By Steve Crum
Writing a review of the latest and arguably the greatest James Bond filming ever, No Time To Die, easily qualifies as an exercise in exclamatory adjectives. Stunning, yes. Memorable, indeed. Add a near nonstop adrenaline rush. Whew, yes.
This Bond, #25 since the franchise began in 1962 with Dr. No, is a treat for so many reasons. That includes a multitude of spoilers, making it difficult review fodder. I aim not to give away too many plot twist jolts.
That is not to say that the screenplay (Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge) is entirely off limits to revealing many of its pleasures and nuances. (First time Bond director Cary Joji 
Fukunaga also receives screenplay credit.) Might as well also applaud Hans Zimmer’s score, Linus Sandgren’s stunning cinematography, and the editing (Elliot Graham and Tom Cross). More on these facets later.
No Time To Die’s opening sequence should give us a clue that this is not a typical James Bond escapade. Instead of Bond in pursuit or parachuting off a mountainside, he is nowhere in sight. Instead we get a flashback of young Madeleine Swann witnessing the brutal murder of her mother by terrorist Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek)—who is the featured villain of this film. Bad guy Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), last seen in 2015’s Spectre, also has a daunting appearance later in NTTD.
To play catch-up, the adult Madeleine (as in Spectre) is portrayed by Léa Seydoux. She was Bond’s love interest in that film, and remains so here.
Much has happened since James Bond and Madeleine were together. Commander Bond is contentedly living in Jamaica, retired from Her Majesty’s Secret Service, seemingly enjoying bachelorhood. Madeleine is living elsewhere with her five year-old daughter. (James and Madeleine do reunite soon after.)
In the meantime, there are contracts out for Bond’s demise by both Blofeld (now in prison) and Safin. Bond is forced back into action as an agent, despite the fact that he 
no longer has a “license to kill”; and another agent, Nomi (Lashana Lynch), has assumed not only Bond’s place in M16, but his 007 moniker.
Add to the nefarious plot that Safin’s plan is to dominate the world with a lethal DNA compound that is spread by touch.
The typical Bond movie stunt work is on hyper here, from a car and motorcycle pursuit…to tiptoeing through a remote island “poison garden”…to Bond’s spectacular onslaught of what seems to be 50-plus of Safin’s goon squad. Kudos to the editing, direction and cinematography. The pace is exhausting but awesome. As usual, Daniel Craig’s impressive physicality exceeds any previous Bond actor.
Returning for this final Craig outing as Bond are Ben Whishaw as Q, Naomie Harris as Eve Moneypenny, Jeffrey Wright as Felix 
Leiter, and Ralph Fiennes as Gareth Mallory/M.
Noteworthy for her acting chops, beauty and fighting prowess—as she assists Bond, is Ana de Armas as Paloma, a CIA agent.
No Time To Die grabbed this Bond fan from the opening music, which is surprisingly not by Hans Zimmer. Instead it is John Barry’s theme (his best Bond theme), “We Have All the Time in the World,” from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The end credit roll replays Louis Armstrong’s vocal from the same 1969 flick!
While it is damn near impossible to top 2012’s Skyfall as the ultimate Bond film, No Time To Die equals it. Deep breath. OK, exceeds it. The grandiose, super spoiler finale carries it over the line into Ian Fleming legend.
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“James Bond Will Return,” says the familiar scribe following the end roll. This time, that line will provoke serious discussion on the way to the parking lot.
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GRADE on an A-F Scale: A