Okay, so I saw "No Time to Die" today and here's what I think. Is this a worthy farewell to Daniel Craig?
Having a degree in film studies, I'm well acquainted with Bond franchise as well as spy cinema in general. The former is quite an interesting testament of cold war era, but Bond movies with Craigs have been slowly shifting towards more modern threats. And while the best terrorist-related piece of cinema is without a doubt American "24" TV series, I still liked the modern Bond movies. After all they are well-made blockbusters, which a strong resemblence of spy movie genre most known motifs. And "No Time to Die" is that and just that - a well-made, but no brilliant blockbuster, which honors Craig's Bond story.
Speaking brielfy of the formal side of the film, everything is just fine. The cinematography is great, especially some of the shots and CGI works just fine. Some action sequences might have been a lot better and from time to time an unnecessary acceleration happens, but it's quite easy to miss.
The main problem of the movie is it's script. The story feels really stiff - there is just too many characters and some of them are entirely redundant. For example Ana de Armas in the role of CIA operative, while astonishingly beautiful, doesn't really have any function in the plot and her character could have been easily avoided. Whatsmore, the main villain is just... Well, uninteresing. I value Remi Malek's talent, but he just plays in a very cliche way. Some might say that Bond villains embody a lot of cliches from spy movie and it's true, but Bond movies with Craig tried to break with this trend.
Having said that, I must admit, that most of the film was just fine and I had a really good time in the cinema. While the flaws of "No Time to Die" are unfortunately too big to ignore, I still think that Cary Fukunaga managed to create a genuinely good movie.
I rate it 6/10 and recommend to everyone that loves Bond... Or just is up for a spy movie!