Another entertaining Bond series entry that gets up close and personal with M and 007 himself. The opening sequence with Bond in hot pursuit of a thief with an important hard drive is great. The rooftop chase on motorcycles followed by a fight on top of a moving train, it's almost action movie overload. When Bond fires up the crane, it's a supremely cool start.
There's a whole lot of Judi Dench in this movie and the relationship with Bond reaches a new level. Bad guy Silva is played by Javier Bardem. He's sufficiently evil and his motive is based on revenge. The computer hacking accomplished by Silva is ridiculous. Technology is so abused (or dumbed down) in movies, it's most often distracting. A rooftop motorcycle chase is far easier to believe than some of the network packet busting on display by a new Q (with Bond's help, no less). And some how Bond manages to find a clue buried within a hexadecimal block of characters. Problem is, some of those characters are not hexadecimal. Silly and stupid. It took me out of the movie almost permanently. And I'll leave the asinine graphic displays, IP address troubleshooting stupidity and unfathomable user interfaces alone.
"Skyfall" fails as soon as Bond takes M to his boyhood home. Getting this personal with Bond was a mistake. It's like two different movies. The first half is excellent and the last half is pretty dumb.
Daniel Craig continues to be a top notch Bond, though, and is my favorite after the great Connery. I'm pleading with the creators to stop softening him up.
Skyfall ranks right between the first two Craig movies. Not as good as the first but much better then the second. As I've mentioned repeatedly I can live with plot holes and logic errors in Bond movies. They are almost a trademark.
It's interesting that the pre opening credits scene for this movie ends with a failure. That's an interesting approach and sets a different tone for the movie. Although you know he isn't dead. We then get what I consider the first real Bond theme song of the new era performed by the remarkable Adele. And I think she's on the same level as Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger".
Another step up from the previous one is the cut-down on action and the much better, less hectic, editing. The stunts are still top notch and I'm always amazed when I watch the specials how much was actually done in camera as opposed to CGI. That is something I really appreciate.
As for the story itself - it's kind of a mixed bag. You have the old vs new angle which is ok. Bringing back characters like "Q" or Moneypenny in a much different form is a concession to the more modern times this franchise now lives. I'm fine with that, too. On the other hand I don't think I needed all that Bond backstory we got here. I never felt it was missing. The absolute weak point for me was the villain, Silva. Barbara Brocolli called him "probably the best Bond villain of all time" on one of the specials and I strongly disagree. Yes, he seems like a throwback to the Blowfelds and Dr.No's of the old movies. But he lacks style. I find him neither intimidating nor creepy. Just comical, almost laughable.
I'm sad to see Dench leave the franchise but she's been there for a very long time and it was probably the right time to move on to, again, someone younger. Which is a theme for this movie after all.
Overall "Skyfall" was entertaining to watch with highs and lows like pretty much every Bond movie. There only were a couple really bad ones. And this isn't one of them.
Review Categories:10 Year Rewatch"First Scene Was So Dumb I Stopped Watching The FilmShitpost to amuse myself, TBH
I'm just going to give a review of the opening action scene, or the first part of it, because it was so unbelievable/impossible that I just stopped watching 9 minutes into the film on my first *attempted rewatch. I remember feeling something was off years ago, but this is just ridiculous, and not in a fun, silly way like some of the Connery or Roger Moore films.
I remember some nice shots later in the film, but this opening scene is just unforgivably stupid. At the same time that they're presumably going for some meager nod to realism by having Moneypenny crash into things (or maybe it's ironically sexist by calling her an incompetent field agent/woman driver?) I honestly don't think they knew what they were going for... wait, why the heck is Moneypenny a field agent? Oh yeah, I forgot, this was about the start of the multi-franchise retcon theme where no one-- especially women-- could have any worth as a knowledge worker or academic alone (unless their name is Q and they're geek chic) so they had to start making everyone under the age of sixty a fucking superhero.
Assistants and secretaries are hella vital. Case in point: I need a personal assistant because I'm a disorganized mess, and that's the only reason I'm not James Bond, you see.
Anyway... the dude that stole the laptop hard drive so hard that he ripped out some of the metal (despite the fact that one just can just rip out one or two tiny screws and pull it out) has a double-drum magazine on his machine pistol... which he ditches after maybe 60 shots, for some reason, before hopping on the bike (too heavy?/"realism"?) he then proceeds to fire a couple of extended regular mags worth before getting onto the train, and then proceeds to fire like 200 fucking rounds while on the train, while Bond runs out after his tiny PPK mag is expended, just so he can crawl into the excavator and get shot, and then this idiot fires like a hundred rounds, seemingly from nowhere, at the excavator bucket just for shits and giggles I guess. Oh, and then he shoots apart (with a 9mm, mind you) the latching mechanism of the train cars. And then Bond hops through the top of the passenger car that he just can-openered open, into the midst of the passengers who are just, fine I guess, and straitens his suit like a cool tailored suit guy... who's just been shot in the arm from a magical infinite bullet gun. It's like a Naked Gun film, but without any attempts at humor. Also, Moneypenny stops in the middle of her pursuit to do a cheeky bit of product placement where I was expecting her to wink at the screen and spout a brand mantra, which, honestly, would have been funny, instead of just really awkward.
Stansfield voice:
That's why I stopped!
Holy Shit, American Beauty is a "Great American Film" masterpiece (from a British man), but theater directors should not be let near an action movie set. Ten(+) years later Skyfall ..s on a re-watch, whereas Quantum of Solace showed its genius and relevance after I grew the fuck up and actually learned enough about the world to appreciate it. I think I'm gonna go watch that again instead.
ps. It's also pretty funny that a Tony winning director dyed Javier Bardem's hair white and essentially made him the "evil gay", white-haired anime villain. LOL!
Most Bond movies are kinda uninspired and interchangeable.
They’re good at giving the audience what they want, but because most installments aren’t interested in challenging the formula in any way, they don’t make for very visionary pieces of art.
That is not the case for Skyfall, you can feel the inspiration and vision that the filmmakers had for this one.
It stands out primarily as a result of it being driven by a concept and theme, rather than just action and tropes.
Sam Mendes directs the hell out of this movie, combining the gritty Daniel Craig era of Bond with some more traditional elements in a way that works very well (something he would subsequently fail at with Spectre).
There are some campy ideas in this (the whole hacking plot is complete nonsense if you know the slightest bit about hacking, Javier Bardem’s performance is over the top), but because they’re presented in a dark/sinister way, rather than a silly way, it doesn’t mess with the tone (kinda like Nolan did in his Batman movies).
The acting is great, the action is very well handled and memorable, it’s shot extremely well (Deakins should’ve easily won the Oscar for this), good music, and most importantly: all the new characters leave an impression.
Naomi Harris is very likeable, Berenice Marlohe gives an excellent performance for the little time she’s on screen, Ralph Fiennes has a nice little arc, and Javier Bardem is a terrific bad guy.
I only have one small nitpick, and it has to do with the whole ‘I wanted to get captured’ trope, which makes the plot a little less tight than it should be.
It worked for The Joker given how psychotic that character is, but here it just seems like forced nonsense.
I love that chase scene through the London underground that comes out of it, but there are quite a few conveniences in it because they lean into the ‘I planned all of this’ trope so hard.
8.5/10
I had high expectations for Skyfall. Not only in the time of its release, but also by nowadays, it is really well spoken. It is the best one from Daniel Craig, but still, not a very good action movie still.
Javier Bardem makes a great villain. I really liked. It is certainly the best aspect of the movie. His introduction monologue is awesome.
Roger Deakins is responsible for the cinematography. He is my favorite at this job and you can always expect gorgeous scenes. Shanghai is beautifully shot by his eyes.
Sam Mendes is directing now, the action is better. It is not that exagerated shaky cam like the previous films.
The plot is confusing, illogical and ridiculous. I guess I can say this to every James Bond movies starred by Daniel Craig. I did not like Q, boring. The hacking in this film is laughable. Moneypenny is annoying, also, what is it with that name?
M is finally gone. Killing 007 and not trusting him once again to catch the bad guy despite him saving the world countless times is a good choice.
Why does 007 let everyone die? Come on. He could have easily saved that woman if he just did his thing 5 seconds before.
Greatest technology that no one suspects about is a radio with a GPS, wow.
The last act is good, nice explosions and beautiful cinematography. I liked the conclusion. By the way, Ralph Fiennes becomes the new M, but wasn’t his previous ocuppation superior to the one he is now?
A solid return to form for the Bond franchise after a bit of instability in Quantum of Solace. Daniel Craig is still growing into the leading role, but he's begun to mix in little quirks and kinks to his performance that, taken together, make a big difference. The action sets, also, seem to be past their growing pains and strike a nice balance between the stark, modern realism of the two preceding pictures and the characteristic over-the-top absurdity of past chapters.
Like its predecessors, Skyfall struggles with pacing issues, dilly-dallying for most of the first act, but once Javier Bardem finally surfaces around the sixty-minute mark it gets to the point and presses pedal to metal the rest of the way. It's interesting that, while in previous films the villains have been momentary flashes of color meant to shine a brighter light on the hero, Bardem's role in Skyfall often actually eclipses that of Bond himself. He's a brilliant, charismatic, damaged bit of anarchy that's reminiscent of, if not quite as eccentric as, Heath Ledger's turn as the Joker, and Bardem is magnificently unnerving in the role.
With the spirited new foil, the return of a few familiar monikers to the series and a dramatic, meaningful finale that's sure to reverberate through subsequent installments, I think it's safe to say James Bond is finally, firmly, back in the saddle.
Late comer to the review for this film. I'm watching all the Bond movies with Daniel Crag in anticipation of seeing Spectre this weekend.
For those who hated this movie, I really am sorry. I agree - Connery's Bond was great. So were the '60s. (Didn't he do another one in the '80s?) After all, I was born in the '60s, which means I got to see all the Bond films on ABC. Sean Connery or Roger Moore, it didn't matter - ABC showed em all. So I know Sean Connery rocks and Roger Moore sucks.
And the dark period continued until 2006, when along came Daniel Crag.
I love Craig in the role of James Bond. Cassino Royal is my favorite Bond movie since Connery was in the role. Quantum had some excellent moments, and Skyfall was a suitable vehicle for Judi Dench to exit the role as the most excellent M in the series while telling some much needed history of Bond and his family.
Best of all for Hollywood, the last three films have made good money from a franchise clearly in decline after some of the worst miscasting in any franchise's history. (I mean, Pierce Brosnan? Timothy Dalton? How did we miss Peter O'toole?) I argue, if it weren't for Craig, the Bond franchise was as good as dead.
More importantly, though, is an understanding of every film's place in the world within it exists. No one was buying the suitcase helicopter, Voodoo crazies, Jaws, Mr Scaramanga or Nick Nack in 2006. However, the world would buy a Bond who relies on his brains and muscle as well as an intelligent team of well-rounded characters, including the first complex Bond girl in a 45-year-old movie franchise. Cassino Royal was a film built for brilliance.
Are the last three Bond movies worth anything? Yes, and more. In a 24-movie series, the last three are the only ones with inter-movie coherence and consistency. The characters are not cardboard. The plots do not rely on gadgets that boarder on science fiction.
And best of all, the man playing James Bond is completely believable, and for my wife, completely hot.
It is a great 9/10 action movie, but I'm just not sure it was a great BOND movie. I like the fact that they tried to inject some intelligence into the story and some character depth, but seriously - trotting out the dead parents/brooding orphaned hero thing is a little too Bruce Wayne for my tastes. Even Silva had echoes of Ledger's Joker about him. There were moments to love but it was all a little too dark for a Bond film in my opinion.
The truth is, I just don't really like Daniel Craig's current take on James Bond. For a start he's blonde which just doesn't seem right. Secondly, he's so cold that he's sucked all the fun out of the franchise. Where's the sex? The one liners? The humour? (Yes there is Berenice but she was only in a tiny portion of the film!)
I understand the decision to make Bond more realistic - the invisible car of Die Another Day was a sign that things had just gone too far. However, I think it is important to remember why we love Bond in the first place. We want it to keep it's sense of fun. Hopefully, with the end of the movie "resetting" the layout to the Connery/Moore characters, we can finally see a less brooding version of Craig's Bond. Here's hoping for some Bond/Moneypenny pithy banter in the next one.
Review by benoliver999BlockedParentSpoilers2015-10-04T19:56:08Z
Financial troubles at MGM meant that there was a four year gap between Bond films. In that time they’ve shaken things up a little, brining Sam Mendes in as director, Thomas Newman as composer, and Roger Deakins as cinematographer. With those credentials, this is a film that shows promise from the get-go.
Bond gets shot in the field by a colleague who accidentally misses her mark; he gets out alive but is presumed dead and uses this to go into retirement. In the mean time a terrorist hacks into the MI6 building and manages to trigger a gas explosion, setting off a blast right in M’s office. Bond learns of this news and feels compelled to go back into the field in order to catch the villain.
Skyfall marks the 50th anniversary of the Bond franchise, and it’s a sentimental film in a lot of ways. We are constantly reminded that ‘sometimes the old ways are the best’. There’s an attempt to meld the ‘old’ and ‘new’ Bonds, the result is steeped in nostalgia. Admittedly some elements are quite heavy handed (at one point Bond uses the DB5 from Goldfinger…) but for the most part Mendes manages to lend an air of the old films to the Daniel Craig era - something which wasn’t even considered when Brosnan was in the role.
This reconciliation of the past with the present is a central theme in the plot. Javier Bardem plays the villain, Raoul Silva, an ex-MI6 agent scorned by what he saw as a betrayal by M, many years ago. It’s an old style revenge story brought together with a modern, technology based attack. Bond goes back to his childhood home, Skyfall, in order to lead Silva onto familiar ground; a literal trip back in time.
Actually the final third has to be mentioned since it’s easily the weakest part of the film. Some have joked that it’s James Bond meets Home Alone and although harsh it’s not far from the truth. Bond drives up to Skyfall with M and together with the gamekeeper they booby trap the house, awaiting Silva’s arrival. It’s a well executed scene but the whole premise and driving force behind it don’t really make any sense, and it’s a sloppy way to end an otherwise solid story.
There are issues all the way through with the plot, but it’s all details and nitpicking. It doesn’t make sense, for example, that they would connect the prison door system to their computer main frame. The whole thing rests on this in a way, but it’s forgiveable and easily written off as a necessary evil to keep the plot moving. However, when it all goes down at Skyfall, ALL of these issues are brought back to the forefront.
As to the performances, Casino Royale was a great turn for Daniel Craig but Skyfall is the film where he seems truly relaxed in the role. He effortlessly conveys quiet intelligence mixed with raw anger and of course brute strength. Surely he’s put any doubts about the casting choice to bed.
Mendes also exploits Judi Dench to her full potential. She’s one of the great actresses of our times but never seems to get to be involved as much as she should. Here she’s almost a co-lead and plays a pivotal role in Skyfall’s success.
In other supporting roles, Ralph Fiennes gets to play with a well constructed cliché-turned-on-its-head role, Ben Wishaw gives a fresh take on Q & Naomi Harris is a little awkward in her new Moneypenny role but she’s probably a good choice. The real wasted talent is Berenice Marlohe, the ‘Bond girl’ of the film. She’s so interesting and exotic and is absolutely captivating on camera. She’s disposed of in what feels like 5 minutes. Completely absent and sorely missed is Jeffrey Wright’s Felix Leiter, a classic character he played so well in the last two films.
The Craig films have all so far comprised of solid action sequences and Skyfall is no exception. There’s another technical aspect of note though, the cinematography. Roger Deakins is one of the best in the business and his work here got him an Oscar nomination. It’s a well deserved nod, too; the sequence in the tower block is thrilling and innovative. The scenes in the casino are pure eye candy and set the mood in a way nothing else could.
This is a huge step up from Quantum of Solace and Mendes’ confidence means we aren’t bombarded with constant action sequences. Skyfall is a film made with love and care, and really gets the franchise up and running again. It’s a shame that the final showdown leaves such a bitter taste in our mouths.
http://benoliver999.com/film/2015/09/27/skyfall/