DOUBLE OMG

Quite a while ago, Eon Productions, the company behind the James Bond films, announced that there would be a series re-boot after the diminishing returns of the Pierce Brosnan era.

Their choice of a relatively unknown Daniel Craig to fill the shoes of a reimagined James Bond was met with howls of protest, if not derision. Craig’s too short! Too blond! Just no!

But Barbara Broccoli, daughter of Bond film guru Cubby, was no doubt spooked by a box office juggernaut starring Matt Damon. I am referring of course to the Jason Bourne franchise (another JB!). Bourne at the time was box office gold and appeared to be, according to a few critics, more Bond than Bond.

So, Craig’s first outing as Agent 007 was a triumph of grittier style, smarter visuals and a back story that even Bond creator Ian Fleming never had imagined: a wounded warrior, a psychologically damaged assassin and, as the indomitable M pointed out, an orphan. No family, no emotional attachments—the perfect spy with absolutely no baggage.

Through four pictures of varying quality, Craig nonetheless matured before our eyes into the iconic Bond. For my money, he was the best, even though as a young moviegoer I had considered Sean Connery untouchable in the role.

And now, with “No Time to Die,” we have the grand finale. For the longest time, a fifth Bond adventure had been considered a long shot, since Craig himself told anyone who’d listen he was done with the character. The fourth installment, “Spectre,” had taken a toll on him both physically and emotionally. And no amount of money, he said, would be enticing enough to have him return.

But somehow the producers found a way to change his mind. Clearly with an offer he couldn’t refuse: an island in the Caribbean? His own private jet? Whatever the enticement, we are richer for it.

“No Time to Die” is a melancholy musing on what it means to be in service to Her Majesty at a time when Fleming’s hero is no longer playfully patting the butt of an unsuspecting woman or lighting up a cigarette onscreen. The old ways seem now creepy if not creaky.

In this final Bond film, 007 is so world-weary he’s abandoned the Crown and his calling and lives quietly in a tropical paradise with Madeleine Swann, his love interest introduced in “Spectre.”

But then, old friend and CIA stalwart Felix Lighter comes calling with an invitation to join him in one last adventure. Soon, Bond is in Cuba and chasing a Russian biochemist who has stolen a pathogen so lethal, it can kill with the slightest touch.

But there’s more to the sinister plot than we know at the outset. The Russian biochemist is a mere pawn in the employ of an evil puppet master played by Rami Malek (“Mr. Robot”).

I don’t traffic in spoilers, so this is as far as I go. But it’s enough to say that Daniel Craig was more than satisfied with Bond’s swan song, as well as a plot detail he insisted upon when signing his first contract. Whether moviegoers will be equally satisfied is the bigger question.