[Lee Jong-gil's Movie Reading] Faltering Bond... Lost Both Justification and Charm

Daniel Craig's Final '007' Episode 'No Time to Die'
Artificial Plot Settings and Excessive Emotions... Contrasted with 'The Queen's Gambit'

Movie '007 No Time to Die' Still Cut

※ This article contains many spoilers for the movie.

'No Time to Die' is Daniel Craig's final '007' episode. It ends with death. A sacrifice for the woman he loves. Louis Armstrong's "We Have All The Time In The World" plays in tribute. "We have all the time in the world / Just for love / Nothing more, nothing less / Only love."

The song was first used in 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)' starring George Lazenby. Unlike other episodes, it is filled with romantic romance. Bond saves Tracy (Diana Rigg), who attempts suicide on the beach in the opening scene. While fighting off ambushed thugs, Tracy quietly disappears. Bond meets her again at a casino and they fall in love. After completing his mission by blowing up Blofeld's (Telly Savalas) biochemical lab, he even gets married. Tracy is shot and falls during their honeymoon. Bond, grieving while holding her, tells the police who arrive after hearing the gunshots, "We have all the time in the world."

Movie '007 The Queen's Operation' Still Cut

Craig's Bond is portrayed as an equally devoted macho man. From the start, he passionately loves Madeleine (L?a Seydoux). Their relationship doesn't last long. Bond is targeted by a bomb attack at the grave of his old love Vesper (Eva Green). Upon hearing from the villain that Madeleine is the daughter of Spectre, he resolves to end things. He forcibly puts Madeleine on a train and tells her never to see him again. Director Cary Joji Fukunaga inserts Billie Eilish's theme song "No Time to Die" in this scene, creating a lyrical atmosphere. The audience has no way of knowing why Bond made this decision. He already knew from the previous film 'Spectre (2015)' that Madeleine was the daughter of Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), a member of Spectre. There are no newly revealed secrets. It is simply a breakup born of misunderstanding.

Director Fukunaga seems to have wanted to make Bond's departure resemble the death of the Greek mythological hero Heracles. Heracles completed twelve labors imposed by Eurystheus, king of Mycenae, freeing himself from slavery. There is a clear resemblance to Bond, who always carries out difficult missions. In 'No Time to Die,' Bond's mission is to manage the leaked MI6 'Heracles Project'?an advanced nanobot technology that can selectively kill only people with a specific genetic sequence. A similar weapon appears in Greek mythology. It is the blood of Nessus, given to Heracles' wife Deianira as he was dying. It has the power to revive a cooled love, so if her husband changes his mind, she is told to apply it to his clothes.

Movie '007 No Time to Die' Still Cut

Nessus was killed by an arrow coated with the deadly venom of the Hydra, shot by Heracles, after attempting to assault Deianira. Unaware of this, Deianira applied Nessus' blood to Heracles' clothes after he invaded Oechalia and brought back Princess Iole. The poison quickly spread throughout his body, leading to Heracles' death. Heracles brought back Princess Iole to take revenge on Eurystheus and reclaim his stolen rights.

Bond in 'No Time to Die' hardly has such justification. The new villain Safin (Rami Malek) lacks clear background and motivation, and the destruction of Spectre and confrontation with Bond feel thin. Artificial settings and exaggerated emotions run rampant, making the process of deducing and resolving the case meaningless. In this perfunctory narrative, Bond even loses his unique charm. Even in the romantically wrapped 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service,' he was flirtatious and sly. He flexibly showed the foolishness of a man who causes trouble but never learns.

Movie '007 No Time to Die' Still Cut

His marriage to Tracy was because their affection deepened through shared hardships. 'No Time to Die' shows intense romance from the start but hastily depicts the recovery process. The sudden appearance of a daughter is a prime example. The previous vigor has long disappeared. Nomi (Lashana Lynch), who was newly assigned the 007 number, has become a punching bag, often underestimated. It is understandable that Craig would say goodbye to the '007' series early. We Don't Have All The Time In The World.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.