Craig’s Bond bows out with uneven ‘No Time to Die’

James Bond remembers Vesper Lynd by visiting her grave early in “No Time to Die.” It encourages us to think about Daniel Craig’s and Eva Green’s sizzling chemistry in 2006’s “Casino Royale.” Since this is the last of the Craig pentology, it’s nice to bring it full circle.

Green with envy

In another way, it’s not an ideal comparison for director/co-writer Cary Joji Fukunaga (TV’s “True Detective”) to make. I got to thinking about the respective films’ overall quality and romantic chemistry. Granted, “Skyfall” showed a great Craig “Bond” can be made without Green’s Vesper.

But “No Time to Die” doesn’t have enough other qualities to overcome its forced conceit. It intends to be a deeply felt love story about someone who is not the woman who has Bond’s heart. It’s no fault of Lea Seydoux as Madeleine (who knows about Bond’s past romance). Sometimes chemistry isn’t there.

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Granted, the Bond-Madeleine romance grows a lot from its hasty introduction in the weakest Craig “Bond,” “Spectre,” simply because it’s given screen time here. But I never quite bought it.

(SPOILERS FOLLOW.)

But it’s all relative. I did buy it more than “NTTD’s” central threat, a virus that can be targeted to specific people’s DNA, a convoluted riff on a weapon from “Captain America: Civil War.” It seems Bond has the virus and can pass it on to some people, but not others, and that he himself is immune. If the logistics are explained, I zoned out in that part.

There was thematic potential here. A philosophical argument between Bond and villain Lyutsifer Safin (a slow-talking, burned-faced Rami Malek) peels back a layer. Safin makes a legit case that he’s the same as Bond, but he, Safin, is more efficient than traditional counter-terrorists. He kills bad guys without the collateral damage.

But, conveniently, Safin is crazy: He threatens a little girl (Lisa-Dorah Sonnet as Mathilde) who may or may not be Bond’s daughter. So Bond is affirmed as the good guy, as is required.

An uneven adventure

This little girl represents the unevenness of “NTTD” in a nutshell. A kid is a rarity in a “Bond” picture, so it’s fascinating to see how Bond, and the overall violence-laden storyline, deals with Mathilde.

On the other hand, she’s out of place in a “Bond” picture. And why the lack of commitment about her relationship to Bond? The only way she couldn’t be Bond’s daughter is if Madeleine cheated on him, but that would kill the “one true love” notion.

Also awkwardly introduced in this four-writer screenplay is a new 007, Nomi (Lashana Lynch). She’s every cool Black female agent we’ve seen before; she doesn’t become an individual. When Nomi asks Bond where the bedroom is, but not for the sake of Bondian bedroom action, it’s the screenplay lazily faking us out; there’s no good reason for the character to do that.

My Sharona … erm, Paloma

A better instance of Bond interacting with a next-gen agent comes in a single ballroom shootout sequence featuring Paloma (Ana de Armas, Craig’s co-star in “Knives Out”), who seemingly was penned by a different writer than the one assigned to Nomi. Paloma has had three weeks of training, and she’s flustered as the mission begins.

Because we see Paloma earn her stripes, she’s closer to earning spinoff material than Nomi. But of course the enthusiasm for a “Bond” story without Bond will always be a hard sell. (It’s never happened, although it almost did with Halle Berry’s Jinx from “Die Another Day.”)

“NTTD’s” plot is confusing even by “Bond” standards. I think Safin’s group is supposed to be even more evil than SPECTRE, as they DNA-poison the last of the SPECTRE agents in that ballroom sequence. But also, they aren’t as bad as SPECTRE because they only target bad people, right?

But the movie needs Safin’s group to be evil, so later they become more evil, generally via Safin’s weird demeanor. It’s unnecessarily confusing.

Playing to some strengths

Looking at pieces in isolation, though, “NTTD” is technically masterful and often beautiful to look at. The opening sequence in a snowy isolated residence is gripping home-invasion horror. The ballroom shootout is gorgeously colored in dark blue hues. The HQ in the final act is striking: Orange-suited laborers make viruses in a huge vat (I think) on an island of poison plants.

As Bond infiltrates that HQ, cinematographer Linus Sandgren shoots it from behind Bond’s right shoulder. It’s a wink and a nod to “Goldeneye,” the legendary first-person shooter video game. In terms of action, there’s nothing to complain about.

In setting up the action, “NTTD” uses most of its chess pieces well. More than ever, Ben Whishaw understatedly commands the screen when showing off Q’s tech savvy. My favorite new invention is an EMP watch. Bond shows it to a bad guy with a bionic eye and “it blows his mind.”

Bond’s CIA friend Felix (Jeffrey Wright) gets nice moments. But – as is unfortunate tradition – Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) has little to do.

M (Ralph Fiennes) has an intriguing inner conundrum about doing the right thing in the face of NATO reprisals … “even from the Americans,” he says.

An explosive ending

Fukunaga and the other writers pepper in wry humor like this. I appreciated the lighter lines, even though they clearly were added in dialog punch-ups.

The Craig saga ends with a beautifully staged denouement that will have some fans reaching for a hanky. I recommend this last film, just as I did the other four, because the technical quality is top-shelf. But I have reservations, as I did with “Quantum of Solace” and “Spectre.”

Nothing in “No Time to Die” makes me forget my regret that Vesper doesn’t live beyond one film. If she did, we could’ve had an epic love story that would’ve felt organic.