007 Debriefings: No Time To Die

Zero Says MISSION FAILURE and Wiz Says MISSION ACCOMPLISHED for No Time To Die Though the guys are split on recommending No Time To Die, they share very similar observations on the final film of the Daniel Craig era. As an ending to a series of films that started with Casino Royale, it just feels incredibly disappointing with how the series ended. Craig's Bond was a breath of fresh air for the nearly 60 year franchise...and yet, the arc ends with not only retrofitting Craig into the formula, but in a largely unsatisfying conclusion. And speaking of the conclusion, both Wiz and Zero were puzzled as to why Bond had to die at the end of the film. It didn't feel right that Bond had his full emotional evolution throughout the five films...only for him to bite the dust at the end of the film. On top of that, both the love interest (a returning Dr. Swann played by Lea Seydoux) and the villain (Rami Malek) are also flawed in critical ways. Dr. Swann feels like a wholly different character than what she was in Spectre and Safin just feels too goofy to be taken seriously as this brilliant villain. But man, does the action save this movie. Nearly every action scene is done well and are entertaining and exciting. This goes double for the scene set in Cuba which has some great scenes involving Ana de Armas and Lashana Lynch. And while Wiz feels like the action is just enough to recommend, Zero can't get past the disappointing elements of the film.