I guess I might as well finish up this re-watch, rather than wait 'til the end of the year...
Skyfall (2012)
On first viewing, I wasn't as enamored with
'Skyfall' as every one else, I think I'd finally really lost patience with the slow drip feed of Bond elements in the
Daniel Craig era. So we finally get Moneypenny but she isn't really the character until the film ends (and implausibly and pointlessly doesn't mention her name until then. Cringe) and we finally get Q but he doesn't give Bond any cool gadgets (making that the joke doesn't justify the decision). Still no gun-barrel at the start, it's at the end again for no good reason. The other main annoyance is caused by the misguided choice to make the Craig films a reboot series that all follow on from each other. So Bond was a brand new OO agent on his debut mission across the first two movies and now on his third outing in 'Skyfall' he's suddenly presented as a war weary old agent, a relic of the past. You can't have it both ways. The scene where Bond takes M for a spin in his DB5 was admittedly lovely but it's spoiled for me because you know they are wanting you to feel nostalgia for this iconic car (James' answer to the Batmobile) which Bond had owned for decades but he hasn't anymore. Hey writers, don't you remember you rebooted this series just 6-years ago, showing how Craig's Bond acquired a generic DB5 in a card game and drove it round for 30-seconds. So why are you showing us it's got an ejector seat and machine guns? That was the cool spy car from
'Goldfinger' (and other films) that we all loved, which you choose to erase from the continuity. Again, you can't have it both ways guys.
Director
Sam Mendes seems much more interested in getting artful shots, interesting performances from his actors and inserting references to art, music and literature than making a thrilling action-adventure but that's okay because he does all those very well. His decision to replace long-time Bond music maestro
David Arnold with his frequent collaborator
Thomas Newman was a bad one. It's one of those endless-note, wallpaper, tuneless, pale-imitations of
Hans Zimmer and Newman adding little touches of classic
John Barry themes at key moments doesn't disguise it for me. The product-placement is particularly irritating in this film from the outset with characters shouting out things like
"...they're VW Beetles!" and
"...a Black Audi!". Q is finally reintroduced to the franchise but he doesn't give Bond any fun gadgets and the new Q basically calls the audience idiots for wanting such unrealistic things as an
"exploding pen". It's the "no fun allowed" policy in the Craig films again. The over-elaborate Dark Knight/Joker inspired badguy plot doesn't make much sense when you put it under any kind of scrutiny. At one point Tanner even comments that what Silva just did should have been impossible. The line is there to make us impressed with the villain's abilities but it's also pointing out how dumb the logic was. For the finale Bond decides to go
"off the grid" so Silva can't find him but then immediately asks Q to give Silva directions to where he will be. Bond wants to keep this nonsensical plan a secret between just him and M... and Tanner... and Q (who he has just met)... and Moneypenny (who he has just met)... and Mallory (who he has just met)... and his old gamekeeper (who he hasn't seen in 30 years). So totally top secret then
.
On this re-watch I went in with modest expectations and ended up really enjoying the movie despite my many nitpicks.
Javier Bardem's performance as Silva is outstanding, he's flirting with 007, as much as he is trying to threaten him. The decisions to rework the Q character as a young modern tech geek and to cast the softly spoken
Ben Whishaw in the role were masterstrokes. The action is shot and edited to perfection and actually has some memorable moments, like 007 driving a digger on top of a moving train, or leaping on to the back of a tube carriage as it leaves the station. The title sequence looks really classy and
Adele's theme is one of the better ones, beautifully performed, even if there is a touch of the rhyming dictionary about the lyrics. I'd forgotten about all the winning one liners and quips. The late
Albert Finney gets one of the best, after blowing away two henchman with his double-barrel shotgun he deadpans the line
"Welcome to Scotland". I appreciated the natural way
Ralph Fiennes' new M is introduced ready for the next film and the impactful swan song for
Judi Dench's 17-year tenure. I think I like 'Skyfall' now.
^ This commentary with actor
Duncan Casey is well worth your time because he was in 'Skyfall' as one of the MI6 operatives in the bunker scenes.