Here is what reviewers have had to say about Daniel Craig’s fifth and final Bond outing.
What are the critics saying about No Time to Die?
Daniel Craig has spent more than a decade portraying the British superspy and giving it a level of seriousness that was previously unseen in the franchise. His swan song, No Time to Die, was initially set to hit theaters back in April 2020. Unfortunately, several factors, including COVID-19, delayed the high-profile movie by more than a year to now. The story of No Time to Die follows Craig’s James Bond as he hides in Jamaica until MI6 asks him to put an end to a new villain, who is played by Oscar-winner Rami Malek. Ana de Armas and Lashana Lynch joined the cast of No Time to Die along with returnees Lea Seydoux, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Jeffrey Wright, and Rory Kinnear. The film hasn’t been released in the United States just yet but has already pulled in $119.1 million in the global box office against an estimated $250 million budget. As of the time of writing, the movie holds an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. You can see a sampling of critic review scores below:
Wall Street Journal
“The new installment is exciting for its energy and scale, despite its flaws and derivative themes, and makes a lovely valediction for its star.” - Joe Morgenstern
The Mail on Sunday
“For anyone who’s grown up with Bond, as I have, or found themselves re-energised by Craig’s muscular turn in the role, this is a big moment, a big film and one you’ll definitely want to see on the big screen.” - Matthew Bond
The Guardian
“No Time To Die is startling, exotically self-aware, funny and confident, and perhaps most of all it is big: big action, big laughs, big stunts and however digitally it may have been contrived, and however wildly far-fetched, No Time To Die looks like it is taking place in the real world, a huge wide open space that we’re all longing for.” - Peter Bradshaw
ComicBookMovie.com
“No Time to Die is the perfect James Bond movie; action-packed, satisfying, and surprisingly heartfelt, Cary Joji Fukunaga proves an ideal fit for this franchise and helps make sure Daniel Craig, who is phenomenal here, ends his tenure as 007 in style.” Josh Wilding
Los Angeles Times
Craig reveals himself as perhaps the most generous actor to have inhabited the role. And not only toward the rest of the cast, but toward the very idea of Bond itself. - Jessica Kiang
Is it worth watching No Time to Die in theaters?
At the moment, No Time to Die is available exclusively in theaters. There’s no indication that it’s going to come to any streaming platform at some point. This means that, if you don’t want to go to the movies due to the COVID-19 pandemic, you’re going to have to wait for at least it’s finished its theatrical run to hear any news of No Time to Die hitting a streaming platform. With that said, No Time to Die appears to be worth watching in person. It wasn’t universally loved, but several critics agree that the movie, despite its flaws, was a rightfully emotional sendoff for one of the best actors to ever portray James Bond. Much of the praise also goes towards the efforts of Cary Joji Fukunaga in what is arguably his biggest project in the director’s chair to date. The James Bond movie franchise is decades old. The dozens of movies that have been released so far have done and covered pretty much everything. The fact that he was able to make No Time to Die feel fresh and exciting at all is reason enough to make the movie worth watching.
