His name was Bond, James Bond
For the very last time, in No Time to Die Daniel Craig shows us his handsome Shrek face: this is his announced last performance as 007 in this 25-film-long franchise (the word we use in movies for ‘series’).
It all started with Sean Connery in the sixties and Roger Moore in the seventies, with those early film versions of Fleming’s novels in which Bond was the quintessential dream of every white Western male, the paladin of the Western society in Cold War times, a black&white world in which the villain was always linked to the communist powers. And where women were no more than pleasure toys.
After P. Brosnan’s age in the nineties, more focused on globalization and planetarian villains, came Craig’s post-9/11 five films, in which Bond has to fight against a high-tech villain, international terrorism, chemical weapons and internal enemies. And also against his ageing, the insurgence of repressed feelings, and has to accept the ‘politically correct’: a new black female 007 and a black Miss Moneypenny are inconceivable in the ‘white supremacy’ world of Fleming.
Being a Bond fan, I went to see No Time to Die with good expectations but I came out disappointed and puzzled. The plot is traditional as far as the chase of the villain is concerned, with exaggerated stunting and shooting. Bond goes back to service first to revenge his old CIA pal Felix (a noir classic), then to save the world from the planetarian neurotic villain who wants to destroy humankind and who, like many previous movies, has his HQ in a private exotic island, Dr No style. What is quite new, and puzzling, is James himself. Bond is in love: it had happened before, with disastrous results, especially in the Craig series, but this time, as the story develops, he expresses his feelings and considers making a family; in a word, he is more human, and that humanity creeps through the toughness [si insinua nella durezza di …] of Bond the license-to-kill secret agent. The Bond girl here is no more a pleasure toy but someone to be faithful to (another inconceivable item for Fleming). The finale is puzzling too, and really unexpected: that is the real thing in the movie; even if at the end of the credit it says Bond will return, it won’t be the same again, that’s for sure.
One last word about the stunning locations that characterize the franchise. Italy has always been a favourite of directors, and this time it is no exception. Trendy Matera is the background of the opening sequence, one of the best in the movie, to confirm the fact that Matera is the gorgeous Italian hill town film-makers can’t resist (here is The Guardian article).
Follow up:
Check rottentomatoes.com which aggregates reviews.
MyMovies review (in Italian) is very good: UN CAPITOLO CHIAVE CHE CHIUDE UN’EPOCA E NE APRE UN’ALTRA, CHE AGGIORNA 007, DISORIENTA E INFINE STORDISCE, CON UN EPILOGO INATTESO ED ESPLOSIVO.