Skyfall Review

A grizzled Bond waiting for the kill in Skyfall

Skyfall

A+

  

A review by Frederick Cholowski

Welcome back Mr. Bond.

After the dismal Quantum of Solace, MGM going bankrupt, and a script rewrite or two, the most recognizable spy in modern Western culture returns just in time for his fiftieth anniversary on the big screen. Skyfall represents as close to the perfect Bond film as possible, with throwbacks to the old while keeping the staples of the new. If it weren’t for my personal favorite Bond film Casino Royale, it wouldn’t be hard to proclaim this the best Bond film since the 1960’s. Even so Skyfall is easily amongst the absolute best of Bond, and the best pure action film of the year.

Skyfall opens with what may be the most intriguing set up for any Bond film ever, the near death of 007. Bond (played again by Daniel Craig) is shot by fellow agent Eve (Naomie Harris) while attempting to take down a terrorist who steals a hard drive containing the names of all the MI6 agents who are undercover around the world. Cue the bombastic opening credits (more on them later) and resurrection. Bond returns out of shape and mentally destroyed to an M (Judi Dench) who is under distress after a series of physical and virtual attacks by a crazed former agent of MI6 known as Silva (Javier Bardem). Bond, while dealing with his own issues, must track and take down Silva while at the same time protecting M and all of MI6 from collapsing.

Skyfall may be the most emotionally driven Bond film to date, potentially even more so than On Her Majesty’s Secret Service or Casino Royale. This time it’s a different type of relationship that is being tested, the relationship between boss and agent, or to a certain extent mother and son. It’s a dynamic that hasn’t been tested before in a Bond film as M and Bond usually remain far enough removed from each other that these situations never seem to arise. In this film one is absolutely quintessential to the other’s existence, M is required so that Bond has an outlet that allows him to not eat away at himself, and M needs Bond for a sense of protection and security.

Things get even more interesting when Javier Bardem’s Silva get’s thrown into play. Bardem’s Silva is a different kind of Bond villain, Silva doesn’t meddle with world domination or anything silly like that, just pure, clean, revenge for what M has supposedly made him into. Bardem plays Silva with pure perfection; Silva is Antoine Chugar (one of my favorite screen villain ever) meats Joker, both of which blend together to sheer perfection. Silva may be the best villain in Bond’s 50 year screen history, or at least the best since good old Goldfinger from the 1960’s.

Then there is Daniel Craig who continues to be the best Bond since Connery. Craig’s Bond still gets hurt and damaged, and is never invulnerable in any way. In Skyfall, as with Casino Royale, Craig’s Bond is the most human a Bond has ever been. Bond cannot survive on his own and has a set of personal problems that threaten, at times, to destroy him. He’s still the cool, suave agent as he always is but now he’s got a human side as well, something that was always missing in past Bonds.

On top of all this Judy Dench get’s something substantial to do which is always a good thing. Dench gets to show off her Oscar winning acting talent here as the role M plays in this film has been massively increased. The rest of the supporting cast is also fantastic with a few notable standouts. Q is back and this time is played by a younger face, Ben Whishaw. Q adds flavor to the film and paves way for a new Q without leaving behind the grumpiness of old (Q even has time to acknowledge that exploding pens are no longer part of protocol). The main Bond girl this time around, played by Naomie Harris, get’s to play the flirt game with Bond in some of the most entertaining sequences in the film. Finally there is Albert Finney who plays a role that, while he is fantastic in, is not hard to visualize Sean Connery playing.

After the dismal failure in the department of direction four years ago, the producers learned their lessons this time and hired an experienced director in the brilliant Sam Mendes. This is clearly a labor of love for the American Beauty director and the brilliant cinematographer Roger Deakins as every shot is absolutely gorgeous and every action sequence awe inspiring. This may be the best camera work in a Bond film period, and that’s not an exaggeration. Action sequences are very well staged and easy to follow, thanks to the use of longer shots and slower cuts. The sequences still maintain the visceral feel of new Bond while allowing for the flair for the dramatic of old Bond. The film also doesn’t feel that it needs to top itself at the end, climaxing with a sequence that relies more on tension and menace than a large, overblown set piece. It’s refreshing to see the ideas of the 1960’s return to Bond again isn’t it!

Then there is the score; Skyfall opens with the best Bond song in a very long time with Adele at the helm of “Skyfall” the song. The big, dramatic, and brassy tune brings back the best of the Shirley Bassey era with a little bit of Paul McCartney thrown in as well. It’s hard to imagine a better song for this film and is one of the ways that the old is new again. The rest of the score is also fantastic; Thomas Newton throws in lots of the “James Bond” theme into a mix of acoustic themes and electric meddling. It works extraordinarily well and the score is used expertly to convey the many different emotions contained within the film.

Skyfall represents a return to greatness in the Daniel Craig era of Bond. It’s a beautify crafted masterwork of the action movie genre that brings the best of the best of Bond, both old and new. It’s the best present that a Bond fan, or cinema lover in general, could possibly get for the fiftieth anniversary of the great British spy. Add another film to the ever growing A+ class of 2012.

Welcome back Mr. Bond.