NO TIME TO DIE

Daniel Craig     Ana de Armas     Rami Malek     Lea Seydoux     Ralph Fiennes

Christopher Waltz     Jeffrey Wright     Lashana Lynch     Ben Wishaw     Naomie Harris 

            Quintessential Bond with the complex plot, hair-raising chases, pretty women, and lots of booze and gadgets.  Bond (Craig)—who has “disappeared” after seeing that arch-enemy Blofeld (Waltz) is incarcerated—is found in Jamaica by his old friend, CIA officer Felix Leiter (Wright), after Bond has just unceremoniously put his girlfriend Madeleine (Seydoux) on the train because of his suspicions about her.  She is heartbroken, proclaiming her innocence, and walks down the aisle seeing him in passing windows as the train leaves the station—an eloquent graphic image—thanks to Linus Sandgren (La La Land, The Hundred-Foot Journey, American Hustle), whose photography in the film is impressive throughout.

            Leiter points out that an important scientist, Valdo Obruchev (David Dencik) (has been abducted and needs to be found to prevent a scheme that could result in the death of millions.  The plot thickens from there, with Bond having to confront forces of which he was previously unaware.  It brings him into contact with his old boss at British Secret Intelligence Service, M (Fiennes) and staff, and tensions he now encounters and must manage between the U.S. CIA and British Intelligence.  Most touchy is the fact that M has assigned another agent, female Nomi (Lynch), to be 007.  This awkward situation must be dealt with because the old 007 wants to be involved in the case because it still seems to be connected with Spectre’s Ernest Blofeld (Waltz), whom Bond had put in prison.

            The most alarming danger comes from an evil man, Llyutsifer Safin (Malek), who has a poison plan that threatens millions across the world.  Getting to him is of course a tall order, and will require cooperation among all the parties involved, including international interests.

            The film is overly long with too many implausible chases and fights—as are found in most/all action films.  But it is successful in gripping intrigues and nail-biting dilemmas.  Daniel Craig is at his best in portraying for his last time the brave strategist Bond is known to be, with the additional acquisition of personal commitment and less womanizing.  He comes across as actually gallant at times.  

            A bright spot in the deluges of combat is shown by Ana de Armas as Paloma.  She kicks a.. impressively and with a little bit of humor, giving the viewer frequent “so there!” satisfactions.  Bad guys like Blofeld and Safir send plenty of chills up the spine, both because of their physical appearances and their evil nature.  Seydoux lacks some of the glamour and keenness of mind that Bond women usually have, but Lashana Lynch, the new 007, is appealing in her level-headedness and combat skills.  Lynch attributes part of her character’s success to the contributions of Phoebe Waller-Bridge to the script.  Hans Zimmer’s music for his first Bond film adds color to the action, and has just the right number of references to music in previous Bond films, most notably, the recognizable “suspense” motif.  Billie Eilish singing the title track co-written by her and her brother Finneas O’Connell provides additional inspiration.

 

No Time to Die will reward fans of the Bond films with plenty of intrigue and spine-chilling tension.  

 

Grade:  B+                            By Donna R. Copeland

BEASTS OF NO NATION

Abraham Attah     Idris Elba

          Agu (Attah), the protagonist and sometimes narrator of Beasts of No Nation is just coming of age when a civil war reaches his village in West Africa, signifying that his carefree childhood days are over, unbeknownst to him.  In a wrenching parting his mother and younger siblings are sent to a place of safety, and in the shooting melee that follows, Agu loses his father and brother.  He runs into the bush for hours then is set upon by a group of guerilla fighters.  Hoping desperately to belong to a “family” again, he goes through the initiation rites and becomes a fighter under the watchful eye of the Commandant (Elba) who repeatedly tests his bravery and loyalty, and a father-son relationship soon evolves.

          Talented writer-director Cary Joji Fukunaga (Sin Nombre, Jane Eyre, True Detective) has taken the story from a novel written by Uzodinma Iweala, a prize-winning young American writer.  The creative artistry simply oozes out of these works, including Fukunaga’s stunning cinematography.  Their depiction of a young boy’s experience of being yanked out of his intact Christian family and thrown into a seemingly endless testosterone infused life-threatening physical and mentally taxing struggle completely drains him after so many battles and towards the end a major turn of events for the troop.  He comes to the conclusion that “The only way not to be fighting any more is to be dying.”

          A strong point of the film is its representation of childhood as fanciful and imaginative (e.g., Agu and friends taking the frame off his father’s television, demonstrating its 3D effect by putting their own antics behind the empty space for the viewer in front, and hawking it as “imaginative TV.”) sincere, and loving; and how, along with thoughtful parental influence, real life experiences mold the adult’s character.  The picture is so vivid, one can almost “see” the psychological scars left upon this child, who nevertheless appears to be quite capable of processing it and figuring it all out.  Especially moving is the last scene with children playing happily and boisterously in the ocean, a coda that repeats one of the first scenes in an earlier place and time.

          Although he is apparently new to the acting scene, Abraham Attah carries his role like a pro with naturalness and convincing emotional expression.  Two of the most revealing are his turmoil when confronted with brutally killing someone the first time and at the end when he is ruminating on his life so far and wondering what his future will be.

        This is probably one of Idris Elba’s meatiest roles in that he is such a central figure and it allows his strengths full rein.  He is well regarded as an actor, particularly as Nelson Mandela in Mandela:  Long Walk to Freedom and as Luther in the TV series, and he is likely to be nominated for awards in this performance.  The Commandant leads his troop in Hitler-like fashion, demanding a worshipful allegiance to him and dispensing favors selectively.  The only time he is shown to be the least bit vulnerable is in his narcissistic feelings toward Agu.

        Beasts of No Nation has already been nominated for awards at the London and Venice Film Festivals, and there will probably be more coming up.  Fukunaga, Attah, and Elba would all be deserving of consideration. 

Inspiring film about childhood heroism with stunning cinematography.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland