NO TIME TO DIE

Daniel Craig goes out with a bang as James Bond. A beautiful, heartfelt, and at times, gut wrenching film, which is quite surprising to type when describing a film in this franchise. From the opening scene, the film in many ways goes against the grain. The audience thinks they know how the formula works and while it still does stay true to it, in some ways, it doesn't give the audience what they want all the time either. Craig and Lea Seydoux are spectacular in this. Continuing their love affair after the events of SPECTRE before James goes off the grid and into retirement for 5 years before being forced out by new Bond villain Lyutsifer Safin (played by Rami Malek), who like any good Bond villain, has an elaborate plan to infect the world's population with a new biological weapon. Armed with an outstanding supporting cast, this is definitely one of the better Bond films in Craig's repertoire (better than QUANTUM OF SOLACE & SPECTRE but not quite as good as CASINO ROYALE or SKYFALL). Unfortunately for the likes of Christoph Waltz, who's Blofeld was very bland in both here and SPECTRE and Rami Malek, who's hardly in the film, these villains are tragically forgettable. I pity the man who has to take over for Craig as he has some very big shoes to fill. Not too bad for an actor who fans were screaming bloody murder upon his announcement as the new face of the franchise. 8/10