Second sampling of NTTD reviews

No Time to Die poster (date affected by COVID-19)

A bunch of No Time to Die reviews came out the same evening as the movie’s world premiere. But some critics didn’t rush their takes out as fast.

So here is a second sampling of reviews. The excerpts contain no spoilers. Make what you will of the excerpts.

JOE MORGENSTERN, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: “‘No Time to Die’ is the latest James Bond episode and the last one to star Daniel Craig. His performance elevates—all but ennobles—the dramatic core of an otherwise choppy narrative, a succession of impressive but impersonal action sequences and affecting interludes that lead to a stirring climax.”

LOU AGUILAR, THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR: “The last thing James Bond needs today is feminist input to match every other Hollywoke production. But No Time To Die is full of it – and worse stuff.”

KEVIN MAHRE, THE TIMES: “The film is a huge thundering epic (163 minutes long) expertly directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (of True Detective) and features a couple of audacious stylistic flourishes…It’s visually astonishing too. As filmed by the Swedish cinematographer Linus Sandgren (La La Land), it is easily the best-looking Bond to date, with each set piece an excuse to frame gorgeous compositions with richly covered lighting.”

A.O. SCOTT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: “As someone who grew up in the Roger Moore era, when defiance of every kind of gravity was the hallmark of the series, I have trouble adjusting my eyes to the darkness and the possibility of tears. I don’t entirely trust the emotions that the director (Cary Joji Fukunaga) and the screenwriting committee (Fukunaga, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Phoebe Waller-Bridge) put into play, or the weighty themes they reach for.”

K. AUSTIN COLLINS, ROLLING STONE: “It’s to (Daniel) Craig’s professional credit that his performance in No Time to Die, which comes out on October 8th (in the U.S.), bears little sense of that lack of giving a fuck. It wouldn’t fit this movie, which, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, very much carries the weight of culmination.”