Skyfall

Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Skyfall
Released 11/9/12, now in theaters

　

Daniel Craig reprises the role of James Bond for the third time in this weekend’s “Skyfall.” It’s directed by Sam Mendes and is the 23^rd film in the franchise overall.

Skyfall begins in Turkey with Bond and another MI6 agent, Eve (Naomie Harris), on a mad chase of a mercenary who has stolen a very valuable commodity from another agent. He’s in possession of a computer hard drive containing the names of all NATO agents currently working undercover in terrorist organizations. After wild car and motorcycle chases through the city streets, Bond and the mercenary grapple on top of a speeding train. Eve perches herself on a nearby hill waiting to take the killing sniper shot, but Bond and the mercenary are so entangled she doesn’t have a clear opening. Desperate to re-obtain the drive, M (Judi Dench), monitoring the action from MI6 headquarters in London, orders Eve to take the shot. Eve does as ordered and hits Bond instead of the intended target. He falls off the train to his seeming death while the mercenary escapes.

With 007 presumed dead and the loss of the computer drive, M comes under political pressure to retire during a meeting with Security Committee Chairman, Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes). On her way back to headquarters, MI6 is hacked and an explosion occurs in the headquarters killing several personnel.

Meanwhile, Bond has been enjoying his “death” as he’s taken his MIA status to informally retire from the spy game. However, when he sees that MI6 has been attacked on a news telecast, 007 reluctantly ends his retirement to serve Queen and country again even if he still isn‘t too happy with M for ordering the shot that nearly took him out in the first place. But, Bond is not quite the same agent he was originally as he is put through a battery of tests to determine his worthiness to go back into the field and unknowingly fails them all. It is only by M’s order that Bond is reactivated as a field agent to hunt down, as we learn, a cyberterroist who is now in possession of the list. Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) has a personal ax to grind with M , and he’ll go to any lengths to publicly embarrass her , and, eventually, kill her.

Let me say this right now. I love Daniel Craig as James Bond. I wish he would never age so he could play 007 forever. I was never a fan of the character before Casino Royale. The Craig movies add a human element to Bond that was never there before. Craig brings a sadness and loneliness to the character that makes him a bit more relatable to me. You get the sense that Bond does what he does solely out of duty to his country, not because he particularly loves what he’s doing. He’s not infallible. He screws up sometimes. He’s not the pretty boy that most of the other Bonds have been, although he still has the classic Bond swagger. You believe this Bond can actually bust heads if the situation calls for it, but still have a certain panache about it.

Skyfall is energetic . My one complaint might be that it lasted a tad longer than needed as I don‘t think the film keeps the same energy throughout. There’s likely good and bad news for the staunch Bond fan. Skyfall sees the reintroduction of Q and Moneypenny. But don’t expect any exploding pens (inside joke in the movie) or machine gunned remote controlled sports cars. The only tech here is a gun coded to Bond’s handprint and small radio that acts as a homing beacon. The film does something that I don’t remember seeing before. It hints at Bond’s past before he entered the military and MI6. I’m not sure how to read Bardem’s performance. It’s not that it’s not good, it’s just a little weird and creepy at times, particularly when he interrogates Bond while the spy is restrained in a chair (Bond’s comeback is classic). Silva’s motivations aren’t impossibly grandiose. He has a very simple mission of revenge against M.

　

Overall, Skyfall is a great entry in the Bond series that fans of Craig’s version of the character should enjoy. My greatest fear that I have gotten from blogs I’ve read is that the powers that be go back to classic Bond silliness which always turned me off. I don’t want my Bond as a lounge lizard lothario who happens to be a super spy. I want him tough as nails, complicated, conflicted, and, well…human.

The Dark Lord of the Sith says:

**** stars

Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.