OK this will be my last James Bond post for a while and as I've covered a Bond film for the first three James Bonds (Connery, Lazenby, Moore) and Pierce Brosnan so I figured I will do one more so this will be a Daniel Craig film. Now I know I have not included any Timothy Dalton ones but that's because I have reviewed both his films fairly recently on this blog so I've decided not to do that.
And the one I have chosen to go for is actually a little bit apt as this is the 50th post of the year on this blog and the film I will review is Skyfall, which celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Bond series so why not combine the two.
Oh, and this is also a revisit of my original review of Skyfall back in 2012 on this blog, so it has been heavily re-written to my current review format with loads of new stuff.
And as usual here is the usual warning....
SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!
STORY
Right so the film begins in Istanbul, with James Bond (Craig) chasing a mercanary named Patrice (Ola Rapace, former husband of Noomi Rapace) who has a hard drive of files containing a list undercover agents placed in terrorist organisations by NATO states. In an ensuing fight, Patrice shoots Bond in the shoulder, and they fight on top of a train, with Bond's counterpart, Eve (Naomie Harris) backing him up from afar, using a rifle, she is ordered by Q (Judi Dench) to take the shot and eliminate Patrice, however she misses and shoots Bond instead, who falls into the water below.
Months later and with Bond presumed dead, the ISC chariman Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) puts pressure on M to resign from her post, after the debacale of Bond's alleged death. As M makes her way back to the the MI6 offices, there is a large explosion that takes out the offices, as a result of which alot of employees are killed. M learns that the MI6 servers were hacked and she receievd a taunting message on her computer just seconds before the explosion occurred.
Meanwhile, Bond is still alive and living abroad, using his presumed death as good reason to retire, he lives his life sleeping with women and drinking, when all of a sudden at a local bar he sees the headlines of the terrorist attack in London on TV. Bond then returns to London and meets with M, who says if he is to be re-instated he must undergo a series of tests to be deemed fit to return to the field. Bond takes the tests and does well in none of them, but regardless M informs him that he has passed.
Bond with the help of using shrapnel from his bullet wound, manages to track Patrice, and follows him to Shanghai, where Patrice plans to assassinate a target. Bond arrives a little too late to prevent the assassination, but then engages Patrice in a fistfight, with Patrice falling over the edge of a high rise building, he falls to his death.
Bond then finds a gambling chip from Patrice's equipment, which he uses to trace to a casino in Macau. There Bond meets with a woman, Severine (Bereince Lim Marohle) who was an accomplice in the assassination, and he asks to meet with her employer, however she warns him that he will be killed by men at the casino, but she will help him if he kills her employer. Bond survives the attack at the casino and then later meets Severine on a boat where they.....well you know!
Bond and Severine arrive on abandoned island off the coast of Macau, where they are captured and Bond soon meets Severine's employer, Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem). Silva is soon revealed to be a former MI6 agent, who worked under M, but has now turned to cyberterrorism, he taunts Bond into playing a shooting game where Severine is tied up and Silva places a drink on the top of her head, which Bond must shoot off. Bond (being a shaky shot due to his time away from the field) misses and shoots above her, but Silva shoots her dead instead. Bond then quickly fights off Silva's men and before we know MI6 agents arrive to capture Silva as Bond was given a secret radio chip by Q (Ben Whishaw) which broadcasted his whereabouts to MI6.
Bond returns to London with Silva captured, he is placed in a glass enclosure at the new underground headquarters of MI6. Silva reveals that he once worked for M and she handed him over to the Chinese intelligence, after he hacked his way into their networks. M meanwhile is being called to an inquiry over the mishandling of the events with the stolen hard drive at the start of the film. Silva however soon manages to escape custody at MI6, as he has hacked their systems, allowing his men to get him, he escapes into the subway system, with Bond in pursuit.
Silva then proceeds to make his way to the inquiry so he can confront and kill M, in revenge for her actions, but Bond manages to save her just in time. Bond and M then flee from London and travel to Scotland where he goes to his childhood family home, Skyfall, in order to prepare for Silva coming, where they will face him for the last time......
THOUGHTS
Skyfall is a highly entertaining addition to the Bond series, and with it we can see Daniel Craig's Bond develop even further towards becoming the suave Bond that we will eventually all recognise. But at this stage, he is still in transition, after his presumed death, Bond does appear to have reduced himself to a drunken self loathing dropout. But its only when he learns of the attacks in London that it forces him to come out of hiding and back into the scene, out of concern for M.
And its clear that M is a maternal figure for Bond in the film, as he was an orphan he had no parents to look up to when he grew up. She also protects him from the truth when it came to the tests he underwent in order to get him back into the field, as he failed, but she said he passed by the skin of his teeth. But in the end we all know when it comes to taking down the bad guys, Bond is the right man for the job.
However thankfully Bond is no longer quite the cold blooded ruthless killer from the last two films, here we are starting to see him transition slowly into a slightly more humane figure than in Royale and Solace. And its partly that change that helps Skyfall work very well, as Bond needs to eventually evolve and adapt into the character we all know, rather than stay a gritty killing machine like he did previously.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains spoilers!)
Performance wise, Skyfall is excellent and the cast are all on great form.
And to start off why begin with Daniel Craig as James Bond, and here is probably at his most comfortable in the role and he provides a bit more hunanity to Bond than before (although just a little more!) as we get a bit more of his dry wit and humour.
And Craig has plenty of highlights in the film that include the scene where he returns to London after his presumed death and he turns up at M's apartment. And Bond is clearly still angry with M for her decision to have Moneypenny fire at him as he fought with Patrice. And Bond says to her "What was it you said?? "Take the bloody shot??" and M says "I made a judgment call" and Bond says sharply "You should have trusted me to finish the job". And Bond accuses her by saying "I think you lost your nerve" and and M says to him "What are you expecting, a bloody apology? You know the rules of the game. You've been playing it long enough. We both have" and Bond says "Maybe too long!".
Then there is the scene where Bond undergoes MI6's physical and pyschological tests at their underground quarters (literally in part of the London underground) and he is subjected to testing by Doctor Hall who gives some word association play to do.
And Hall says to him "I'd like to start with some simple word associations. Just tell me the first word that pops into your head. For example, I say, "Day" and you might say..." and Bond says "Wasted". And a select few word associations include Hall saying "Gun" and Bond replying "Shot", Hall "M" and Bond "Bitch", Hall "Murder" and Bond "Employment", Hall "Country" Bond "England. And lastly Hall says "Skyfall" to which Bond at first doesn't reply and then he says "Done" and get's up and walks out.
Then there is the scene where Bond meets with Q at the National gallery and Bond sits next to him on a bench as Q stares at a painting. And Q says to him, staring ahead "It always makes me feel a bit melancholy. Grand old war ship. being ignominiously haunted away to scrap... The inevitability of time, don't you think? What do you see?!" and Bond replies "A bloody big ship!". And as Q gives Bond his equipment for his mission, which consists of a gun with a palm signature ID mechanism and a high frequency radio. And Bond says to Q "A gun and a radio. Its not exactly Christmas is it?!".
Another good scene is when Bond is taken to Silva and he is tied to a chair as Silva enters the room and walks up to him telling him a rather creepy story about rats. And in the scene Silva goes up to Bond and unbuttons his shirt a little and checks out his bullet wound which he got from the start of the film. And Silva says to Bond of M "Look what she did to you?" and Bond says "Well, she never tied me to a chair!" and Silva says "Her loss!". And Silva continue to get a bit too up close and personal as he strokes Bond's legs and he says to Bond "What's the regulation to cope with this? Well first time for everything!" and Bond says to him "What makes you think this is my first time??".
Then in the following scene Bond is taken outside where he sees that Severine has been tied to a post and Silva places a small whisky shot glass ontop of her head and he get's Bond to try and shoot the glass off the top of her head but Bond deliberately misses, so Silva shoots her dead. And Silva says to Bond "I win, what do you say to that?" and Bond sighs and says "Its a waste of good scotch" and he quickly kills Silva's men and holds him at gunpoint and takes out his radio that Q gave him and says to Silva "The latest thing from Q branch. Its called a radio!".
And lastly there is the scene where Bond rescues M from Silva at her enquiry and they drive off in his Aston Martin DB5 for Scotland. And M asks him "Where are we going?" and Bond says "Somewhere they will never find us" and M complains "Its not very comfortable is it?" and Bond flips the top of shift knob to reveal an ejector button and he says "Are you going to complain all the way?!". And M says "Oh, go on, eject me! See if I care!" and Bond considers it for a moment but then closes the shift knob cap.
Next is Judi Dench who is once again great in her role as M and this is her last appearance in the part which is a pity given that she had a better onscreen dynamic with Craig than she did with Pierce Brosnan. And you could really buy M as a sort of mother figure for Bond in their time together given that Bond is supposed to be an orphan.
And Dench has plenty of good scenes herself such as the one near the start where Bond returns to London and turns up at M's apartment. And Bond says to her during their scene "So this is it. We're both played out" and M says "Well, if you believe that, why did you come back?" and Bond says "Good question!" and M says "Because we're under attack and we need you". And Bond takes a beat and says "Well, I'm here" and M tells him "You'll have to be debriefed and declared fit for active service. You can only return to duty when you've passed the tests, so take them seriously. And a shower might be in order". And Bond says "I'll go home and change" and M tells him "Oh, we've sold your flat, put your things into storage. Standard procedure on the death of an unmarried employee with no next of kin. You should have called". And Bond resignedly says "I'll find a hotel" and M says "Well you're bloody well not sleeping here!".
Then there is the scene where M has passed Bond for active service and he is ready and suited to leave and she says to him "Report to the new Quartermaster for your documentation. He hasn't set up shop yet but Tanner (MI6 chief of staff) will put you two together". And Bond says to M "Thank you, ma'am" and he leaves and Tanner says to her "I didn't know Bond passed the tests" and M says to him "He didn't!".
Another good scene for Judi is when M meets with Silva once he has been captured and put in a glass enclosure. And M says to Silva " Mr. Silva, you're going to be transferred to Belmarsh Prison, where you will be remanded in custody, until the Crown Prosecution Service deem you fit to stand trial...". And Silva interrupts and says "Say my name. Say it! My real name. I know you remember it!" and M coldly says "Your name is on a memorial wall of the very building you attacked. I will have it struck off. Soon your past will be as nonexistent as your future. I'll never see you again!".
And last of all is the scene when Bond and M travel to Scotland to his childhood home, Skyfall and they both look out across the barren land. And M asks him "Is there where you grew up?" and Bond says "Mm" and M asks of Bond's parents "How old were you when they died?" and Bond says to her "You know the answer to that. You know the whole story" and M says "Orphans always make the best recruits".
Javier Bardem next is great in his role as the villain Raoul Silva and he makes for one of the most chilling Bond villains in the series.
And Bardem nautrally has quite a few highlights in the film that include his first scene which is a memorable one where Silva introduces himself to Bond as he tells him a story and he walks in from a far distance until he comes up close to Bond. The story itself is too long to quote but it is still a chilling one which is worth listening to.
So I will mention some lines from a bit later in the scene where Silva tells Bond that M lied to him about his tests. And Silva then goes to his computer and accesses the records "Medical evaluation: fail. Physical evaluation: fail. Psychological evaluation, alcohol and substance addiction indicated. Ooh! Pathological rejection of authority based on unresolved childhood trauma". Silva then glances at Bond and back at the computer and says "Subject is not approved for field duty and immediate suspension for service advised". And Silva get's up and walks over to Bond, saying "What is this if not betrayal? She sent you off to me, knowing you're not ready, knowing you're likely die. Mommy was very bad!".
Then there is the moment where Silva is confronted by M when he has been captured and put in the enclosed glass cell. And as M is about to leave, Silva shouts to her regarding a cyanide pill he had taken back when he was working for MI6 and was tortured. And Silva says to her "Do you know what it does to you?! Hydrogen cyanide?!" and he takes a set of false teeth which shows his disfigured sunken features and he says "Look upon your work, mother!" and M looks on, chilled and she leaves. And Silva puts his teeth back in and laughs to himself.
And last of all I will mention the scene when Bond pursues Silva through the London underground after he has escaped and dawned a police uniform. And Silva climbs up a ladder to escape Bond who fires a warning shot at him and Silva says "Not bad, James for a physical wreck! You caught me! Now here is your prize! The latest thing from my local radio store". And Silva takes a device and detonates a large explosion which blows a hole in the wall above Bond who says "I do hope that wasn't for me" and Silva laughs and says "No, but this is!" and all of a sudden an underground train comes crashing through the hole toward Bond.
Ralph Fiennes does well in his role as Gareth Mallory, the chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee who is essentially looking for M to go out the door due to her mishandling of Bond's presumed death.
And Fiennes has some good moments that include the scene where Mallory meets with M after three of their agents have died in the terrorist attack on the MI6 headquarters. And Mallory says to M "The opposition has taken the position that we're a bunch of antiquated bloody idiots fighting a war we don't understand and can't possibly win!". And M says to Mallory "Look, three of my agents are dead already, don't you involve me in politics now..." and Mallory says "The Prime Minister has ordered an inquiry. You're expected to attend". And M angrily says "Attend in stocks at midday? Who's old-fashioned now?!" and Mallory shouts at M "For Christ's sake, listen to yourself! We're a democracy, and we're responsible to the people we're supposed to defend! We can't keep fighting in the shadows, there are no more shadows!".
Then there is the scene where Bond is cleared for active duty and he meets with M and Mallory who asks Bond "I have only one question, why not stay dead? You have the perfect way out. Go and live quietly somewhere. Not many field agents get to leave this cleanly". And Bond sarcastically says to Mallory "Do you get out in the field much?" and Mallory says to Bond "You don't need to be an operative to see the obvious. Its a young man's game. Look you have been seriously and there's no shame in saying that you've lost a step. The only shame would not admitting it before its too late". And Bond wearily says to Mallory "Hire me or fire me, its entirely up to you!".
And lastly there is the scene where Mallory catches Q and the MI6 chief of staff, Tanner (Roray Kinnear) at the lab who are creating a false trail for Silva to follow Bond and M. And Mallory says to them "Excellent thinking, get him isolated. Send him on the A9. It's a direct route. You can monitor his progress more accurately and confirm it with the traffic cameras". And Q nervously says "And what if the PM finds out?" and Mallory replies "Then we're all buggered. Carry on!".
Noamie Harris next is excellent as Eve Moneypenny and Harris shares some good chemistry with Craig in her scenes with him and she will make for a good Moneypenny in future films.
And Harris has some good scenes also that include the scene where Bond is reacquainted with Moneypenny in London after his return. And Bond says to her regarding her intention to return to field work "Well do me favour, if they ever do send you back out there, warn me first". And Moneypenny says to Bond "I'm assisting Mallory with the transition and then I'll be back in the field" and Bond asks her "That's what you want?" and Moneypenny says "Yes of course" and Bond tells her "Its not for everyone". And as Bond is called for a briefing he says to Moneypenny "In your defence, a moving target is much harder to hit" and Moneypenny says to him "Then you better keep moving!" and Bond walks with a smug grin.
And the last one I will mention is where Moneypenny meets up with Bond in Shanghai and he gives him a shave with a straight razor and they discuss Mallory and what she is doing there. And Moneypenny says to Bond "My official directive was to help "in anyway I can" and Bond says "Like spying for Mallory". And Moneypenny says "You know Mallory's not as bad as you think" and Bond says "He's a bureaucrat!" and Moneypenny tells him "You should do your homework, Gareth Mallory was Lieutenant Colonel...." and Bond finishes the sentence for her "Lieutenant Colonel in Northern Ireland. Hereford Regiment. Spent three months at the hands of the IRA". And as Bond is about to make a move on Moneypenny as she continues to shave him she stops him, holding the razor, she says "Keep still, this is a tricky part!" as she prepares to shave under his chin.
Ben Whishaw is also very good as the new Q as he plays a younger version of MI6's quartermaster who gives Bond his equipment for his mission and later aids him in tracking Silva after his escape.
And Ben has his good scenes also, starting with the his first one where Q meets Bond at the National gallery in London. And Q says to Bond "Well, I'll hazard I can do more damage on my laptop sitting in my pajamas before my first cup of Earl Grey than you can do in a year in the field!". And Bond says to Q "So why do you need me?" and Q says "Every now and then a trigger has to be pulled" and Bond sarcastically replies "Or not pulled. It's hard to know which in your pajamas. Q!". And when Q gives Bond his rather non exotic radio and a signature gun, Bond says to Q "A gun and a radio, its not exactly Christmas is it?" and Q says "Were you expecting an exploding pen? We don't really go in for that anymore".
And lastly there is the scene where Q helps Bond track Silva after he has escaped and Bond follows Silva to the London underground. And Bond struggles to see Silva due to so many people on the underground station platform and he tells Q "There's too many people. I can't see him" and Q says "Welcome to rush hour on the tube! Not something you'd know much about!". And as Silva boards a train, Bond asks Q if he should get on the train and Q anxiously looks at the security cameras for the underground station and he notices Silva in disguise as a policeman get on the train so he says to Bond "Bond, get on the train!".
Bérénice Lim Marlohe also is pretty good (and pretty) as the only Bond girl in the film (if you discount Bond's fling near the start of the film when he has "retired") Severine who leads Bond to Silva.
And Marolhe's best scene is her main one when she meets with Bond and she tells him that she is really being held under guard by Silva's men who are watching her. And Severine tells Bond "When I leave, they're going to kill you. If you survive, I'm on the Chimera. North harbor. Berth seven. We cast off
in an hour. Very nice to have met you,
Mr. Bond. Good luck!" leaving Bond to try and sort out the guards (which he does of course and get's it on with Severine later!).
And last of all Albert Finney does not too badly in his part as Kincade, the gamekeeper of the Skyfall estate where Bond grew up as a child. However Finney's Scottish accent is less than convincing and not any at any moment do you really buy that he is a Scottish gameskeeper to be honest.
Regardless of that, Finney still has one or two good moments such as the scene where Bond, M and Kincade prepare for battle with Silva as they can his men come to the estate. And Bond asks Kincade "You ready?" and Kincade says "I was ready before you were born, son!".
And lastly there is the scene where Bond and Kincade go outside and set up some bottles for target practice and Kincade asks "So who is it we are supposed to fight?" and Bond says "There's no "we" in it, Kincade. This is not your fight" and Kincade says to Bond scoffing "Try and stop me, ya jumped up little shit!". And Bond readies his aim with a shotgun and Kincade tells him "Now, remember what I taught you. Don't let it pull to the left" and Bond says as if almost insulted "I'll do my best" and he shoots the bottles precision, leaving Kincade amazed and to ask "What was it you said you did for a living?!".
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
As for the film's director, Sam Mendes does a terrific job with Skyfall and he was an excellent choice to direct the film that would celebrate the franchise's 50th birthday. Mendes confidently shows his ability to direct and stage action scenes as Skyfall's action is mostly superb and features some great moments, such as the opening sequence, Bond tracking the assassin Patrice and fighting him and not to mention Bond chasing Silva through the London underground.
Mendes also makes good use of the film's locations and the film was mostly shot in London in various different locations such as the National Gallery, Whitehall, Charing cross station and St Bartholomew's hospital was used to for the underground entrance to MI6's headquarters. The film was also set to be shot in Shanghai but this never materialised during the production so the scenes that were to be set in Shanghai were shot in London at night and at Pinewood studios for the sequence at the casino. Mendes also of course shot the scenes of the Skyfall estate in Glencoe, which also lend spectacular visuals all of their own.
And it would be most unfair to leave out, Mende's main cinemaphotographer and one of the best in the business, Roger Deakins who does a terrific job here again with the film's visuals as he does in every film he works on. And its safe to say that Skyfall is easily one of the best looking films of the series with its varied locations and its good mix of colour (from pale moonlit blues, to bright yellows and industrial greys, I sound like I know what I'm talking about but I don't!).
So overall Mendes and Deakins both do a great job on Skyfall together and it remains one of Mendes best directorial efforts.
And to finish off this section there is the music score by Thomas Newman, which is just great and its easily one of the best Bond scores for quite some time perhaps since John Barry left the series. And Newman's score nails the tone and pace for Skyfall perfectly and there are plenty of great suspenseful tracks and the soundtrack album itself is definitely worth checking out and is readily available on CD or in mp3 format.
And finally there is of course the Bond theme song "Skyfall" sung by Adele, which is actually pretty good although I'm not a massive fan of the song but its definitely one of the better recent Bond songs which also for the first time in the series history, won an Academy Award for best song. And it was the first time that the series had won an Oscar for its music but Thomas Newman was nominated also for an Oscar but he lost out that year, probably something else that wasn't as good, but hey ho, that's the Oscars for you.
FLAWS (Warning this section may contain spoilers!)
Right so now finally getting onto Skyfall's flaws.....yeah as good as it is there are still some niggles here and there.
And for starters I have to say one of the problems I have with the film is to do with its pacing as at 2 hours and 23 minutes its just a bit too long and the film does feel just a bit too long in places. So its running time might be there to provide the audience with a Bond film that has an "epic" feel to it but its not always necessary to have a film that long.
And I also have to say that for me even though the majority of the film its thrilling and engrossing to watch it really starts to lag once Bond and M go to Scotland and they prepare to do battle with Silva. And the action showdown between Bond and Silva's men is frankly a bit boring and too long winded and its the one part of the film that was a bit underwhelming for me, particularly in how Bond (SPOILER!!!) suddenly finishes off Silva, its just by thowing a knife into his back and there is no great fistfight or anything, its just a quick knife in the back and at that's it!
Another problem I had with the film was to do with the whole idea of Silva being captured by Bond and taken back to MI6 as it really is just a rip-off of The Dark Knight in that Silva wanted to be captured and taken back to London so he can exact his revenge on M. So basically for me at that point its just a bit lazy of the writers to include the old "the villain WANTS to be captured" subplot rather than come up with something. But what worked for Batman can surely work for Bond.
I also had a bit of a grievance about the depiction of Scotland in the film and how Kincade is a typical gruff Scotsman who dishes out tough lines such as "Welcome to Scotland!" when he shoots at Silva's men during the film's climax. And this lines always kind of bugged me although its hard to say why except it probably comes down to the dour and dark way in which Glencoe is presented in these scenes (well OK we don't get the best weather in Scotland!) so its like Kincade is saying "Welcome to Scotland! Its dull and dour and the weather is shit!". Yep thanks, Kincade, ya dick!
So I have a problem with this and also how Bond sets up the estate to blow and he says to himself "I always hated this place!" like he can't wait to get out of Scotland, which is why you never have once seen Scotland in a Bond film up until this point! I mean what is wrong with Scotland, Mr Bond?! You should try and check out some more of it, you know! Its not all that barren and dreich (a Scottish word for dreary) 007! OK I'm getting a bit carried away there but I think what I'm trying to say is its how Scotland is presented in its only ever appearance in a Bond film that is what makes these sequences a bit disappointing.
Anyway that's me done griping at the flaws.
SUM UP
So to sum up, Skyfall is arguably Daniel Craig's best Bond film and its packed with exciting action, its very effective and chilling villain and the continuing progression of Bond working toward being the suave spy that is 007. The film's performances are also all top notch as the cast all do great in their respective roles, the visuals look splendid (well mostly) and its features a terrific soundtrack by Thomas Newman aswell as a decent Bond song from Adele.
And yeah it does have some minor quibbles and its action finale is just a bit too long and drawn out but if you can forgive all that, then Skyfall is still one of the best Bond films in recent years and is a must see if you haven't already (and if so you better not read this really!).
Well that's it for my look at the James Bond films for now as I have now reviewed the majority of them although there are still a few ones left I could get around to eventually reviewing someday but until then I shall leave it and move onto a different review next time.
So until the next post its bye for now.
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