I have mixed feelings about the newest Bond film ‘Skyfall’. It does reaffirm my personal bias that Daniel Craig is the best Bond ever (my apologies to the Sean Connery purists) and I deeply admire what the director Sam Mendes was trying to do in this film. This was an attempt to reinvent Bond and at the same time take him back to his roots. After 50 years, how many times can you have a chase scene through a third world bazaar and have it still seem fresh? While all the ingredients for a Bond film are there; exotic women, creepy bad guys, cool gadgets, and cool espionage stuff, it definitely had a different feel and pace from a typical Bond film. I’m not going to say it succeeded as I did not enjoy it as much as ‘Casino Royale’, but it was a far cry better than the previous ‘Quantum of Solace’.
This film is as much about M (Judi Dench) as it is about Bond (Daniel Craig). She is more of a co-star than a supporting character. Bond’s loyalty to M is tested after she makes a call that almost kills him. The presumed dead Bond seeks to find a peaceful retirement in obscurity until a Julian Assange style villain named Silva (Javier Bardem, my favorite Spanish actor) starts outing the identities of British undercover agents. Bond’s sense of loyalty to country overcomes his bitterness towards M and he returns to track down the effeminate villain.
Has Bond lost his edge though? He is challenged by a body that is wracked by physical abuse as well as deep seated psychological issues. M’s competence is also called into question. Is she simply too old to do the job? Dench captures both the strength and frailty of a character refusing to accept her approaching retirement. We are used to seeing Bond as a superhero, not as a human being with weaknesses and foibles that prevent him from being the super spy we know and love. Can we still accept Bond as a super spy without the ‘super’ in front of it?
Javier Bardem’s Silva is an excellent villain. Highly effeminate, yet lethal in his desire to kill M. I won’t go into the backstory, but M’s past has caught up to her and she must face the consequences of what she has done. While it is clear who are the good guys and who are the bad guys, the line is crossed often and not always comfortably.
Of course, there are the beautiful Bond women. They always seem to come in pairs. Bond’s fellow agent Eve is played by the beautiful English actress, Naomie Harris. I don’t know how she isn’t more famous than she is as I have noticed her for a long time. Not just her beauty, but her acting ability as well. She seems relegated to small parts (Pirates of the Caribbean, Miami Vice, 28 Days Later), but she has always made an impact on me. I’m glad her roles are expanding. I hope to see her as an A-lister some day. The Femme Fatale is Sévérin played by Bérénice Marlohe. She is a relatively obscure French actress without many credits outside of France, but she has an exotic beauty befitting a Bond girl. Her screen time was unfortunately far too short. The final addition is a fresh faced young Q (Ben Wishaw). He is not the old curmudgeon we knew and loved (RIP Desmond Liewelyn), but he brings a sardonic wit and sarcasm that quickly wins us over.
The film also explores Bond’s mysterious past without giving up too much of it which would take away the Bond mystique. I’m not sure how true it was to the book, but it’s always interesting to see the backstory. It also provides a canvas to throw in a lot of nostalgic and fun callouts to the past Bonds.
‘Skyfall’ is a film that seeks to freshen up the franchise without losing what makes Bond... Bond. Like I said, I admire the attempt, but I’m not sure it hit the mark as satisfyingly as Casino Royale did. You be the judge.
I give this film *** stars
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