The epic conclusion of the James Bond dynasty, No Time To Die directed by Cary Joji Fakunaga, hit theaters on September 30th (after multiple delays, due to the pandemic). This thrilling end to a loved franchise has left us with an emotional ending, action packed fight scenes, and the suspense of a lifetime. The story follows James Bond (Daniel Craig) protecting the love of his life Madeline Swann (Lea Seydoux) from a secret crime boss that haunts Madeline’s past. The movie has twists and turns, backstabs and alliances, and best of all, top notch spy sequences. I love the start of the film, it leaves the audience in shock and perfectly introduces the tension in the future. 

There are countless positives to this historical film such as, the acting is phenomenal, the emotions hit hard, and the suspense is present, but there are some critiques. The movie can be predictable, I found myself pointing out spies, twists, and reveals before they even occurred. With all action movies there will always be overly dramatic stunts; sometimes that’s okay, but other times the action sequences can become frustrating, especially if the elaborate trip risking their life could have been prevented by a single task. These are just nit-picky critiques and the movie is definitely still worthy of any movie goer’s gaze. One of the greatest positives is that the movie introduces a black, female, double-0 agent bringing up the possibility of new, female, spy for MI6. 

No Time To Die is not some movie. It is history. A great finale to the longest running movie franchise. James Bond was originally a series  written by Ian Flemming in 1953. The first James Bond appearance was in a black & white TV show. In 1963, the first James Bond movie was released titled Dr. No. The franchise went through numerous actors, such as George Lazenby, Barry Nelson, Sean Connery, Timothy Dalton, David Niven, Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan, and finally, Daniel Craig. 

Here are some important things to know about No Time To Die. The movie is 2 hours and 45 minutes long. Although it required a large portion of my day, I expected nothing less from the world famous, 59 year long, espionage franchise. (I was worried about the movie being a struggle to sit through, as some of its predecessors were quite dull, but No Time To Die delivered, keeping the audience’s eyes glued to the screen. ) Another note: as this is the finale of the series, the predecessors are quite important to the plot of this movie. If time is not a concern and previous movies have been watched, grab some popcorn; the true James Bond magic is about to be experienced. Hope you enjoy, No Time To Die!