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Skyfall
James Bond is missing and presumed dead after being shot during a mission in which he was attempting to retrieve a stolen drive that held the names of all NATO undercover agents in the world. When this drive's contents begin showing up on the internet, Bond resurfaces, determined to help M discover who is responsible. After an attack on MI6, they quickly realize that M herself may be a future target and that the man behind it all may have been a former agent out for revenge. Armed with this new information, Bond heads to Shanghai in an attempt to find this rogue agent and put a stop to his reign of terror.
As some of you around here know, I'm a massive James Bond fan, having seen each and every one of the films multiple times. No matter how bad (The Man with the Golden Gun, Tomorrow Never Dies) they get, I'm always able to find something to enjoy about them. The one's that are true greats (On Her Majesty's Secret Service, From Russia With Love) don't need that extra effort, as they truly stand on their own. Skyfall, the newest Bond film, falls smack dab in the middle of these two extremes, as its a good film in its own right that tries way too hard at times to be something it shouldn't. Uncharacteristic of a Bond film is its strong reliance on overly dramatic dialogue and a near soap opera mentality at times, which not only becomes silly but also distracting. At the same time, its full of enough action, adventure and smoking hot women to satisfy even the stingiest of Bond fanatics. Seemingly an end to the first Craig series of films, Skyfall provides an ample amount of closure to those while also setting the stage for the future of the series to unfold. So while its certainly a good film in the series, I believe the call to consider it one of the best ever may be a little premature. Obviously only time will tell where it will fall in the grand scheme of things, but for now I'll err on the side of caution and say Skyfall, while good, is just short of great.
"Talk about a view to a kill...."
Skyfall is written by the trio of Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan and directed by Sam Mendes. Purvis and Wade know all about Bond, having previously collaborated on several Bond films including both of Craig's (Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace) while Logan has been nominated for three Oscars for writing (Gladiator, The Aviator and Hugo). Mendes is the Oscar-winning director of the film American Beauty among other strong pieces such as Road to Perdition. With a creative crew like this assembled, you'd think the film would easily be the best ever but the truth is it appears too many cooks may have spoiled this broth. While I enjoyed the scenario writing and some of the dialogue, I felt a lot of it came across forced (the conversation between Bond and Severine) or terribly cliched (Silva's first scene). They redeem themselves with some quality stuff for some of the new characters (most notably Q) but there's still a lot left to be desired in the writing department here (including a few unexplained moments). Mendes does his best directing work in years here, though a lot of that has to be credited to cinematographer Roger Deakins (No Country For Old Men), who has most definitely shot the most beautiful looking Bond film I've ever seen. His understanding of the Bond style is obvious, but its his unique twists on the formula that make it stand out like no other has in the past. Meanwhile, Mendes manages to hold it all together for the most part and also did a brilliant job in the casting department for the most part, something else that's always integral to the success (or failure) of a Bond film.
"Why have a licence to kill if you don't use it?"
As a fan of Daniel Craig's portrayal of Bond, I have to say that this is easily his most accomplished work in the role. He's more comfortable with the character than he's ever been and it shows, particularly in some great moments early in the film where he's confronted by an overzealous psychiatrist. Bond's cheeky humour runs rampant here and its refreshing to see Craig being a little less serious given the overall tone of this film. His foil here, Silva, is played by Javier Bardem and he seems just a little off to me, which is not me pointing out his character's personality. Bardem appears to be channelling a combination of Anthony Hopkins Hannibal Lecter and Cesar Romero's Joker (an odd combination to be sure) and while he creates a suitably unsettling villain it just seems like he'd be better off facing Roger Moore than Craig. I did appreciate his willingness to do a lot of his own dirty work but as I say there's just something not quite right about his character that I can't put my finger on. Meanwhile the new recruits here are all quite good, particularly Ralph Fiennes as Mallory and Ben Whishaw as Q (who gets some funny little verbal sparring in with Craig during their introductory scene). The old stalwart Judi Dench is back for another kick at the can as M and for once we get to see her out in the field, which is a refreshing change. I'd also like to quickly point out how nice it was to see Rory Kinnear get an increased role as Tanner, M's underling, while Albert Finney shines in a brief but crucial supporting role that I'll keep quiet about so as not to spoil it for anyone who still hasn't seen the film. Oh and one more thing about the cast, Berenice Marlohe might just be the single hottest Bond girl of all time bar none. Don't believe me, take a look at this.....
"Good grief, I'd bang the living daylights out of her!"
So because there's quite a bit to cover here I've decided to split the good and the bad into two separate sections to try and get to it all. Let's start out with the bad, since it'll lower our expectations suitably before we hit all the high notes. First off, there are some major issues with the plot here and some serious jumps in continuity and exposition. For example, when Bond goes to Shanghai to take out Patrice he sees him assassinate someone and also that Severine is in the room. Who was this person? Just some random victim that happened to know the woman who would later encounter Bond in Macau? A little explanation outside of "he's probably on a job" would have been nice there. Next up is Naome Harris, potentially one of the worst actresses in a Bond film ever (she's right up there with Britt Ekland) and the hilariously bad name drop towards the end. For anyone who praised that but insulted the EXACT same thing that occurred in The Dark Knight Rises I'm here to tell you that you're a hypocrite. That just smacked of Hollywood and I really didn't see the need for it when she could have just been some random character. Besides, I find it hard to believe that Bond would have such camaraderie with a woman who had shot him but then again I wasn't the one writing this stuff. Finally, the blatant attempts by the filmmakers to elicit some sort of emotional response from the viewers smacked of them trying way too hard, particularly in a key death scene towards the end of the film. I'm sure this scene was meant to have some sort of high impact with the long time fans of the series, but once you saw it coming a mile away it really weakened in my eyes.
"Someone call Dr. No, this guy needs an analysis...and possibly an enema."
With that bit of negativity out of the way, let's look at some of the good stuff here that I haven't already touched on. First and foremost in that department is the little bit of back story to the Bond character that was added in. James Bond has always been something of an enigmatic character, so seeing just a smidgen of his past is a huge deal and I think it was handled as best as it could have been. Plus they've left the door open to tell even more parts of this story in future instalments, something I really hope they do. The action sequences here are also tremendous, especially the beginning on the train, the subway disaster and the huge finale at the house. This is certainly one of the most coherent Bond films considering the amount of action going on (something I had issues with in Quantum of Solace) but its smart enough to know when to scale things back and go for the slow down. Speaking of that, the slower moments here are still good, particularly the interaction between Bond and Silva (once he stops spouting his opening rhetoric and gets down to the "mommy was very bad" stuff). I also enjoyed the implied sexual orientation of the character and his willingness to use it in an attempt to make Bond uncomfortable (although Bond's reply to him is possibly the best line in the film from a comedic standpoint). Oh and just because I can't get enough of mentioning it, Berenice Marlohe is so hot she might as well be walking on the sun. So there you have it, a film with a lot of good but some bad to balance it out, although I have a sneaking suspicion it will get better with repeated viewings which is why I'm planning to see it again in a few days.
"This next bullet is for your eyes only."
Skyfall was shot on an estimated budget of $200 million and has already grossed over $538 million at the box office in just a few weeks of release. At this rate it will easily become the highest grossing Bond film (even adjusted for inflation, for more on that check out my other Bond reviews) which is fantastic for the franchise. It once again proves that no matter who's making them or who's in them, you just can't keep this character down for too long. While I don't think its as great as some people are making it out to be and would probably not put it in my top 5 Bond films (tentative on seeing it again) I certainly think its Craig's best effort, his best work as the character and one hell of an action film. Forget about some of the leaps in logic and the maudlin dialogue and you can't go wrong with Skyfall. Bond is back in a big way and I can only dream of what's next to come. 8/10.
