It wasn't because I thought it was so good I had to see it again, although it's a really good movie. (The ending in particular is nothing like anything in the Bond canon, and it is a really-needed shake-up.) It's just that ... well, OK. ...
The first time I saw it was after a day where I was filling in at The Fourth Department. Work was a bear, but I was able to get out, although I stayed after, in time to catch the screening of the Bond film. I parked my car just at the screening time for the movie, but there are always previews and such at the beginning, so I figured I had time to use the bathroom and get popcorn and pop. I did all those things in ten minutes, then I went to the screen showing NTTD. In fact, this place has TV screens for signs, and the one right next to the door had the right movie and the right time. I thought the door being open was a bit much, but maybe they were told to do it as a COVID-related circulation protocol.
I enter the theater screen and see that the film has already started. Shit. I am a completist when it comes to watching movies; if I miss the beginning, in all likelihood, I will pay a ticket to watch it again at a later date to make sure I see the whole thing. I think I last did this for Moonlight, and I also did it for All About My Mother. (With that being said, I have left in the middle of a movie to go to the bathroom, and I do not see a film again if I miss a minute or two under those circumstances. Does that make me a hypocrite?) Anyway, the first scene I saw was an action scene: Bond (Daniel Craig) and what I later understood is a new and very green operative named Paloma (Ana de Armas, who I believe got this part through Craig, her co-star on Knives Out, and who, by the way, rowrrrrrrrrrrrr) kicking ass in what I believe is Cuba. I sat and enjoyed the rest of the flick, and as it went on I thought to myself, "OK, so I missed the title sequence and the Billie Eilish theme song ... but how about the beginnings of the plot? I feel like I've missed a few things."
It took me a few weeks before I could catch No Time To Die a second time, and I made a point to look at my watch to see 1) how much time did the screening show previews before the movie actually started compared to the announced time and 2) how much of the film did I miss. Got there on time, thank goodness -- well, not before the trailers, but those don't count. And this time (I saw this at a different theater) it was about a half-hour after the announced time when NTTD began.
Turns out I missed a lot. I did read the plot on its Wikipedia page, and there was scene after scene which helped me understand what I missed from the first time I saw it: The flashback that starts the flick; Bond and Madeleine Swan enjoying a romantic vacation; the assassins that find Bond; Bond saying goodbye to Swan; the capture of a scientist; Bond enjoying the bachelor life in Jamaica; Bond being asked by Felix Leiter to help him capture this scientist; the new 007 flirting and then confronting Bond; Bond saying yes to Leiter; then that action sequence in Cuba, which actually is a party for Spectre hosted by Spectre ringleader Blofeld, who is imprisoned back in London, and doubles as a trap for Bond but backfires because this "nanobot mist" intended for Bond kills all the members of Spectre instead. Then the ass-kicking ensues.
Phew, that was a lot! And once I saw a line and a scene that I remembered from the first time I saw No Time To Die, I picked up my watch. It was 52 minutes after the film began. Fifty-two. You mean to tell me that I was 52 minutes late to the movie??? That ... that can't be. Maybe I walked into the wrong theater and, like, the theater I should have gone in was the next one over, and that this TV sign was for that door and not the one I went through. Or, and I can rest my head at night over this theory, someone at the theater lied to me. Maybe I was given the wrong theater, or maybe the movie started earlier than it should have. But goddammit, 52 minutes late isn't an innocent mistake. Someone dropped the damn ball, and it wasn't me.
Nevertheless, I'll say this: Not only did being able to watch the movie from the start fill in details I didn't get by diving into the middle of the flick the first time, I literally was able to understand some of the lines I didn't comprehend the first time. Also, going through the plot a second time, even the scenes I saw the first time, helped me with what was going on in the story. It's a convoluted one, and I don't think all the pieces fit. But I understood the motivation, how relationships between characters began and changed and, specifically, the idea behind this nanobot weapon. I wonder if I should re-watch every movie I see in the theater -- assuming I get to the movie to see it from the beginning.
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