Skyfall Review

One of the most anticipated movies of this year for me was Skyfall. Today i saw it, and well here is my review.

First off this is just the review portion of my Skyfall coverage, there will be a second blog involving an debate discussion about some of the finer points of Skyfall.

Ok so how do i start a review about one of the most anticipated movies of this year. The hype, it had alot to live up to. There was alot of haters for Quantum Of Solice, i didnt hate the film i just found it not memorable, it seem to continue on that Casino Royale vibe but Quantum Of Solice had no memorable characters, it just basically felt like angry pissed of bond suddnely got evenmore pissed off because he found a water horder. But Skyfall is a different type of movie.

See when Daniel Craig took on the mental of Bond, they reinvented it, from my point of view it felt like a new franchise. Casino Royale was an amazing film. Skyfall follows as a close second but as much as i liked alot of the things i saw in Skyfall, i kind of felt alot of it was spoilt in parts.

Skyfall – visually stunning all the way through, the sets were amazing and never boring. Very well detailed and i dont know if people noticed but the film went through several colour filters, like mostly red in that casino, orange during the end of the movie, a green/blue in the new HQ – very cleaver. This film and its rare that i say this, its one of the first films that has felt very british in a long time.

The way i see this movie is like its the inbetween from the Daniel Craig Bond Trilogy to Sean Connery’s bond series of films. its like they did the uturn away from the new style of bond films and went back to the 007 shhhhhaken not stured connery bond. In someways i felt nostalgic it was heading that way but in the same time i felt like where they evolved the bond franchise into what we saw in the previous films, they were going back to the old style to please fans and it really wasnt required. I found that they used too many jokes and although they where used in Casino Royale and Quantum Of Solice, it was always used sparingly where as Skyfall is the only bond film im gonna have to say is got to be classed as Action-Thriller-Comedy. There were also alot of elements in this film that found me reminiciant of the old bond movies, it very much felt like they were paying homage to the old James Bond Films more than tying up a trilogy.

The thing i didnt like was the lucidity of the trilogy. Casino Royale lead into Quantum Of Solice, you would think Skyfall would of bridge that gap to but no it was more of a stand alone film. In somewheres i see Skyfall like The Dark Knight Rises… set 8 years later when the hero is now a mess from his original self. Actually there was many elements of the Batman Begins Trilogy that i found in this movie, The main Villian was like The Joker from The Dark Knight, the whole epic nature of the film was like The Dark Knight Rises, Bond was like Bruce from The Dark Knight Rises. People died, new people were introduced it was very unique.

It wouldnt be fair to talk about character unless i go through them one by one.

so…

Here we go…

M

Despite being the only link between the pierce brosin bond and daniel craig bond. Really craigs bond is the prequel – this is introductory level of bond. Without giving spoilers away, M is really looking her age and i think that really plays into the factor of this movie. Old, tired and made a few mistakes in life, Dame Judi Dench played the character of M really well over the years and this was her defining moment as M. This is the only movie i have seen M play a more of an Action role than her previous behind the counter role she had played in the previous movie. M is complex and has a past that she would sooner forget. The result of her past was the creation of this movies Villian.

Q

A brilliant performance by Ben Whishaw, he isnt trying to be the younger version of the Q we remember from the other movies, He was a unique Q. He also reminded me alot of someone i used to go to college with many years ago. God i feel old, anyway Q had alot to live up to because even though Q was just really an extended cameo role in the previous films. Skyfall showcases Q and puts him to action. A young genius that can read script and likes the modern age of gadgets… even if they were simplistic gadgets. You kind of felt that in Skyfall they wanted to cement the future of the franchise by giving you the cast back, M, Q, Moneypenny, Bond… the core elements of the bond franchise. Not only have they done Q well, they made him memorable for his characteristics.

Moneypenny

Now i was really confused by this character. Becaus she was a field agent and when they marketed the film they basically indicated she was Moneypenny from the begining but it wasnt brought up in the film until the end. I know this sounds like a bit of a spoiler but come on – anyone who read anything about this bond film and i actively avoided reading about this film so i could enjoy it. But it was avoidable that the character of Eva was Moneypenny. So not calling her that until the very end when she introduces her self like it was some big reveal – im guessing it was either a marketing mistake or just a rewrite of the script. Anyway Moneypenny’s character is a field agent to begin with but ultimately ends up being a human based communication service (because telephones seem to be obseleted in this bond world) ear pieces and mics in your cufflinks is the future. What i didnt get with Moneypenny was what exactly was she supposed to bring to the story other than to move a story along. She has a major part to play at the begining but then she just turns up every now and then like a cat you fed milk to once and now it wont stop coming to your house. They should of done more with her, they should of gave her a proper reason to why she stayed behind the desk and didnt become a field agent like in the old bond movies. But never mind.

Sévérine

Disappointing…! now this isnt about the actress who played the character or how she portrayed the character – infact i felt it was well performed and found character really interesting… for the whole 20 minutes she was on screen. Now she becomes the new Bond girl but within the 20 minutes of screen time she had skyscraper, casino, boat and island… thats about it, i thought her character had promise but she just became an extended cameo pitty but then i felt Javier Bardem’d silva the main villian of the movie would of overshadowed her if they extended her role more anyway. This brings me to…

Silva

Javier Bardem nailed this character in one – memorable, amazing and something that has been missing in bond villians for a while… Creepy! this character was The Joker from The Dark Knight, a propper villian but like with most stories he once was a hero but turned villian when he was betrayed. Something about this character just basically screamed he was a homage of many bond villians, like that blofelt, scaramanga and even Jaws. When he took his teeth out at one point and his face dropped did anyone else think “OMG thats jaws” but i felt there was many villians of the past parodied in this film. anyway Javier Bardem brought us an amazing performance with this character. In someways and i dont know how they would do this but i would like to see him return at some point. If it was possible.

Which brings me to

BOND, JAMES BOND!

James Bond, Daniel Craig basically just watched The Dark Knight Rises, over and over again, he was essentially Bruce Wayne broken to begin with, reinvented by the end. I was never too keen on Daniel Craig being bond, he just didnt feel like a Bond. But Skyfall really showed him live out the bond iconic stuff well, the NON subtle hints to the old bond movies – like the austin martin, the skyfall bond manor. Always wondered how someone can run in slip-on shoes and a suit… i ran for the bus in my work gear and nearly fell in front of the bus because shoes have no grip… climbing on top of a trian and runing around the place – just wouldnt happen in real life. But maybe Q made him some all purpose slip on shoes or something.

Id also like to make mention of two more characters Tanner and Mallory – Tanner actually played an interesting sidekick role to M that reminded me of Agent Coulson from Avengers Move Marvel fame. Not giving any spoilers away but i could see him being part of the iconic Group of Q, Moneypenny, M and Bond… Tanner… Then there is Mallory – Played by Ralph Finnes – i had alot of reservations when i heard he was going to be in this movie. Bond is a very british series of films and putting someone like Ralph “Im Voldermort” Fines in the movie just felt like there would be to much of a comparison to the movie The Avengers??? do people remember that, Sean Connery, Ralph Fines and Uma Therman. maybe his casting was a node to Sean Connery in avengers movie. But anyway even though Ralph was in the film, i was actually quite surprised by his performance and really he will hold the series together in the future films.

Moving away from the cast i need to mention the music of Bond. Basically all the classic bond themes and songs are back, from the Adele intro an iconic opening screen to the dum de de de dum dum dum noise that came from the bond iconic franchise. This felt like the Ultimate Bond film.

But this film had flaws, What happened to Mr.White from Casino Royale and Quantum Of Solice, who was there employers… there is alot of unresolved stuff from those two movies and Skyfall stands alone.

So there we have it, My Bond review – this movie was a brilliant stand alone film but really they need to conclude the Casino Royale and Quantum Of Solice storylines. I heard that the next two bond films will be a back to back film.

Also i managed to get the last VIP seating ticket for my cinema, i have never seen a film so popular on a sunday at a really awkward time to go see it.

i really cant wait for when bond comes back…! for a franchise we almost lost due to the recession and the studio almost closing down. Skyfall saved it.

I give this movie 5 stars out of 5