The upcoming 25th installment in the James Bond franchise, No Time to Die, appears to combine Daniel Craig’s 007 era with classic James Bond. Craig in particular has, at times, held a somewhat tenuous grasp on the role of the famed secret agent since first claiming the 007 moniker with 2006’s Casino Royale. At the time, the film’s success prompted critics and fans to hail the arrival of a new era for the James Bond franchise, one that modernized the character for a new age.
The stripped down portrayal of Bond emphasized emotion over machismo – a welcome and more down to earth take on a character that had historically been little more than a one-dimensional womanizer. But with the passing of time since those early days of Casino Royale, Craig’s Bond has wavered in and out of success. It’s hard to deny that some of the biggest and best Bond films of all time occurred during Craig’s tenure. Yet after 14 years and four films, some fans have been hoping that another sea change could occur for the franchise with Craig’s fifth and final outing as Bond in No Time to Die.
With the arrival of the latest trailer for No Time to Die, fans have been treated to a glimpse at something that appears to indeed take Bond in a new direction. The Craig-era Bond seems to incorporate elements from the past, hinting at associations with classic James Bond-isms that helped make the franchise what it is - from the classic music to Bond's infamous gun barrel shot. It’s a very interesting direction for a Bond film to take, partly because in many ways, it’s the most obvious thing to do with a character who has seemingly done everything in his 58-year cinematic existence. At the same time, the franchise had arguably been struggling to do exactly this over the years.
The new No Time To Die trailer provides several examples of this exciting mixture of old and new. From its numerous fast paced action scenes across varied landscapes to a supervillain who appears to have his own lair, to tongue-in-cheek quips from Bond himself ("I met your new OO... she's a disarming young woman"), No Time to Die indicates that it’s very much on the right track in terms of capturing some of what made the original films so much fun to watch. This even extends to Bond driving the classic Aston Martin car again.
And within this familiar landscape is Craig’s own contribution to Bond movies, which has the ability to make everything feel faster and sleeker, and with the high stakes that the star’s Bond canon has built up over these past 14 years. Previous Craig-Bond films have quite simply not felt this way so early on and this is likely because the concept of fleshing the character out was still being explored. Now that fans have a much better understanding of 007, the time to evolve once more by bringing back some of the classic era’s style just might be a stroke of brilliance for director Cary Fukunaga.
Even when compared to the trailer for Bond’s last outing in Spectre, No Time to Die looks and feels far more energetic. The focus on drama appears to have taken a backseat for the time being – or at least been more seamlessly melded into the film’s substantial action elements. Even the iconic James Bond theme sounds more at home here, as if it were a subtle reminder that after years of trying to prove that it’s something far more different than what it once was, the franchise has come to realize that the past can indeed play a role in moving forward.
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September 04, 2020 at 05:12AM
