8 Fixes That Would've Improved No Time To Die

3. Streamline The Film And Give It More Forward Momentum

M No Time To Die
MGM

No Time to Die, thanks to its mammoth run-time, does have issues with pacing. There are many great dialogue scenes, but unfortunately it feels like the film is constantly stopping and starting instead of continuously moving forward and during this quieter scenes, the stakes of the film's main scenario seem to fade a bit.

The film should've been shorter and the pacing could've been fixed by having most of these expositional scenes in the first act and making sure that there was always a palpable sense of tension, even when characters were just sitting around and discussing things.

A great film to use for inspiration would've been On Her Majesty's Secret Service, which No Time to Die often alludes to (its theme plays in this movie's closing credits). OHMSS is quite slow-paced and dialogue-heavy, but there's always a sense of mounting tension and plot progression and it never feels like the film is just taking a break.

As well as this, that movie justifies the build-up by having absolutely incredible action sequences in the second half and several of the film's romantic scenes actually happen while Bond and Tracy (Diana Rigg) are on the run, so the pacing is superbly done throughout. Honestly, by following that movie's fine example closely, No Time to Die could've fixed its pacing issues.

Contributor

Film Studies graduate, aspiring screenwriter and all-around nerd who, despite being a pretentious cinephile who loves art-house movies, also loves modern blockbusters and would rather watch superhero movies than classic Hollywood films. Once met Tommy Wiseau.