Movie Review – No Time to Die

A feel at home, Bond

‘No Time to Die’ probably had too much time for everything and in a way it didn’t feel bad. Of course, the title was one of the worst of the Bond Series but for some strange reason, this Bond film felt at home. It’s not a statement one would associate with a high-octane action film. It’d even be considered a disgrace to be called so but this film had some sort of closeness to me. It might not be my most favorite, it’s not easy to beat ‘Casino Royale’ you see, still the film had its feet on the ground.

As soon as the preliminary title card ends, there was feel goodness, for once the place didn’t look like an impending danger. It felt settled and relaxed. How beautiful are places in Bond movies which only get spoilt by an explosion unless it’s a sex scene, even if it’s sex scene, the focus moves from place to people. Here for once, the focus was more on the place than the people, which felt good and different. Of course, there was an explosion which takes place by surprise and action sequence after it but I’m sure people would appreciate the sequence prior to it than this.

Ever since Daniel Craig came into the scene, the Bond game has changed, the purists who go by the movies, still feel that Pierce Brosnan was The Bond. But back then Bond was fantasy. Daniel Craig made it look real, the makeover was beautiful unlike the Marvel/DC makeover where everything became dark for the sake of it. Gone are the days when superhero movies were simple and fun to enjoy. Now it feels like a thesaurus to go through them. But when it comes to Bond, the evolution was beautiful. For fanatics as well as for newfound fans. There was so much of Bourne in the form of Bond. Probably, the only thing I don’t like when it comes to Daniel Craig movies is that he falls in love way too often and the attachment sucks. Way too much sentiment for a macho man. Well, this is what happens when you want to make every movie a socially aware politically correct one. Hopefully, if this is Craig’s last movie, next would have a bad bass Bond and not a crowd-pleasing mama’s boy.

Craig had a curious list with a mix of good and abysmal movies. This movie was in between the two. Had to give credit to Cary Joji Fukunaga for not making it soupy or super heroic just because it’s going to be the final film of Craig. As much as I want him to be the Bond forever, it would be just unacceptable if he appears alive after such a climax.

The film as such was a mix of good and bad scenes, not in the making but in the emotion. The girlfriend sentiment, wife sentiment, 007 tag etc. didn’t really appeal. Lea Seydoux was brilliant in the previous movie; she is such a great actor but couldn’t do much apart from being scared all the time in this movie. The other part where Ralph Fiennes plays M, Christopher Waltz as Ernst Stavro Blofeld, head of Spectre and Ana de Armas as gorgeous Paloma was brilliant. Best thing about all the latter actors was that they come only for limited time but steal the show. Fukunaga doesn’t extend their screen space just because that they were charming. In fact, we didn’t want Ralph to feel bad, Waltz to die and Ana to leave as soon as they do. Ana in back shot, sitting in the bar chair got me reminded of Eva Green in the Casino, maybe it’s a tribute or maybe it’s just me. That Casino Royale scene was the one which made me fall head over heels for Eva Green. What a woman! For a change the silliness of Ana was cute and didn’t feel dumb. The hurried end was a lovely way to close the chapter and making us want more.

Lyutsifer Safin’s (Rami Malek) character was overdone, and the climax didn’t really appeal. The faceoff was underwhelming and Bond coming back to the plant wasn’t as dramatic as it should have been. In fact, the entire film felt like it was toned tone. May be that’s why it felt at home but that’s what lacked in packing in the punch too.

Movie Review – Schindler’s List

Stranger than fiction

‘Schindler List’ is a phenomenal story of a man named Oskar Schindler. Steven Spielberg uses that material to make it into a phenomenal film. Time and again Spielberg proves that there isn’t anything that he cannot do. The diverse subjects that he has taken upon for the films proves the point. Whenever Spielberg films releases, this subject comes to the fore. On how he can handle everything on the same breath. What a man! After a lot of thoughts, he made this project, which till now stands very close to his heart.

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This movie could be Spielberg’s most personal project. We can see that through the time taken for each of the incident, especially the climax bit. Spielberg always brings about a complete film. There wouldn’t be anything that would have been left just like that without giving a completion. That’s why he works for the masses as well. There wouldn’t be anything which common people won’t understand. Yet it would appeal to even confound critics because it’s such a polished subject. Not everyone can make something like that quite easily. It takes the master to achieve it. Needless to say, Spielberg is the master of masters.

Personally, for me, it was a less impressive Nazi/anti-Nazi film among the lot. Even amongst Spielberg’s works, it didn’t work as much as his other films did. The best part of Spielberg’s work is it strikes a chord with us. Even his not so famous film like ‘The Color Purple’ leaves a profound impact. To sit on a couch on a dog day afternoon to watch ‘The Color Purple’ would be a great experience. We feel as if we’re in the house of the people out there. He brings the same feel in most of his films. Be it Tom Hanks slowly saying FUBAR in ‘Saving Private Ryan’ or the epic dinosaur chase where the kid hides. There is a constant sense of tension or a feel of being in the place which gets missed in ‘Schindler’s List’ for the most part. The scenes that gave the feel were the execution scenes where the hand-held cameras were used. Otherwise, most of it felt boring and boring is not a term one would generally associate with a Spielberg film.

In fact, it’s tough to criticize a Spielberg film because it makes us feel guilty. Even with ‘War Horse’ I had a same problem where except for the one scene of the horse in no man’s land, there wasn’t any impactful scenes. Here there were a lot of impactful scenes but I guess it became like a ‘Godfather’ to me. Another top movie which never works for me. On the contrary ‘Citizen Kane’ which is one the same league works wonderfully. Remember, that I’m comparing all the films personally. Not for its cinematic approach or its aesthetic value. If that’s the case, no movie is less than the other. Even though ‘Citizen Kane’ doesn’t have a personal connect, it still stands out with its cinematic aspect. Whatever connect I have of that film is derived from the way it was made, rather than the appeal it had through its subject.

My interpretation of the much talked about red girl scene is that, it’s where Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) gets transformed from a man who looks for profits to a wise man. And when she dies, he loses the last bit of hope and takes it on himself to free as many people as possible. Oskar Schindler’s story is too great to be true. Just like how no one would believe a ‘Into the Wild’ story if it had not been true story. ‘Schindlers’ List’ too would have fallen in the same category if it had not been a true story. That’s why it makes for a great story but not so great film because its fairly unbelievable. All said and done, Hail Schindler.