Rating: 3.5/5

Can you live in a world where the touch of your family can be used as poison against you? In the world of the James Bond movie No Time To Die, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and starring Daniel Craig, that is the reality.

At the beginning of the film, Bond (Daniel Craig) happily enjoys his retirement with Madeline Swann, his current love interest. They are in Italy to visit the grave of Bond’s previous love interest, Vesper Lynd, whose memory still haunts him. However, this lovely vacation is cut short when Lynd’s grave explodes in Bond’s face. Bond blames Swann for what happened in Italy and sends her away.

A few years later, Bond is called back into the force to investigate the theft of a weaponized virus that can be used to wipe out a specific person or an entire ethnicity with that person/group’s DNA. With one touch from a virus carrier, someone genetically related to you, you could instantly be poisoned and killed.

Overall, I could have enjoyed this movie much more if I had done some research beforehand. No Time To Die is the first James Bond movie I’ve watched, which is unfortunate. Thus, from watching this movie, I’ve learned two lessons:

1. Just because a movie is an action movie doesn’t mean it isn’t scary.
Although No Time To Die is an action movie, there were some horror elements to it, especially the first part of the movie. While watching that scene, I remember clutching onto my mom’s arm in terror and trying to cover my eyes with my jacket. Because we were watching the 4D version, every time the villain’s footstep thudded against the wood floor, the 4D chair would shudder. Every time there was a gunshot, the chair would jolt violently. That part of the film definitely wasn’t the best experience for me.

2. You need to watch at least two preceding James Bond movies to fully appreciate and understand No Time To Die.
As the final film of the James Bond movies series, No Time To Die features several recurring characters, including several of Bond’s coworkers at MI6, both of Bond’s love interests, and some of Bond’s past enemies. During the first half of the movie, I was perplexed about how the characters were connected, preventing me from completely understanding the plot.

So for viewers out there that are about to watch this movie, make sure you do some research beforehand and watch the previous few James Bond movies. Then you will have no trouble understanding and enjoying No Time To Die.

However, apart from my previous remarks, No Time To Die was brilliant because it produced such a great emotional response from me. Despite this being the first James Bond movie I watched, I will admit that I cried at the movie's shocking ending. This was mainly because of the breathtaking soundtrack created by Hans Zimmer, the most successful film score composer of all time. My favorite piece in this movie was the theme song, sung by Billie Eilish and orchestrated by Hans Zimmer. It first appears in the film’s opening credits but makes several reappearances in the rest of the movie. The recurring motif of the theme song, four simple notes, always sounds during the emotional parts of the movie. This haunting melody reflects Bond’s realization that he has a family and people worth living for, hence the film title, but also worth dying for. No Time To Die’s theme of family created a connection with not only me but millions of other members of the audience. Although I never went through situations as life-threatening as Bond’s, his internal emotions were something I could relate to.

In the end, no matter what critics or complaints there are about this film, no one can deny that No Time To Die is a unique and excellent way to end off the James Bond saga.