At the Oct. 2 Badger football game, the University of Wisconsin marching band performed a medley of famous Bond songs that included Billie Eilish’s most recent contribution to the vast discography of Bond songs, “No Time To Die.”
At the time, I thought this was a fantastic performance that did a wonderful job of ensuring my excitement for the new film.
But as I sat in the theater watching this film, it dawned on me this would be the last time I saw Daniel Craig as the famed MI6 spy. My generation’s era of Bond films was coming to an end.
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Now don’t worry, this is not me spoiling the film.
Daniel Craig has made it clear in countless interviews from the past several years this film would be his last before he relinquished the mantle of James Bond to the next actor to take the role.
I know not everyone grew up watching some of the classic Bond films, but as a kid, my father and I would watch all the classic 007 films he grew up with, from “Dr. No” and “Diamonds Are Forever,” to “Moonraker” and “The Spy Who Loved Me.”
But when Daniel Craig’s iteration took the screen for the first time in 2006’s “Casino Royale,” I felt a certain ownership of the property compared to my dad.
This was MY Bond. And sitting in the theater on Sunday, fifteen years later, I found myself feeling exceptionally emotional.
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The film itself is everything you would want from a James Bond movie. Snappy one-liners, fancy suits, multiple Aston Martins, absurd gadgets and creepy villains. It manages to stick to the newer style Craig established in his films while paying homage to all the phenomenal, albeit aged, Bond films of the past.
If you’re a Bond fan, do not waste any time and do not let a second of this movie get spoiled for you. Go see a proper sendoff for Daniel Craig before MGM announces the new Bond next year.
It is more than worth your time and I can almost guarantee you will have fun watching this movie.
