![]() ![]() Giving James Bond an origin story after 20 movies and over 40 years on screen is no easy feat, but Craig and director Martin Campbell do it with style. Casino Royale, then, proved not only that Bond could still compete, but that on its day it could be better than anyone. There was a lot going against Casino Royale: Craig wasn't the most popular pick, the franchise was stuck in the past, and new-spies-on-the-block like the Jason Bourne movies had raised the game. The movie that brought James Bond back and introduces viewers to Craig's version, Casino Royale remains fresh even today, with a whole new take on Bond that set the template and standard for much of what was to come, and will likely still be helping to define the franchise in James Bond 26's reboot and beyond. That helps the full movie, too: the scenes with M (Ralph Fiennes) and Bond carry such a sense of weight and history that you forget he's not been there since the beginning the introduction of Bond's daughter is a twist that re-defines what Bond will fight for and how far he'll go, and combined with his relationship with Madeleine Swann it beautifully sets up his ending. There are few Bond movies more poignant or tear-jerking than this one, and that stems not only from Craig's complete performance, but how it pulls in elements of his other movies - most notably Casino Royale and Skyfall - to bring his arc full circle. The continuity that hurts its story also aids its character work, themes, and overall emotional resonance. Safin himself feels like a Bond villain leftover from a bygone era with his secret lair, deathly garden, scarred visage, and overwrought plan to destroy the world and remake it in his image, it feels like a regression for Craig's Bond era.Īnd yet, for all its flaws, No Time To Die comes through in the end. The specters of both Spectre and SPECTRE loom over it as well Bond is forced to deal with both elements, which means forcing Blofeld into the narrative alongside a new villain, Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek), and the collision of those elements makes the story needlessly complicated. No Time To Die does have some real issues, not least pacing, ignoring the warning of its own title, and instead going with its preferred mantra of having "all the time in the world," there's a bloated runtime coming close to three hours that could (and should) have been trimmed down further in the editing room.
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