Daniel Craig says goodbye in “No Time to Die’

Above : Daniel Craig stars as James Bond in “No Time to Die,” which opens on Friday. (Photo/MGM)

On Oct. 5, 1962, a film opened in London that was the beginning of a phenomenon. The film was “Dr. No,” and the phenomenon was the suave British spy James Bond.

Sean Connery was the first actor to portray Bond, who was the creation of the former intelligence officer and successful novelist Ian Fleming. Five have succeeded him, in this order: George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and – for the last five films in the series, Daniel Craig.

(I’m omitting Barry Nelson, who portrayed Bond in a 1954 television show, the various actors who portrayed Bond on the radio, and David Niven, who portrayed Bond in the parody 1967 parody “Casino Royale.” I also don’t consider that film one of the official series, which then makes the count of Bond movies an even 26.)

Craig, who some of us consider to be the second-best Bond (“Doctor No” star Connery is, of course, No. 1), has said that the latest Bond film – “No Time to Die,” which opens Friday – will be his last. And, that seems to be the case.

It’ll be nice to see how he goes out. The film is bound to have the standard fast cars, fancy weapons and – even in this era of political correctness – some attractive woman (including those who can actually handle themselves physically).

Anyway, “No Time to Die” – which was originally set to open in November 2019 – is getting mostly good reviews (it has an 83 percent Fresh Rating on Rotten Tomatoes) . Here are three:

Michael O’Sullivan , Washington Post: “Craig’s fifth and final outing as the secret MI6 superagent James Bond is also a fittingly complicated and ultimately perversely satisfying send-off for the actor.”

Stephanie Zacharek , Time magazine: “With his fifth movie as 007, Craig is so extraordinary he leaves only scorched earth behind. There will be other Bonds for those who want them. For everyone else, there’s Craig.”

Peter Bradshaw , The Guardian: “ ‘No Time To Die’ is startling, exotically self-aware, funny and confident, and perhaps most of all it is big: big action, big laughs, big stunts.”

Time for a martini, shaken not stirred.