (2021) // James Bond Review and Whisky Pairing

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No Time To Die (2021)

"No Time To Die" Plot

M's deadly blunder and Madeleine's past throw Bond (Daniel Craig) under the bus.

Whiskey Lore Review

The movie that drove me to really investigate my feelings about each of the previous movies. I really had no idea where I would place this among the other films in the series.

At first, I hated this film. While I had walked out of SPECTRE kind of shaking my head, this movie actually made me mad and disappointed on first viewing. But my feelings started to evolve as I rewatched the film. It went from the bottom 5 to #11. Shocking really. But let me tell you what bothered me and what brought me back.

As a huge Bond fan, I spent a lot of time over the last 6 years going to Bond filming locations, diving deep into the James Bond lifestyle, and watching passionate Bond YouTubers speculate on where the last two movies would go. And after Casino Royale and Skyfall, I have to admit, the bar had been set incredibly high.

The opening scene of this movie is a movie unto itself. Bond is now "just a guy" making quips like any other boyfriend might make to his girlfriend. Then we get one of the most emotionally power packed intros in the history of the franchise. We go from love birds, to trying to reconcile old loves, to an explosion, intense action, and a scene filled with such anger that Bond is willing to torture the woman he once loved by letting an assassin shoot endlessly at her - all punctuated by the cold train scene. Honestly, I was stoked for what as coming, if that was just the beginning. But it didn't quite have the impact it should have upon first viewing - mainly because I'd seen all the cool stuff already in the endless trailers I'd watched. Honestly, for the next Bond film I will abandon teasers. That really stole the dynamic power of that opening scene.

The opening also spends time on Madeleine as a youth. It is a cool scene, but it foreshadows something that I didn't expect. This is a movie more about Madeleine and relationships, than it is a spy film. The villain is one of the most boring and inconsequential. Bond doesn't even take part in the ending of the organization that has been torturing him for all of Craig's years. And it turns into a baby mama drama. The Garden of Death from the book You Only Live Twice is completely fumbled. The effort to break ground with a black female 007 totally falls flat as the poor woman is more concerned about numbers than solving a case. And let's not even get into the cringe worthy toast M gives at the end. Um, M should be in prison. He almost ended humanity with his carelessness and led Bond into the unthinkable. I can't look at Ralph Fiennes as M the same way again.

I'm also a little miffed that there seems to be this need to sanitize Bond for our protection. It isn't reality. In this world we have people with egos, men who use women, people who do things that society may not approve of (like dumping the corpse of a friend like Mathis into a dumpster). Just because Bond does these things doesn't mean there is a stamp of approval being put on such behavior. It is showing reality, like it or not. Bond is supposed to be flawed - stop trying to neuter him.

So what brought this movie back to respectability for me? For one, Daniel Craig. Like Pierce Brosnan, he is a force of nature in the role of James Bond, able to overcome silliness and the lack of a quality script. Also, I tried to watch it the second time without the Bond expectations. It is a good action film for the first 3/4s. Then it becomes a snoozer with a lame ending. But there is enough good stuff and Daniel Craig's acting that will have me watching it again.

Best of the movie: If ever there was proof that you don't need to slap 007 on a female to make an absolutely fantastic female equal to Bond, it is in the form of Paloma. She is a serious bad ass - adorable, playful, and her own force of nature. I never understood the obsession with giving Jinx her own movie, but I would line up like I do for James Bond movies to see a movie with Paloma. What a great spin off character she would be. And we wouldn't have to constantly try to take a male character and argue about giving the role to a woman. It is a stupid idea - there I said it. There are plenty of actresses who could carve out their own unique character that could easily compete with Bond (without having to be Bond). Thanks Ana de Armas!

Memorable moment: With all the motorcycle jumps, guns blazing out of the Aston Martin, emotional moments good and bad with Madeleine, and the last shot of Bond, etc, my most memorable moment in this movie - it is in the forest when the SUV is dangling over Logan Ash and he says "come on brother" and Bond retorts, "I had a brother, his name was Felix Leiter." Then he kicks the SUV over on him. I almost cheered in the theatre. Jeffrey Wright was by far the best Felix Leiter and what Ash and the writers did to him really ticked me off - that tension needed to be released and this was appropriate.

Where it goes wrong: Where do I start? Bad villain, bad M, bad storyline, not a spy film...etc. Plus, you really have to watch it a couple of times to completely get it.

Paired Whisky: Benromach Traditional Speyside Single Malt Whisky

I chose Benromach Traditional because I absolutely love this bottle, just like I absolutely love the James Bond series. But when this is gone, it will be bittersweet. It is an absolutely amazing peated Speyside dram. The loss of Craig and the Bond series for now is bittersweet as well. I enjoyed the run. There were some great moments, but it was kind of a dud ending - I don't have to worry about that with my Benromach.

Whiskey Lore Rank: 11 (Score 6.82) > Next Movie

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Go Back:: 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12

MUSIC (9): Honestly, I didn't like this song at first - mainly because it seems we are now caught in an era of slow paced theme songs. Not quite what you expect in spy action thrillers. But this happened in the 70s and 80s also when everyone tried to recreate the magic of Carly Simon. Upon further plays I've grown to love the melody of this song and the performance. It is top notch. I was just hoping for something with a little more energy after Sam Smith slowed us to a crawl.

  • BOND PERFORMANCE (8): Bond should be about the mission - not constantly distracted because he's nothing but a lovesick puppy. 
  • MAIN VILLAIN (3):
  • BOND GIRL (4):
  • SUPPORTING CAST (7):
  • LOCATIONS (5):
  • ACTION (8):
  • GADGETS (7):
  • COOL SCENES (9):
  • STYLE (6): One of the characteristics Bond has always had, is being in control. I've heard a lot of people say Craig and the cast in this movie were much more human and showed their flaws. I think this is why long time Bond fans didn't like this movie, but general movie watchers were more impressed.
  • HUMOR (8):
  • CARS (8):
  • SETS (8):
  • WATCHES (6):