Craig sizzles in ‘No Time to Die’

After months of delays, the 25th official James Bond film is finally here in ‘No Time to Die', an epic (163 minutes) action film that presents 007 with one of his toughest missions: End the era that most people agree gave new life to one of the most iconic film characters of all time.

Everyone knows that this is Daniel Craig's last film as Bond, and so ‘No Time to Die' needs to entertain on its own terms, provide a sense of finality for this chapter of the character, and even hint at the future of the spy with a license to kill.

After a clever and taut opening flashback scene for Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), the film catches up with James and Madeleine in Italy, where he's finally been convinced to go see the grave of the woman who continues to haunt him.

It explodes.

Is this a hint that the creators of ‘No Time to Die' are going to blow up their foundation and give Bond new definition? Not really, although the extended chase/shoot-out sequence that follows is one of the film's best.

Bond blames Swann for what happened in Italy, convinced she betrayed him, and it leads to a repeat of the ‘Skyfall' arc with James off the grid five years after the prologue. The deadly theft of a weaponised virus that can target a specific person's DNA brings Bond back to the fold, although he's first aligned with the CIA via Felix Leiter (a wonderfully laid-back Jeffrey Wright) and a new face named Logan Ash (Billy Magnussen).

He's been replaced at MI6 by a new 007 named Nomi (Lashana Lynch) and James doesn't really trust M (Ralph Fiennes). He's convinced M knows more about the new threat than he's letting on (of course, he does), but at least Bond's still got Q (Ben Whishaw) and Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) helping him behind the scenes.

What keeps ‘No Time to Die' watchable (outside of a typically committed turn from Craig) is the robust visual sense that Fukunaga often creates when he doesn't have to focus on plot. The opening sequence is tightly framed and almost poetic-even just the first shot of a hooded figure coming over a snowy hill has a grace that Bond often lacks. The shoot-out in Cuba moves like a dance scene with Craig and de Armas finding each other's rhythms. There's a riveting encounter in a foggy forest and a single shot climb in a tower of enemies that recalls that one-shot bravura take from ‘True Detective'.

In an era with fewer blockbusters, these quick visceral thrills may be enough.