Skyfall (2012)

The 23rd James Bond film has some stuff that it needs to do to eradicate the last one. The problems with Quantum of Solace was firstly it was a rubbish title that never got referred to during the entire film. Secondly the theme tune was rubbish, Jack Black and Alicia Keys might be talented musicians on their own but together managed to make something that was marginally better than Madonna’s Die Another Day. Thirdly the plot was baffling and despite a recent watch of the 2008 offering, I still didn’t understand it and no one has been able to tell me what its all about. So I hoped that Skyfall would be able to put the franchise back on track.

The theme tune is very good. I heard it when it was first released I was impressed with it and thought that it was infinitly more impressive when you see it with the titles. It seems to be quite harking back to the Shirley Bassey themes or other 1960’s Bond themes. I would say out of the last three themes its probably the best. The plot is much better than QOS because in Skyfall they are trying to find a list of underground NATO agents that has been stolen and the list is being uploaded onto the internet. The first half has some impressive scenes and it’s the second half which I really enjoyed. It’s when the film starts to step back to the classic era where the old Aston Martin appears and the action moves to Bond’s home in Scotland. It’s where the final action part happens and I’m reminded of Transformers 3 where the main action sequence lasted for a whole hour and dragged for what felt like a lifetime. In this it was actioned packed and moved along at breakneck speed. There was a brief moment which seemed to have come out of a Home Alone movie but the under siege theme that ran through the latter stages of this part helped make it feel like a Bond film.

Daniel Craig puts in another great Bond performance though he does seem to be looking like he is getting on a bit (currently 44). Brosnan was 49 when he did Die Another Day in 2002 so Craig doesn’t have many years left before he will get replaced. Craig does get to do a bit more humorous dialogue than he normally would get to do but he is a very good Bond and whether he is better than Connery is up for debate but on this performance its easy to argue. Javier Bardem is a very good Bond baddie. I don’t think he’s the best one ever but I certainly think that his performance switches between standard and psychotic. The moment where he pulls his top set of teeth out and you see the grimness that is there was a particular highlight. Berenice Marlohe is the brief Bond girl that appears for about 10 minutes before she meets a rather surprising ending. I thought that she didn’t really offer much in the way of a Bond Girl but that would be my only gripe with the film. Judi Dench puts in her best performance. Her involvement has increased since she debuted in Goldeneye and since Craig took over her involvement has got quite more noticeable. It’s great that they managed to include Q into the films after John Cleese’s R was apparently surpluss to requirements in the Casino Royale reboot. Ben Whilshire isn’t Desmond Llewelyn but he is still good as the new Q and I did like the mention of the exploding pen from Goldeney and he says “We don’t do that anymore” and then “If you could bring it back…” was a nice nod to Llewelyn’s Q. It was quite a surprise that they actually killed of Judi Dench’s M. I had heard rumours that this would happen and that Naomie Harris may be Miss Moneypenny and that Ralph Fiennes’ character would be the new M but I thought that she would get to have a walking off into the sunset type ending.

The product placement has been something that has gotten a lot of press. Heineken is the biggest name that seemed to have been attached but actually I hardly noticed it. Both Bond and Tanner cover up the big label and it’s the very fine writing at the top is all that you notice. For me the biggest product placement came from the digger in the pre-title sequence and the rolex watch shot in the next shot. Apart from that the product placement was pretty light or at least as noticeable as it is in other films.

Skyfall is a brilliant Bond film that wasn’t quite what most people would expect but I think that it was trying to lay the groundwork for future Bond films. Sam Mendes has done a very good job with making a 143 minute film seem like it was half that time.