| It’s hard to think of a critic’s style pairing more delightfully with a subject than Anthony Lane’s with James Bond. A piquant assailant of the grandiose and the absurd, Lane has found plenty of both in 007’s escapades over the years, including in Daniel Craig’s final go-round in the title role, “No Time to Die”—which, despite its “heavy heart,” features a submersible glider, a hairless cat, and a villain with “an unfortunate skin condition.” Nearly two decades ago, back in the Pierce Brosnan days, Lane summed up his central theory of Bond, writing, “Here are some things that are great about James Bond movies: the suits, the drinks, the stunts, the cars, the hubcaps of the cars, the men, the women, the posters, the weather, the music, the sex, the life. Here are some things that are not so great about James Bond movies: James Bond movies.” In describing some of those movies, Lane has performed the following karate chops: “Volcano, ninjas, rocket launch, white pussycat: you know the deal.” (“You Only Live Twice”)
“A work so bereft of ideas that it chooses to employ Grace Jones as a special effect.” (“A View to a Kill”)
“The title is too frail by far. Someone should have called it ‘Total of Wreckage.’ Or ‘Batter of Ram.’ ” (“Quantum of Solace”) Still, as is true of all the relationships between Bond and his nemeses, there is real love there. Lane once wrote, “I can see no point in going to a Bond film unless there is a corner of your soul that is still eleven years old. Anyone who has tamped down that youthful yen for excitement should stay away.” | 
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