 So Bond takes Faldor on the plane and takes him over to Felix and Logan Ash aboard of a boat. Bond goes on a question fire to try and find out what the Herakles bio-weapon is. So Faldor explained that he programmed the weapon to target the Spectre members DNA. But how did Blofeld know that Bond was going to be there? We soon find out that, what do you know, Logan is the snitch working for the bad guys and he shoots Felix straight in the gut. This ensues a fight between Bond and Logan. A pretty brutal one too. It's over pretty quickly through some unlucky events and Logan gets the upper hand and locks Bond below deck with Felix. That's a lot of blood. That line caused me to swallow for a second because quite frankly that made me realize this time Felix wasn't going to make it. Never before in the Bond franchise have they killed off Felix. The closest they ever got was in License the Kill when they fed Felix to the shark that took off his leg. Now, things aren't looking too good as Logan and Faldor escaped with the bio-weapon, setting off a bomb causing the ship to get flooded. Any moment of doubt whether Felix was going to make it was flooded along with it for me here. It's a good life. Listen. And indeed we do get the moment where he drowns in very similar fashion to Vesper 2. It's like Bond is thinking, this is her all over again. It's quite emotional. It's quite a ballsy move on the filmmakers part. One they could only really do because this is Craig's final Bond film and we know they will have to reboot after this movie anyway. This allows for some freedom in writing, some for the good and some for the bad. Whatever you think of this moment, I think it was very powerful. So Bond manages to get back to the surface and ends up in one of those typical yellow dinghies. I don't know about you guys, but I was totally expecting a submarine to pop up under him like in the ending of Yoni Live Twice. They didn't go for that though. Connery's Bond usually ended up in one of these with a hot chick in one of his arms and I do have to admit Craig looked pretty funny in contrast here, you know, without one. The scene following immediately makes him look the business again though as he gets yet another old Aston out of storage in London. How much Aston's does this dude have around though? It's the Aston Martin Vantage from The Living Daylights making a re-imperance here and I really love it. The awesome soundtrack by Hans Zimmer playing over this. Bond back in his suit rocking his sunglasses as he comes back to the MI6 building. This really is a cool transition scene that really makes you go, that's my dude over there, this is my franchise. Shame that everybody is aware of him though. Name? Bond. James Bond. And here we are rejoined by Nomi being her usual annoying self. W7? That must bother you. I do have to admit though, as much of the one nothing that Nomi gets to do Bond gets to do right back at her and sometimes it does make for a pretty fun ping-pong-like dynamic between the two. I'm still not a fan though. The M scene following is also written in a pretty humorous and different way. Has this desk got bigger? Or have you got smaller? Usually in the Bond movies, M would be the only authority in Bond's life, the only person that could really put Bond in his place. This isn't a personal vendetta 007, it's an assignment like any other. But if you can't treat it as such coldly and objectively, the 008 can replace you. I'll find you a more suitable assignment, that's all. Sir, under the table, that's all. We've thought had occurred to me. Good. Because I think you're a sexist, misogynist dinosaur. A relic of the Cold War. Here, the tables, or desks, have turned. Bond isn't an active MI6 agent anymore, and he has all the reason to scold M, as he's partly responsible for the hurriedly's bio-weapons existence, now in hands of the bad guys. So Bond gets thrown out for it, but it's always money-penny we can at least count on, taking him over to Q. So you're not dead? Hello Q, I've missed you. It's another scene filled with lots of humor in the dialogue. This is the first time I... ...he'll be here in 20 minutes. You know, they come with fur these days. I also like that they made Q homosexual in this movie, too. I think this is the first where they just straight-out stated, and I have to say, it suits Ben Wishart's version of Q. Those concerns about things being too woke beforehand, certainly did not apply to this particular aspect, at least not to me. It's all great. There's some nice continuity, too, where Q doesn't want to risk plugging something Bond retrieved from the field into the system just like that, after previously making that mistake in Skyfall. It's a nice touch. We get a bit of exhibition of stuff we already know. A separate entity managed to wipe out everyone in Spectre, etc. So Bond desperately wants to speak to Blofeld in the Belmarsh prison. It's here that we learn that only one person has had access to Blofeld all along, which turns out to be Madeleine, who also returned working as a psychotherapist. This is also when we finally get to meet Saffin, you know, without the mask. Remy Malek portrays him in a very creepy, quiet type of way. And at first, the creepiness feels a bit deliberate in his delivery, leaving dramatically long pauses between words to ramp up the creep factor, etc. You know, if you eat them, they can cause your heart to just... stop. But overall, though, he does manage to sell it, and especially the moment he shows her the mask is pretty powerful. Both Malek and Leia say, too, are really good in this. It's funny, on one of my later viewings in cinema, with more casual audiences, you could hear some people in the theater go, ah, so he's the man with the mask! It always cracks me up. Saffin wants Madeleine to use a sample of their hurricley's bio weapons, spray it on her hand, and get in touch with Blofeld, as it's programmed to connect with his DNA, it will kill him upon touch. Meanwhile, Bond and M meet up in London in sort of a transition scene, getting him back into the service. Meanwhile, the Majesty's music is playing in the background, which I took as a way to symbolize Bond's return to her Majesty's government. Although I like this, most of the central theme in the dialogue just feels like it's being recycled. But we used to be able to get into a room with the enemy, we could look him in the eye, now that the enemy is just floating in the ether. I mean, haven't we heard stuff exactly like that for like three times in a row now? The scene afterwards immediately starts off with some great comedy, though. Oh, Bond! My God, I haven't seen you in, in, in a... How is your return? Shut up, Q, I know he's staying with you. Ben Wishaw, once again, is just hilarious in this film. It really cracked me up in cinema. Again, though, and I know I'm overstating this, Nomi is continued to be written as just plain childish and annoying. He's been reinstated as a double-O. Double-O what? No, it's some good work, Nomi. Thank you, sir. Double-O what? It really just makes you want to go, the world's most dangerous bio weapon is unleashed upon humanity. Just focus, Miss... High Achiever. Jesus Christ. So, while Bond's request to talk to Blofeld is now granted, Miss High Achiever is assigned to track down Val, though. But first, a brief bathroom break with Madeleine, who's getting ready to kill Blofeld. I guess this is that scene in which Lochana originally suggested to Fugunaga to put that tampon in. So, because Madeleine sprayed on the nanobots, she obviously refuses to touch Bond in her silent protection move. Oh, that was awkward. Does it have that effect on all women? Oh, Jesus Christ. Anyway, the moment of Blofeld being brought into the tiny little room is pretty epic. He's being brought in in this tiny cell with the music ramping up, Madeleine panicking, knowing her task ahead, requesting to be released and stuff, causing Bond to touch her anyway, unknowingly getting the nanobots enabling him to kill Blofeld. Madeleine leaves the room, leaving Bond to face Blofeld alone. Christoph Walt is his usual cheeky, silent self. Ah, yes, James, my little brother. How's Madeleine? Cuckoo. Blofeld teases Bond about Madeleine having some big secret and another underwhelming reveal being that Blofeld framed Madeleine and made her look guilty in the opening of the film. So, them separating really didn't have to happen. It was all the work of the author of Hold His Pain, again. This causes Bond to completely freak out and to me, he kinda loses character here. Upon first viewing, I was surprised Bond fell for the framing of Madeleine that easily. He never really questioned how guilty he really was to all this and just put her on that train. Upon subsequent viewings, though, I did think about this a bit more. He did lose Vesper in a very similar way, being blackmailed into working for what later turned out to be Spectre 2. It does make sense for Bond to not be that trustworthy of women anymore. I'm not just a pretty face. To stop trusting pretty faces a long time ago, Felix. Yeah, I heard bad luck. But still, I feel kind of surprised that Blofeld manages to get under Bond's skin this much and let it get to him causing him to touch Blofeld. It really just feels like an excuse so that Bond can actually get to touch him so that we can see the nanobots in action, causing Bond to accidentally kill Blofeld. Much like Felix, Blofeld has never been killed before. Well, you can count that silly opening in for your eyes only, I guess, but that seemed more like comedy. Unlike the more serious full-on death scene we get here. But again, like Felix, the filmmakers now were able to pull all stops and just kill away with the characters. The filmmakers kept talking about all those loose ends that they wanted to tie up in No Time to Die. But with this, it sometimes feels like they're just cutting off most of the loose ends instead. In any case, Blofeld is now gone too, and Saphon has now successfully disposed of Spectre in a revenge of Mr. White killing his parents. When you think about it on paper, this does make him a really powerful ultimate villain to Bond, a guy that just single-handedly wiped out the entirety of Spectre. Let's find out later if he actually lives up to that. So, the plot advances in Norway with more gorgeous cinematography, by the way. And Bond knows he can refine Madeline Swan here, while Nomi is sent out to track down Valdo. I have to admit, though, on paper, this scene may sound very melodramatic, and maybe it is, but I find it to be quite emotional and powerful. I mean, I'm not crying. You are crying. Craig and Seydoux sell their love a lot more to me than they did in Spectre. It's a lot more fleshed out, and it feels natural, and it always touches a nerve when Craig becomes dishonorable. To me, this was a good scene. And this is also when we get to learn about the big secret Blofeld was teasing Bond about. Madeline has a daughter. And I don't know about you, but the first thing I thought was, wait, so who took care of the child when Madeline was over in London? It's not like she had any next of kin to take care of her. And wait a minute, how did Blofeld know this was her big secret, that she had a child? Huh. And wait a minute, how did MI6 keep her on the close surveillance every time she visited Blofeld, yet they never noticed this woman was pregnant? Really? It really makes no sense. I guess that one moment in Spectre had a whole different meaning now, though. That definitely must have been the moment she got conceived. You could say it happened in Italy a couple of years ago, but I think Madeline was already pretty aware that she was pregnant during the Italy scenes. I think that's when she wanted to tell Bond originally that she was pregnant from him. Also, some fans suggested that she looked at her belly when she was in the car with Bond, suggesting she definitely already knew about this. Oh, and even though Madeline pretends Bond isn't the father, we all totally know that he is the father. I do have to admit, though, the child actress playing Matilde, she's named Matilde, by the way, and her stuffed animal is named Dudu. She's very cute and charming. And I really cannot picture any of the other Bond's in this type of setting. Matilde watching Saturday morning cartoons, Bond making her breakfast, or, well, cutting an apple. It's completely different and unusual, but somehow, in some weird way, it does force a smile on your face. It's kind of charming. So meanwhile, thanks to Bond's help, Nomi has tracked down Logan-ass, which should lead her to Valdo. And there's some cool paintings here of both Judy Densis M and Robert Browns M, by the way, another nice touch. We soon find out, though, Logan-ass is directly in the vicinity of Bond, queuing in more action. By the way, No Time to Die has the longest runtime of all the Bond films to date. At this point in the movie, it's pretty much surpassed the entire runtime of Quantum of Solace, while No Time to Die still has a good hour left to go. At least there's still enough going on to keep it interesting and keep things going. No wonder this is my longest recapping episode to date. I mean, Jesus. So, sevens guys show up in Land Rovers, Staling Bond, while Bond shakes some of them off in a cool way. Of course, much more of them show up later with some pretty amazing-looking stunt work, even though most of these shots were already shown in all of the trailers. It's still very thrilling. This will definitely go down as the only Bond movie in history to have Bond in a life-threatening car chase while he has an innocent child in the backseat. The chase does kind of feel like a New Land Rover commercial. Oh wait, it WAS the New Land Rover commercial. So Bond enters the misty forest and the chase continues there. You gotta give No Time to Die credit for constantly coming up with a lot of stuff we've never seen before in a Bond film, while at the same time still maintaining the feeling of watching one. This is the first time it feels like Bond has his own family now. And through circumstances they really didn't have any hand in, they are forced to survive and protect each other. I'm not necessarily sure that had you told me beforehand that Bond would have a child in this movie that I would completely like that and all. I mean, I know it happens in the You Only Live Twice Fleming novel, but I admit, it does work for the setting of this movie. I think this is an advantage of this being the final chapter of the era and we know the reset button is going to be pressed after this movie anyway. I love it when Bond is brought down to a situation without too much technology, forcing him to use his own wits. I mean, fair enough, he does use a grenade launcher to blow up another Land Rover, but he also uses its pool cable to set up a trap for the goons on the bike coming. Soon it comes down to Logan Ash vs Bond, who ends up crashing his Land Rover before you know it. This cues what I think is arguably one of the most badass kills Daniel Craig's Bond ever made. Why don't you help me out, brother? I had a brother. His name was Felix Lighter. This of course is a direct homage to this moment in For Your Eyes Only. You left this with Ferrara, I believe. Savon soon shows up, kidnapping Madeleine and Matilda, escaping the scene. And then Nomi shows up in the new DBS pretending to be a badass bitch again. So where the hell was she this whole time? So Bond already told her the day before that she needed to find Logan Ash. We don't have a trail. Logan Ash. State Department X, State Department. Find him, you'll find a bridge up. And then she stayed around a little bit to watch Bond's interrogation and complain about his way with women some more, but soon she left to find Logan Ash. We knew she was already in the vicinity way before Bond was even aware these guys were here. So what the hell had she been doing this whole time? Some 007. So Bond and Nomi end up working together, making way for the big climax scene coming up. This is the moment, however, where Nomi states this. And I am completely self-aware that I am the one sounding childish now, but I honestly was so relieved when that happened. I guess to a lot of fans this number really is that important. It certainly is to me, and it's ironic because from that character development moment onwards, Nomi is being more of the likeable character I think she was intended to be in the first place and finally becomes more enjoyable to watch. At least to me. So Saffin is stationed on an island near Japan and thanks to a hare he found of Madeline earlier on, he has her DNA and can easily program the Heracles weapon to let her, and thus her daughter, be killed. I also never got how Primo is working for Saffin too. Wasn't he working for Spectre in the pre-title sequence, having that bionic eye that was linked to Blofeld and such? He was the only Spectre member not to get killed at that Spectre meeting in Cuba, so I guess somewhere in the middle he transferred his loyalty to Saffin, kind of like what Jaws did working for different bad guys, or maybe he had been working for Saffin since the very beginning. I just didn't immediately get it, I don't know. So Saffin's villain layer, the farm as it's dubbed, is an ancient missile base transformed to a nanobots factory, and I think it's here that the movie becomes a bit confusing. There's this whole element of Saffin having a Poison's Garden, which I know is a reference to the Garden of Death of the Only Live Twice novel, but apart from some dangerous tea, it really doesn't go anywhere. Saffin's motivations become somewhat unclear to me too. I know he wanted to revenge on Spectre because Mr. White killed his parents. He has already wiped them out, so I know he still is a bit sick and twisted towards Madeleine, ever since he pulled her out of the ice when the sea was young, so he has her life in her hands, got it. But what is the purpose of this whole factory towards the world? The world domination bit, it seems to come kind of out of left field. He can wipe out humanity if he wanted to and spread it around like the Omega Virus in Majesties. The whole point of where these other motivations came from. It's kind of lost on me. Anyway, Bond and Nomi drop in on the island in this slick drone-like plane that can turn into a submarine. Pretty cool. Meanwhile, Q is tracking them through the field, Benji Mission Impossible style. All the sets of this layer are clear homages to past Bond movies. Looking like the submarine set from The Spy Who Love Me and the obvious similarities with Dr. No's villain layer, which I swear for the longest time made us fans believe Saffin was a new modern-day Dr. No. I still believe they must have at the very least talked about that during production, but it didn't make it in the final movie. I guess that's for the better. While Nomi is down at the factory, Bond soon comes face-to-face with Saffin in this Oriental setting, which again really has these Dr. No vibes all over it. The dialogue between Saffin and Bond is pretty classic Mechalomaniac Bond villain vs Bond. So here I am, their invisible god sneaking up. You know that history isn't kind of those who play God. So even though Saffin wants to play God now and such, it's still missing some more reasoning. Anyway, in an attempt to get his daughter to safety, Bond makes a sneaky move to try and kill Saffin, but he's a fraction too late and Saffin soon escapes. Now, before, Saffin was all about having Madeline and letting her daughter be raised in this place, but here he's just like, ah, screw it, little shit just bit me. Let her run around in my sinister villain layer, what do I care? And then there is this other aspect of buyers coming to the island, which really adds to the confusion of the climax. Maybe I still need to watch the movie a few more times, but my point is it's a bit altogether for the movie's final. I'm not just complaining about the climax though, this is the only time we're seeing Craig's Bond in a proper full-on classic villain layer at the end of the film. And it's really reminisce of the old days where Bond goes up against a whole squadron of goons trying to save the world, blowing stuff up, just like in those days. It isn't necessarily believable to have Bond be a one-man army, surviving grenades like they're nothing and such, but I can easily suspend my disbelief for that kind of stuff. Nomi also gets a little moment where, out of nowhere, ethnicities play a part in the movie now. To exterminate your entire race from the face of the earth. Do you know what time it is? Time to die. No! And I think this moment was supposed to be the big ass-kicking moment for Nomi, but because they bring in race out of nowhere, it really just feels like another shoe-orientated political statement for Black Lives Matter or whatever, and we're supposed to go all, hey, you go, girl. To the easily offended, I may not have the desired opinion on this, but it feels very forced again. To be fair, this is more on the writing than on Leshanna Lynch. So Bond reunites with Madeline and Matilde, and soon gets them to safety with the help of Nomi, who you would think as the strong 00 agent would be the one to continue on trying to save the world so that Bond can get his own family to safety. But no, she's happy to let him be the man now and get the job done, so Bond and Madeline part ways and he's up to try and save us all again. He also ends up in a fight with Primo. Again, much like that first fight they had in Italy, I like the dynamic camera work they go for and the classic styled one-liner that Bond delivers as he uses his EMP watch to blow up his bionic eye. Bond, do you read me? I had to shut someone your watch. I really blew their mind. So Bond soon finds the control room, complete with the classic 60 styled control panels to try and open the missile shutter so that the British Navy can fire their missiles at the island. Bond only has a few more minutes to get off there now. Meanwhile Bond also finds Dudu, the stuffed animal of his daughter. It's a cute little moment of something you can't really imagine any of the other Bond's in. But yeah, I guess no time to die just makes it work. However, the missile shutters close down again, which is bad news, so Bond needs to do it all over again. But this ensues the final confrontation between Safin and Bond. It's damn brutal. Bond breaking his arm in the water, but soon finding out he's been infected with the Heracles program for Madeline's DNA. So now he can no longer touch her or his daughter. It's actually pretty damn dark, and we know from Q there's no antidote to this. Bond fans have been speculating for years before this movie that they were going to kill Bond off in this. And from this moment on, I was pretty certain like, oh shit, they're gonna do it. Bond kills Safin off as if he's just another everyday goon, and that's the end of him. I think even though Malik's acting was good, the writing of his character had a lot more potential. His build up in the pre-title sequence was very promising, and I was totally on board for his background and animosity towards Spectre, etc. But in the third act, it really makes him just another villain. It's quite ironic that just another villain manages to succeed with all of this. This of course all leads up to the sad finale we started to feel coming from here on in. Bond is infected with the nanobots. He can no longer touch his girl or his child, and the missiles are coming in. He opens up the shutters again and seems to be accepting his defeat. We get some emotional calling between him and Madeline, telling her he won't be able to make it this time. And even though you would think Bond always finds a way within the time that he has left, he simply seems to just give up. I know he's wounded and infected and such, but you would really think he would still find a way. He is James Bond, but no, it's true. Our speculations were correct. James Bond dies at the end of No Time to Die. It's pretty emotional, but honestly, I would think it would impact me a lot more. Upon my first viewing, all I was thinking was, so they did go there after all. It is true. Upon more viewings, knowing what was coming, I can accept it a bit more, and I could even argue as to why this could be a fitting ending to Craig's tenure. I mean I could come up with some fair arguments here too, and yet the moment of Craig staring into the sky with those blue eyes accepting his demise, it is pretty sad. And so is that moment of Madeleine and Q looking in silence with tears in their eyes. But ultimately, this is not the ending I would have wanted. Maybe I would have preferred Bond to secretly survive and be around in the shadows, fulfilling his duty of protecting us all, including Madeleine and Matilde, maybe without them knowing. Kind of like what happens to Ethan with Julia in the Mission Impossible series, but even more so, I walked out of the cinema feeling kind of empty because of this ending. Bond is gone. It took me weeks and maybe even months to form my opinion on this because I was just so divided on the ending. But in the end, I gotta say, Bond is supposed to be the embodiment of survival. This has always been his thing. Why can't you just be a good boy and die? You first. And not just in the Bond movies, but also as to what Bond means to the public in the world. The idea that one brave person applied with adequate backup and technology can stop something big and bad from happening, it's immensely reassuring of people. Bond is an assassin. He can't have a family. He can't have a wife. He carries a heavy burden, having to go out and fight to protect all of us. By doing this, you erase that purpose of what Bond represents to all of us, in my opinion. Even if the ending can be pretty moving and even if you can argue why it works, I think I can safely say not a lot of Bond fans had had this on their wish list. So in the end, the MI6 staff toast a drink in honour of Bond and we never really learn if Nomi now becomes 007 again or gets some other 00 number. I guess that just goes to show it really was just a statement instead of an important story element. I like the quote that M uses in Bond's honour. Shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time. Which I think is a direct reference to Ian Fleming. However, it was also a quote from Jack London. In any case, it's a suitable quote. And the movie ends with Madeleine and her daughter driving on the same stretch of road as where the movie started. And the credits come on with Louis Armstrong's all the time in the world bringing no time to die to a close. Oh, and if you stuck around at the end of the credits, it does in fact say James Bond will return confirming the reboot. So with that, Recapping 007 will also return. So, no time to die. Did it live up to the overly long wait? Well, let me just say up front that I think it's a solid Bond movie. It looks amazing, the soundtrack is great, here is there and it has one of the best pre-title sequences in the series. That whole sequence of Saffin coming to Madeleine's house, everything they did in Matera, the emotional moment of Bond visiting Vesper's grave, there's just so much to appreciate in this film. The fantastic stunt work, the whole storyline between Bond and Madeleine playing out, and that whole sequence in Cuba was just amazing. I mean, Paloma I feel ended up being one of the most fun and likeable characters to remember from this movie. She was great. And what about those concerns of things being too woke? I feel no time to die manages to be fun for everyone. Whether you are very pro or anti-woke orientated, it doesn't fall into a complete miss on that front at all. Yes, even Nomi, despite me having some problems and constantly complaining about her character, ended up being just fine, especially near the third act. Well, apart from maybe some moments. However, I do feel the ending is so dominant into forming your opinion on this movie, it leaves such an impact overshadowing everything that came before it. You're not going to remember this movie as the only one where Felix dies or Blofeld gets killed or Bond is having a daughter, even though all of those elements are really unique for a Bond film. You're going to remember this as the one in which Bond is killed. And whether you are on board with that or not, I think it's one of the most polarizing elements the Bond franchise has ever pulled, which I guess is also something you can credit them for because boy, does this spark conversation. I bet you guys in the comments are going to be pretty divided on all of this in the movie yourselves because it truly makes you think, where do I stand? How do I feel about this ending? And your opinion is as good as mine. It is what it is. Overall, I think No Time to Die is a solid Bond movie that I guess I could place maybe somewhere between my top 15 or top 10 Bond films. But I feel I can't truly appreciate and process that ending until we can put it more in perspective when the franchise reboots it with Bond 26. Whenever that happens. Hopefully well within six years this time. Or four. Preferably two.