Thread by @RichardBSpencer

I loved #NoTimeToDie. The best Bond film in more than a decade—and a Bond film to end all Bond films, in more ways than one.

Cary Fukunaga, the director of the 1st season of *True Detective*, is a genius. I don't think anyone else could have deepen, maybe even redeemed, the Craig era, which had become played out, tired, and morose of late.

Many middle-aged Fleming and Bond fans, like myself, often ask, "Why can't they just make a normal Bond film!? What we mean is, "Why can't we see a self-confident, campy romp from the Roger Moore era?"

It's a good question! Ultimately, the fact that they can't do that—that the entire Craig era has produced morally ambiguous, dark Bond films—evinces a general anxiety about Ian Fleming's mid-century fantasy about a man, modeled on himself, who secretly revives the British Empire.

Bond is, much like the first-ever villain in the novel and film *Casino Royal,* a "cypher," a "double-0," a hole in the donut. And it's reasonable to say that we as an audience don't actually want to know how he is—in fact, there's no there, there.

At the end of the film *Casino Royal*, Bond tells Vesper, "I have no armor left. Whatever I am ... I'm yours." This was one effective way of handling the dilemma. Bond still lacks an identity, but he's put whatever there is in the hands of Vesper—who promptly betrays him!

In *No Time To Die*, Fukunaga—and he's one of the few who can pull this off—actually gave Bond an identity and personal attachments, and did it without engaging in too much sentimentality. I have immense respect.

I'm sure many right-wing fanboys will hate this film and declare that Fukunaga gave Bond the "Last Jedi" treatment. This is wrong. *The Last Jedi* was a depressingly self-conscious attempt to subvert and demoralize the legend of Luke Skywalker.

*No Time To Die*, on the other hand, was an attempt to deepen the character of James Bond and, in fact, push this figure—which makes modern people uncomfortable—into the realm of legend.

If you think Fukunaga didn't succeed in this, that's your prerogative. But to deny his sincere intentions—and overall intelligence and sensitivity—is, again, off base.