Skyfall

[trevpr1]

Light Spoiler Alert.

So I saw Skyfall. Liked it. Not Casino Royale but a step in the right direction after Quantum of Solace in that the plot seemed to go somewhere. Benefited a little over previous Bonds from more detail of his relationship with M. Dench is superb in this. Craig certainly looks comfortable in the role. Javier Bardem carries more depth and weight than your average Bond villain, although he gets stupider as the film progresses.

There are clichés. Early plot takes Bond to an exotic casino, where he first meets the girl "owned" by the nemesis. Shags the girl, nemesis takes revenge. Friendly female agent. Shags her too. At least there's no space-going weapons platform involved.

Most Bond films avoid much by way of action in the UK, but there is a lot going on here. More than half the film is at least set here. Makes a nice change actually. The exotic locations (Turkey, Macau, Shanghai) are all beautiful of course but there is something about a Scottish Glenn or the London skyline, as seen from Whitehall which emphasises this isn't Our Man Flint. I understand this was partially a budgetary issue, but the film didn't suffer any for it.

The denouement is a tense action sequence with which I was entirely happy. . Very well done.

The Aston Martin DB6 is in it, which we all like to see.

There were a couple of moments where I found myself shaking my head. In one scene there are British helicopters. You could tell they were British because they had the Union Jack on them, not just the usual roundels. I suppose it was like the spitfires in Doctor Who - the flag is there for the dense. And there was a fight scene under water where the combatants were trying to strangle each other. I mean really... you're under water ...

A rare trip to the cinema for me. I rarely go because I don't find it convenient or good value, people in crowds are often noisy and my home cinema blu-ray rig is pretty good. Wait for the disc is my usual approach.

 

[Vinnie]

Thanks for the review. For the first time in a long time I want to see a bond in the cinema.

 

[ChrisM]

Looking forward to this with great anticipation.

 

[Nexus6]

I hear you Trev. I think the last time I saw Bond in the theater, Timothy Dalton was at the helm. I gather then that those here who've seen SkyFall think it is very good, if not an earth-shattering departure for the series?

Yes, like everyone else I loved 'Casino Royale', the best Bond film in years. I especially liked the Goth look of Eva Green, as if she were having a premonition of her own death. I also agree that although 'Quantum of Solace' was entertaining, it was a bit chaotic and a step down from Casino.

BTW, I finally got around to seeing 'The World is Not Enough' from Netflix, and I have to say that I wasn't expecting much but was pleasantly surprised. It was very much a formulaic Bond to be sure, and the casino owner was a dead-ringer for Karim Bey in 'From Russia with Love', but I still found it greatly entertaining. Also, everyone seems to blast Denise Richards as being the worst Bond girl ever, but much to my surprise I rather liked her. She was sort of a throwback to the ditzy Tiffany Case in 'Diamonds are Forever'. The worst I would say about the film was that although it was cool having a female as the lead nemesis for a change, Sophie Marceau was a bit out of her league even if she did look great.

 

[Jazz]

Gotta agree, this one, as well as Casino Royale really should be seen at least once on the big screen.

I think Craig is the quintissental Bond....essentially a thug elevated by some training in the finer points of polite society. A particularly appeciate the tastefully spare ration of gadgets.....they're there, but the don't drown out the characters.

Best Bond bad guy in a really long time.

 

[Nexus6]

Cool Jazz, I will try to catch SkyFall in the theater before its run finishes.

Funny you should mention the toned-down gadgets. I think that's exactly what made 'For Your Eyes Only' one of the best of the Roger Moore series. Also, I thought the understated Carol Bouquet in that film was one of the best Bond girls ever.

Someone should start a thread on best-to-worst Bond movies.

 

[Ray Woloszyn]

I saw this in a Ukrainian movie theater which by Western Standards was a little too cool for me. I did not see my breath but huddled up in my coat. Popcorn was all flavored but not with salt and butter like we liked it. The only plus was two dollars to see it and the sound (dubbed well into Ukrainian) and picture quality were excellent. I am coming to grips with Ukrainian so much of what happened I was not sure about until I asked some of my colleagues what was said, etc.

 

[trevpr1]

Cool Jazz, I will try to catch SkyFall in the theater before its run finishes.

Funny you should mention the toned-down gadgets. I think that's exactly what made 'For Your Eyes Only' one of the best of the Roger Moore series. Also, I thought the understated Carol Bouquet in that film was one of the best Bond girls ever.

Someone should start a thread on best-to-worst Bond movies.

I'm trying to recall exctly where For Your Eyes Only came in the sequence. I remember going to the cinema as kid in his late teens and hating Moonraker for the stupid gag filled garbage that it clearly was. If I recall, next came FYEO and hey were at least trying to return to some kind of proper form with this one. May ultimately be the film that actually did save the franchise.

Casino Royale is my favourite outside the Connerly era. A very nice reboot and I can't imagine who will replace Craig.