By: S.C. Ali
Founder/Author
There are no spoilers in this review.
Bond, James Bond. We’ve either seen one, two, or more films, or if not, at least heard about this legendary character. In 2012, Bond celebrated his 50th year on the silver screen, and Skyfall doesn’t disappoint.
Skyfall takes Bond back to his roots. M is under threat as her past comes back to haunt her. The movie shows many things, amongst Bond’s redemption for an event, which takes place early on in the film.
The pre-credits sequence is excellent. It is what we expect from a typical Bond film, filled with action and suspense. The location shots are breathtaking, another motif that we would expect from Bond. The title sequence is also superb, and one of the strongest points of the film. Adele’s theme song blends in perfectly with the film, and definitely has a 1960s Bond vibe to it.
Skyfall is filmed in many exotic locales including Turkey, Macau, Shanghai, England, and Scotland. Sam Mendes, who is an Oscar winning director, did an excellent job ensuring that the locales were tastefully shot, with many wide-angle views of the city lines. In addition, he made the locations blend well with the film, and it didn’t seem as if Bond was jumping from place to place. Each location had its purpose, and blended well with the plot. In addition, they did slightly incorporate some of the culture of the region where Bond was, another nod to the older Bond films. Also, the overall production design of the film was splendid.
There were many strong points of the film. First of all, I liked how the producers reinvigorated the typical formula for a Bond movie which is: action-packed pre-credits sequence, title sequence, Bond gets the mission from M, travels to an exotic locale, gets the girl, makes love to the girl, faces the villain, kills the villain, and the movie ends, typically with Bond making love to either another girl or the same one as before. Skyfall does not exactly follow this formula, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Also, I like how they incorporated a lot of technology into Skyfall (tech geeks would be satisfied), but they did not make the technology seem overbearing. Rather, it was used to support and help Bond, which is vital especially in today’s modern age. Speaking of the modern age, the film does leave the question of: Is it necessary for an agent to be out in the field when you can do so much more with all of the technology at present? I’ll leave you to answer that after watching the film.
Another strong point of the film is the quality of acting. Daniel Craig did a superb job of acting as 007, and is much more comfortable in the role than his last two films. Javier Bardem’s acting was excellent, and embodies a modern Bond villain, while incorporating some qualities of a 1960s Bond villain. Dame Judi Dench did a wonderful job as M, and in my opinion, is the true Bond girl of the film rather than Naomi Harris or Berenice Marlohe. It was so heartwarming to see the return of Q-Branch, the famous gadget officer who has equipped Bond on many of his missions. The new Q is a much younger iteration compared to his predecessor, but with the rapid evolution of technology, I think it’s a good and necessary thing. Bond and Q had some great dialogue in the film as well.
Finally, the ending of the film was well laid out and there was deep thought and introspection behind it. The scenes are well anticipated and move accordingly. There are quite a few plot twists, but I won’t give that away because then my disclaimer at the beginning of this review will not hold.
No film review would do justice if it didn’t state the bad points of the film. I HIGHLY dislike putting the famous James Bond gunbarrel sequence at the end. If you all don’t know what that is, here is a link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVLRsQuTebA
Sam Mendes said in an interview that putting it back at the beginning (it was at the end of the previous Bond film as well) would not fit well with the film. After seeing the film, I highly disagree. In my opinion, the gunbarrel sequence has a great symbolic significance and sets the tone of the film. After seeing the gunbarrel sequence at the beginning, you know for sure that you are watching a 007 movie.
In addition, I did not like the acting of the two Bond girls. I think that Naomi Harris did a good job as Eve, but if she continues in the next Bond film (you will see why when you watch the movie), she needs to have better on-screen chemistry with Daniel Craig. The main Bond girl, Berenice Marhlohe who plays Severine, did a decent job, but was not involved enough in the film. In fact, she did not seem like a Bond girl, she seemed more of a secondary character. Also, the romantic scenes in the film were not long enough. I would have definitely wanted to see an intimate scene between Bond and Severine at the end of the movie, like how it usually is in Bond films.
In conclusion, I liked that Skyfall brought some classic 1960s Bond motifs without making it seem too nostalgic. I do not think that it is the best Bond film. That title still goes to Goldfinger in my opinion. Also, I think that out of the Daniel Craig films, Skyfall is just a tad under Casino Royale. The Bond girl in Skyfall was nowhere as near as prominent in Skyfall as she was in Casino Royale, but I do like that Skyfall brought back some of the old and new together. If Bond 24, which is slated to be coming out on November 6th 2015 blends the complexity of Eva Green’s portrayal of Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale, with the old allusions in Skyfall, then we may have the best Bond film since 1964.
Overall rating: 4/5
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