Movie Review: Skyfall

Skyfall

The most recent installment of the James Bond franchise, dubbed Skyfall, marks half a century of the exploits of superspy 007. Whether or not Skyfall earns flagship status for the franchise is debatable, but such a debate is not the objective of this review. For an analysis of the merits of other Bonds, particularly Sean Connery, David Denby’s review in the November 12^th edition of The New Yorker is a much more appropriate article to skim through. But I digress.

As an action movie in general, Skyfall does not bring any new innovations to the big screen. The women are beautiful, the fight sequences are intense, the car chases exhilarating, the gadgets are cool, and all these things are wrapped with a slim ribbon of disbelief at how so few people can cause so much devastation in such a small window of time. If you can find a moment of reflection during Adele’s brilliant title track ask yourself, “How would the British government even begin to compensate all those Turkish citizens who were financially ruined, injured, or even killed in that bazaar?”

Nevertheless, this ribbon of disbelief must be untied and set aside. Action movies thrive on fantastic action sequences, and Skyfall does not disappoint. An aging, injured Bond (Daniel Craig) finds himself cast as the old dog in a world full of new tricks; his battle is twofold: on one side he’s dodging the bullets and bombs of the bad guys and on the other he’s popping pills to persuade the cartilage in his knees to stick around for just a little while longer. Bond is not the steady-handed juggernaut of an agent and M (Judi Dench) is not the inexhaustible well of knowledge and experience they both were in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Their fight against former M.I.6 agent Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) is the desperate and cataclysmic struggle between brute willpower and limitless resources and will test both protagonists to their breaking points.

What director Sam Mendes gives us is a very Nolanistic (an adjective meaning like the works of Chris Nolan) interpretation of the iconic character of James Bond. The film as a whole is very dark and desperate, and the heroes’ ability to vanquish the villains is constantly tested and doubted. Both Bond and M are much more human this time; they make mistakes and regret them; they get injured and struggle to recover; they fail objectives and face serious consequences. However, 007 falls short of the “desperate hero” precedent set by the Dark Knight mainly because much of the backstory needed to bring the characters and their struggles to life feels like an empty shell. There’s no substantial justification for Bond’s familial chip on his shoulder and only a shallow, procedure-like explanation of why Raoul Silva has such a bloodlust for M. But brief explanations don’t bring characters to life; they leave a movie and its characters and themes wanting. Had Silva been given more time to develop as a villain Bardem’s portrayal of him would have felt more authentic and natural, not so much a conscious effort on the actor’s part to enliven the character. Not only that but the whole conflict between Silva and M would have had some depth and been more palpable. Saying Bond’s mission is to take-out a financier of global terrorism is one thing, but saying Bond’s mission involves a personal terror from his “mother’s” past who is here to settle a blood feud is entirely different. Such plots require time and dedication to make the tension feel real and personal.

Essentially, what Skyfall presents is the chaos created by a clash between an unstoppable force (time, the future, change) and an immovable object (the past). And despite a lack of substance to make the unstoppable force feel truly unstoppable and the immovable object actually immovable, the result is an extremely entertaining movie that shows promise for the future of the franchise: giving some flesh, blood, and soul to Bond’s character, making him a bit more than a quick-drawing, smooth-talking superspy. My advice: go and see Skyfall, especially before Disney buys out the advertising space and replaces The Hobbit trailer with an attempt at reassuring us that the Star Wars franchise will rule the cinematic galaxy once again under their direction. And if you can’t make it before that happens, then still go see Skyfall, just hang outside the theater doors until the previews are over.

Overall rating: 9.1 out of 10