No Time To Die – Review

3rd October 2021 Rachel

It’s been so long since we’ve been to the cinema. We knew as soon as the new Bond film was out it would be our first trip back to the cinema. No Time To Die – what a film to go back to the cinema to see! We are huge Bond fans and this one did not disappoint! Here is a little bit about the plot of the film before I get onto my views. Read on for my No Time To Die – Review.

No Time To Die – The 25th Bond Film

James Bond is enjoying retirement life in Jamaica after leaving active service. However, his peace is short-lived as his old CIA friend, Felix Leiter, shows up and asks for help with a new boy. The mission is to rescue a kidnapped scientist. Of course, this turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond on the trail of a mysterious villain who’s armed with dangerous new technology.

Release date: 30th September 2021 in the UK.

Runtime: 2h 43min

Daniel Craig Aston Martin DB5 in No Time To Die

My Review – spoiler alert!!

So No Time To Die is Daniel Craig’s last outing playing James Bond. This film really rounded up his time as 007. It brought everything to a conclusion and I quite liked that. It wasn’t your typical ladies-man Bond film, it felt family-oriented. In fact, I found the end rather emotional. Yes, Bond does die in No Time To Die. How will they bring the franchise back? – “James Bond Will Return” was in the closing credits so Bond will be back but as who? No one knows yet! I for one can’t wait!

The opening sequence was fantastic! Taking place in the past shortly after Spectre, Bond and Madeleine are enjoying life but both have things in the past they would rather not talk about. Then shit hits the fan and Bond accuses her of letting SPECTRE know his location. The next thing you know is that it’s the present day. Where Bond is living a restful life in Jamaica until Felix Leiter shows up with a new colleague. Felix asks Bond to come back and help the CIA find a scientist who has been kidnapped by SPECTRE. Bond also meets the new 007 – his replacement at MI6.

Bond takes Leiter up on his request and heads to Cuba to find the scientist, Valdo Obruchev. Of course, the mission doesn’t go easy for Bond and he discovers the villain Safin and new technology – the DNA-targeted virus codenamed Heracles. It was actually developed by M of all people!!!

SPECTRE is still being run by Blofeld – who is still locked away in prison where Bond put him. But while he is looking for Obruchev (the scientist) he finds himself at a birthday party for Blofeld. Blofeld’s aim is to kill Bond with the virus, at this party, but little does he know that Obruchev is actually working for Safin and changed the target of the virus to anybody associated with SPECTRE!

Bond manages to get away from the party with Obruchev to take him back to the CIA – Leiter and his new colleague Logan Ash. Things go a bit wrong when Bond and Leiter discover that Logan is one of Safin’s henchmen. RIP Felix Leiter. Bond just manages to escape with his life and heads straight back to London to confront M and find out what the hell is going on.

After all the members of SPECTRE were killed in Cuba at Blofeld’s birthday party, we discover that Blofeld is the remaining survivor of SPECTRE alive so Bond wants to get in to see him in prison to get answers. M agrees to this meeting.

But it turns out that the only person who’s seen Blofeld over the past five years is Madeleine, leading to an awkward reunion especially as she’s been forced by Safin to take the poison into prison and kill Blofeld!

Madeleine leaves after Bond grabs her wrist transferring the poisonous nanobots onto him from her wrist. Blofeld angers Bond saying it was all his doing and Madeleine was innocent in the SPECTRE tip-off. This leads Bond to try and strangle Blofeld whilst unknowingly transferring the poison onto Blofeld who then dies.

M wants to know where Madeleine has run to. Bond knows where she has gone but doesn’t tell M. He sets off after her to her childhood home in Norway. Bond gets a surprise when he arrives. Madeleine has a daughter called Mathilde. She insists that the child isn’t his, despite her piercing blue eyes. But she does at least tell Bond that Safin is behind the whole poisoning plot and shows him her father’s secret hideaway with plans for an island between Japan and Russia where something is going on.

Madeleine tells Bond about Safin and how she came to know him. Right at the start of the film as a young girl. Madeleine’s childhood home came under attack from Safin, as her father had killed Safin’s entire family on Blofeld’s order. So as revenge he came and killed her mother and was going to kill Madeleine but ended up saving her life as she fell through the ice. Of course, now Safin thinks that he and Madeleine have a connection because of this.

Safin had tracked Madeleine down at her home and is now chasing them down. Bond, Madeleine, and her daughter run away in her SUV and get chased down across the Norweigan Fjords. Now ensues a fantastic car chase! Bond driving an old SUV and the baddies in fancy Range Rovers and Discoveries! It’s brilliant!

As Bond tries to hold off the Safin’s henchmen while Madeleine and Mathilde are hiding, Safin captures them and flies them away in his helicopter to the island. Bond manages to kill Logan and then teams up with 007 Nomi and off they go to the island to rescue them. What they find on the island is an enormous factory for producing Hercules. It must be destroyed.

Safin has a DNA database of a huge amount of people around the world and Obruchev has altered the virus to not only target individuals, but also their blood relatives. Once it’s on you, the virus can’t be destroyed, so even if a person isn’t a target, they could kill anybody whose DNA is programmed into it. This is very important to know when it gets near the end of the film!

Bond leaves Nomi to take care of Obruchev, while he goes to find Safin. Safin explains that he’s turning the virus on the world because “people want oblivion” and they don’t want free will. Bond doesn’t agree, but since Safin is holding Mathilde hostage, he is stuck.

Safin escapes with Mathilde and In order to destroy the virus before Safin can use or sell it, Bond gets M to order the Navy to fire on the base. He meets up with Madeleine, who’s escaped from the room that Safin was holding her captive in after throwing some hot tea onto the baddie!

Mathilde gets away from Safin by biting his hand and making it clear she doesn’t want to go with him. She hides under the table and comes out when her mum and Bond pass by. Nomi takes Madeleine and Mathilde away from the Island by boat after Bond gives Madeleine the goodbye kiss and gives Mathilde his jumper. You get the feeling this is the final goodbye. Bond has to go back in to unlock the blast doors to ensure the Navy airstrike is a success.

Safin’s henchmen attack James but he fights them off and gets the blast doors open. Just as about to leave they close again and Safin shoots Bond as he tries to go back and open them again. During the final villain fight, Safin breaks a vial of virus onto Bond’s face. You know then that this is the virus targeted to attack Madeleine and her relatives – Mathilde. Meaning Bond will never be able to see them ever again. If he does he will unintentionally kill them. At this point, my heart breaks for Bond. He’s just discovered he has a daughter and found the love of his life again and now he can never see them again.

Bond then kills Safin and goes to open the blast doors as the Navy airstrike closes in. Q tells Bond to get out immediately. But since Heracles can’t be removed, from his skin, Bond chooses to sacrifices himself to save Madeleine and Mathilde. Bond asks Q to connect him to Madeleine and in an emotional goodbye, Madeleine reveals that Mathilde is his daughter. Which we all knew from the first time we saw her with those piercing blue eyes.

“You have all the time in the world,” Bond tells Madeleine before the missiles hit and Madeleine and Nomi watch on as the island is destroyed. The beautiful phrase from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service said by George Lazenby’s Bond.

The last two scenes in the film:

M, Q, Nomi, Tanner and Miss Moneypenny raise a glass to Bond’s memory.

Madeleine and Mathilde are on a road trip in an Aston Martin as Madelein goes to tell her daughter a story about a man called “Bond, James Bond”.

I will say it again, a bloody fantastic film. Plenty of action, multi country visits and car chases, twists, turns and Q’s gadets! Throughout the whole film there were references from previous Bond films. It really brought everything together. Daniel Craig’s Bond character has finally come to an end. Don’t forget the tissues!