2021 Annual Movie Summary Review - 007: No Time to Die
A 007 that has been waiting for 2 years, a series that has accompanied 15 years, from the once fleshy youth imagining a dashing, heroic and courageous posture like James Bond's possession, all the way to finally become a middle-aged uncle with a greasy face and a fat belly. The 007 on the screen also can't escape the grind of time, becoming more and more rough and dull skin, the obvious receding hairline and the wrinkles at the corners of the eyes all show the aging of the characters. But the difference is that on the screen he still maintains a strong body, thick chest, wide shoulders, tight waist, which has taken countless times to constantly hone the figure, even in front of the screen I also have a lot of sighs, in order to maintain the state of the body, let Bond once again show the charm of the man's older and more demon, how difficult it is.
After many years, re-entering the world of 007, it is still a small island style, flying in the sea; it is still a fragrant car beauty, guns and bullets are raining down, and it is still the sentence "Shaken, not stirred!" The accompanying Martini also has a tailor-made TOM FORD set. You know that the world in the movie is too far away, but every time you step into the theater, you can once again stir up your hormones, and risk life and death with Bond. Because we know that 007 will never fail, even if everyone knows that this is the last 007 movie played by Daniel Craig, and it is also the last time Bond in this series is on duty. And we, as the audience, just sit on the couch to enjoy Craig's last role, looking forward to a gorgeous farewell to him who has become one with Bond. Only after watching it all in the end did I understand everything about the original film, and the title of the movie was clearly stated: "Don't delay the kung fu blindly, this will die."
Okay, let's talk a little bit about it. To be honest, this is really a mediocre 007, and at the beginning of the film, it feels that every scene is so familiar, and the various bridges are so familiar. Craig, whose skills are becoming more and more inclined to the ground flow, Leia Saidu, whose eyes are getting deeper and deeper, and Aston Martin DB5, who has been broken countless times and is still in service, is a new villain who inexplicably comes to the door because the film needs a new world crisis. The whole story plot can be said to be dull and dull and old-fashioned, and some plots feel that the pits that have been filled and paved before are reopened, just to line up a conflict line of feelings and to put together a few old faces to take a picture, which really makes people feel uncomfortable about taking out the chewed gum three times and sticking some white sugar and eating it back. Fortunately, after Craig's hard persuasion, the new state girl was found, this cuban girl who is playful and cute, beautiful and sexy, only with more than 10 minutes of scenes, this somewhat bitter film has found the charm and humor that the 007 movie should have.
One of the reasons why Daniel Craig's version of 007 can be liked and recognized by more and more people is that it is different from the action scenes of the previous 007 film series. From his beginning, 007 movies have entered a new era of realistic style, relying on multi-angle and multi-camera motion shots, fast and sharp picture editing and a large number of actors to fight on the real body, all kinds of hard bridges, hard horses, real knives and real guns, shuttles in dangerous buildings and broken walls, and fist-to-flesh close-quarters hand-to-hand combat are all watched to make people feel enthusiastic and addicted, and thus make 007 movies re-embark on the leading position of action movies.
But after all, the years are ruthless to know that by the time Craig agrees to make the fifth part of the series, he is already in his 50s, and it is impossible to jump up and down like in his early 30s. In order to take care of the aging Craig, the Bond in this movie is not just a halo possession but directly like a hanging, an old Toyota Cruiser just so casually overturned one Land Rover after another, and the ambush battle in the jungle is more relaxed and calm than Rambo. After the submarine base battle, I was happy to see that I was happy to see seven in and seven out, of course, there was a famous scene of rolling seconds to kill four submachine gun guards, and the grenade exploded unharmed. I can't help but ask the director what is he doing? Craig's 007 was never like this, is this going to be "Rapid Shock"? Even if he played 007 for the last time, there was no need to make such a wave!
Although watching the film go in the direction of "divine drama", it has to be mentioned that the ambition of director Kerry Fukunaga was underestimated, and when the middle of the film appeared in the absolutely unexpected scene of the 007 series: "A child, a child who belongs to 007"! This sudden change broke the setting of the 007 movies of the past 60 years, and it was the first time that the essence of the imagination of men in the Western world printed on the poster was put into the world of ordinary people. Bond's inner balance makes Bond more flesh-and-blood, and the same new dangers ensue. From then on Bond was no longer kidnapped by so-called honors, duties, and orders, and he was no longer fighting for his convictions, for women or for love. For the first time, he had to fight for himself, for the bloodline inheritance. 007, who has accepted such a new goal and meaning in life, no matter how difficult and dangerous he faces next, what price and sacrifice he will have to pay, he has enough determination and courage to face it calmly. Yes, to some extent this is a complete denial of the character of the old Bond, and it inevitably brings the final end of the film into an indescribable unknown.
We knew this movie, this series had to have an ending, but it didn't occur to the director that he was going to end up dead. In the final stage of the film, in the missile control tower Battle 007, the spiral staircase symbolizing the cycle of life and death is picked up, both past life and death, and the director gives Bond the aura of the protagonist of the supreme grace, and also compensates for the generous death of the back. When I walked out of the movie theater at the end of the movie, I was still in shock and confusion for a long time, and they let 007 die like this, which was the end that had never been seen in a 007 movie before. This also makes sense why the director arranged all kinds of old-fashioned, nostalgic, and even dog-bloody, narcissistic plot sections before, all to pave the way for the final heroic ending. It's just that this is a bit deliberate and contrived, but 007's final fireworks-like heroic righteousness still allows the purpose to be achieved, so that the original generally mediocre episode has given Craig's 5 episodes of the 007 series the most complete ending a perfect closed loop. Admittedly this is not a happyending ending, but you can't say that it is a complete tragedy, because the director gave this version of 007 a unique gift, a child that belongs to him.
It's not the best 007 for Craig, but it's the best ending for the series, a definitive ending that leaves endless possibilities for the future 007, a new era without any baggage. No one can guess now, the future James What color bond will be, whether male or female, only know that he/she must be a British. So whatever the future holds, we'll remember the most flesh-and-blood 007 of the past 15 years, whether you hate it to the extreme, or like me, 007, who can't talk about perfection in everything.
"The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time."
This sentence from the American writer Jack London's "White Teeth", which is used by M at the end to pay tribute to Bond, is indeed a classic interpretation of the charm of this character: he is wonderfully alive every minute on the screen!
This era is over. But Bond will eventually return!
JAMES BOND WILL RETURN