No Time To Try

Watched the latest Bond film, “No Time To Die” last night.

Meh…

For my money, (mild spoilers ahead) and I realise that my opinion doesn’t count for a whole lot of anything in this mad world, it’s the weakest of the five films starring Daniel Craig in the eponymous role and that’s got nothing to do with the ending, but it just didn’t greatly excite me, the story or the story telling.

Given what we’ve all been through lately and the amount of time they’ve had to fettle that film, I would have welcomed a more upbeat ending. OK, yes, I realise that it was more or less “in the can” by the time SARS‑CoV‑2 was unleashed upon us and hey, the film itself deals with a kind of virus being unleashed, spooky huh?

Well, OK, it’s not the film makers’ fault I suppose and maybe there was little they could do to change the narrative of the film without spending a whole lot of money, but a virus? Another virus? Haven’t we all got virus fatigue? Obviously, the COVID pandemic wasn’t on the horizon when the film was in production but by the time it was released, hadn’t we all had quite enough, thank you very much, of viruses?

The fact that Bond is – you know – at the end isn’t really my main gripe here, the character of bond is such that we know that if required to make the ultimate sacrifice, he’d be prepared to do it, he is after all, a hero, but as far as I’m concerned, we need heroes who pull-off the seemingly impossible at the end, not heroes who succumb to fate.

I wrote a piece about my heroes a few years back and Bond wasn’t included, there were so many to choose from and I didn’t want it to be merely a list of heroes, but as a child, Bond was certainly on my radar and I even had a Corgi model of the Aston Martin DB5 with working ejector seat, bullet proof screen, revolving number plates etc. And before you ask, no, I haven’t still got it.

But back to the film.
In the early part of the film we are introduced to a Cuban CIA operative named Paloma who is sent in to aid Bond while he’s in Cuba. Paloma is wearing a black dress that leaves not a lot to the imagination and initially seems to be a bit of a bimbo but when the chips inevitably come down, she womans-up and saves Bond’s bacon before taking her leave. When Paloma reveals her true, balls of steel, secret agent nature I began to think that yes, this was going to be a good film if this young lady was to be Bond’s partner, sidekick, call it what you will, but no, she and Bond go their separate ways after about 10 minutes. Shame really, in that short time I’d really warmed to her character.

And so, Bond goes on, Paloma less and the film, for me at least, doesn’t deliver, not even in his last, selfless action.

When Indy rolls under that closing door and then reaches back to grab his hat, THAT’S what we all need, that kind of feel-good vibe.
Anyone can just roll over and submit to fate. We need heroes to reach out and GRAB that hat, don’t we?