No Time to Die2021

ORBIS NON SUFFICIT I think this weighs so heavily, not just as the end of a two-week-long journey of James Bond films but as a mark on the near thirty-year journey of my life.  Today I am 29. And I have the life that Bond dreamed of. And I don’t appreciate it as much as I should. I feel so selfish. Even writing this is undoubtedly a waste of my time. But here we go anyway. James Bond is everything. He is a force of nature. And these Craig films have taken that force of nature and made him into a man. Over the past 28 films, we have seen glimpses of the man inside the machine, but they are fleeting. Part of that is by design. It isn’t fun to watch an action film if the protagonist is wallowing in his misery. But it is also part of the character. He has to present himself as cold and unfeeling for himself and for the world. He has to keep moving like a shark because if he stops, he would die.  But it is clear that he feels and feels much more than he can ever admit. And after 15 years and now 73 years since his origin, he can finally lay it all down and rest. And rest knowing there’s more to him than just the machine, the monster. And that part of him will live on.  I love this movie so much. Some of the best moments in the Bond series are here. And they work so much better because they are given heart. Perhaps Spectre is a better finale as it’s more open-ended with Bond riding off into the sunset. But there is peace in how definitive this is. And I think this whole journey would have been much less satisfying without it.  The Craig films really are some of the best in the series but only because they have so much history behind them. This film wouldn’t exist without OHMSS or Dr no or any of the others. And while the films aren’t all perfect and some aren’t my favorites, they are all wonderful. There are definitely some I will watch more than others, but at some point, I will revisit all of these again.  My ranking is by no means the end-all be-all and will undoubtedly change after every watch of any of these films. And this is probably only number one because it is the culmination of everything that has come before. Not just of this movie but in many ways, my whole life.  We have all the time in the world,  But the world is not enough.