A fine ‘Time’ (finally)

Long-delayed last Bond with Daniel Craig an entertaining if slightly bloated end to five-film saga

Some things are worth the wait. ¶ “No Time to Die” — the fifth and final movie with Daniel Craig portraying hard-to-kill British superspy James Bond — was the first big movie release to get pushed due to concerns over the novel coronavirus’ impact on the global box office. The film’s release already had been moved back after original director Danny Boyle left the project, and another pandemic-related delay was to come. ¶ The 25th film built around Agent 007 finally lands in U.S. theaters this weekend and goes down like a finely made martini — shaken, not stirred, of course.

Craig’s Bond is not altogether like his predecessors, who existed in largely self-contained stories. Introduced in 2006’s strong “Casino Royale,” this more emotionally grounded 007 has fought his way through a love-and-betrayal-filled saga that continued with “Quantum of Solace” (2008), “Skyfall” (2012) and “Spectre” (2015).

After a prologue set years earlier in and around a home isolated in a snow-covered forest and seemingly inspired by horror films, “No Time to Die” cuts to James and his lady love from “Spectre,” Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”). We soon find them traveling a mountainside roadway in his Aston Martin DB5, on the way to a romantic getaway in Matera, a rocky, hilltop city perched atop Southern Italy.

“Can you go faster,” Madeleine asks him?

“We have all the time in the world,” he assures her.

If only that were true, Mr. Bond.

Although he has left the United Kingdom’s Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6, the dangerous world of high-stakes espionage is not finished with him. When the forces of global criminal outfit Spectre descend upon him, he blames Madeleine, the daughter of a Spectre assassin.

COURTESY OF DANJAQ LLC AND MGM Daniel Craig’s James Bond and Léa Seydoux’s Dr. Madeleine Swann are happily together early on in “No Time to Die.”