Daniel Craig Delivers Thrilling Final Pic As James Bond – Deadline

Bond is back with a vengeance, and that means Daniel Craig taking on the assignment just one more time in a film that proves a fitting finale for the actor. He invests the role with more emotion, power and style in a movie that not only marks a milestone as the 25th time around but also one not afraid to take some twists, turns and, yes, risks in a long-delayed entertainment that sees James Bond not only out to save the world from evil forces again but perhaps, in these Covid times, the theatrical exhibition business itself.

It has been six long years since last we saw Agent 007 on the big screen in 2015’s Spectre, where Bond was seen driving away  in his Aston Martin DB5 in Italy with new love Madeleine Swann. We have survived the Trump presidency, if not Trump himself, and two immortal Bonds — Roger Moore and Sean Connery — have both passed away, the end of two distinct eras of the nearly 60-year-old Bond screen legacy.

‘No Time To Die’ World Premiere Kicks Off In London For Long-Awaited James Bond Movie

And now, after pandemic-related release delays of a year and a half, another era in the saga of 007 also comes sadly to an end with Craig’s fifth and final turn as Ian Fleming’s suave and never-stirred secret agent in the momentous new Bond film, No Time to Die. In a highly successful 15-year run, Craig has taken the series on its most serious and humane ride, an especially emotional roller coaster in some ways for the usually unflappable spy we first encountered in 1962, when Connery starred in Dr. No. This edition expands on all that and leaves us wanting more, but if you wait — as all Bond films know you should — until the very last image on the screen, four special words give us the promise that there is more to come.

Getting there, however, will put you through the ringer. With Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre, there have been shared themes in the Craig 007 era, particularly trust, betrayal, secrets, lies and a distinct connection, or handoff, among all of those films. In other words, not just the usual previous pattern of stand-alone stories. And let me assure you, this is defiantly not a stand-alone, even if it means Craig has left the building.

Hunt For Next James Bond Will Begin Next Year, Says Producer Barbara Broccoli

No Time to Die — which, at 2 hours and 43 minutes has the longest running time of any of the 24 films that preceded it — also brings us back to his relationship with Madeleine, played again by Lea Seydoux, the first time a Bond love interest has actually returned, believe it or not. How all this will be received is to be seen, as this is perhaps the most unique and uncertain environment in which any Bond film has ever been launched. The importance of the legendary British character is undeniable in his…