Commentary: ‘No Time To Die’ Gave James Bond Growth
by Frank Martin
Because of the episodic nature of the James Bond film series, there hasn’t been much growth or many story arcs in regards to his character. Bond is Bond. He shows up and saves the day as the audience expects him to do. This changed with Casino Royale. It was seen as a soft reboot of the franchise and took the character back to basics. The film was lauded for this approach, but it still wasn’t clear if the character would have a real story arc. It wasn’t until No Time To Die that this arc was finally realized.
After the events of Spectre, James Bond (Daniel Craig) is retired now that his arch nemesis Ernst Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) is in prison. Unfortunately, he’s thrust back into action when a new enemy steals an advanced weapon developed by MI5. Working with the new 007 (Lashana Lynch), Bond must discover the enemy’s lair and destroy it in order to stop the weapon. Unfortunately, he’s not able to escape in time and sacrifices himself to save everyone.
The decision to kill off this version of Bond is undoubtedly a controversial one. Nevertheless, it makes sense in terms of the character’s larger arc. This version of James Bond began with Casino Royale, which opens him first becaming 007. Over the course of the subsequent films, he grew a reputation as someone who can triumph in the face of unbelievable odds. This reputation is seen throughout No Time To Die as he’s regarded as a legend amongst his peers. In Casino Royale, he was still seen as a rookie. In his final appearance, he’s the grizzled veteran back out of retirement when he’s needed. This is a true character arc for James Bond that never existed before. Allowing him to die merely seals this growth in a way no other Bond film could before.
No Time To Die is now streaming on Netflix.
