4 stars out of 5
Hoboken theater still closed, PATH station closed, my car sitting at Willow Sunoco. Still, nothing would keep me from seeing James Bond on the opening weekend. The 007 films have been a reliable pleasure in my life. (Before I’d ever seen one, I had a die-cast toy Aston Martin, complete with rotating license plate, wheel spikes, and gun-holding bad guy sitting in the ejector seat.) And the Daniel Craig versions have raised the game a notch or two.
Skyfall did not disappoint. You’ve got your requisite elements: “Bond, James Bond.” A recently shaken vodka martini. Tuxedo. Babes. Casino. Fight on top of a moving train. Explosions. Q. M. Bad quips. Twisted villain. Two of the writers have been working on Bond films since 1999, so there’s a comfort level there, and you know you’re not going to see something wildly different. OK, there is one reference to YouTube.
I guess the big change here is that they’ve brought in a name director: Sam Mendes. Is the guy who brought us American Beauty (which you liked more than I did) and Revolutionary Road (which you and I liked equally), two quintessentially suburban American tales, the right guy to handle the international action and intrigue of 007? Sure he is. In fact, I’d like to credit him with adding a bit more moodiness to the proceedings, and varying the pacing—slowing it way down in a couple of spots—to great effect. There’s some interesting palate work here too: Nearly black-and-white in spots, a couple of tense scenes all in blue, and a run across a field lit up in red that looks like it was ripped from a war film.
Another huge asset is Javier Bardem, having the most fun he’s had since “friendo.” Bardem is the blonde flamboyant baddie. He minces, he laughs, and he never stops acting: facial expressions, body language. It’s over the top but not way over the top and that’s why it works. You don’t lose the sense of menace.
There is some stupid stuff. It is a James Bond movie, after all. There’s a clumsy bit of foreplay and then they cut to… fireworks. Come on! I laughed out loud. We get blatant product placement: Range Rover, Sony Vaio, and wow everybody drinks Heineken, even on some remote island. Nods to Bond history are fun if a little forced. (I’ll bet you $50 they approached Sean Connery for the role that Albert Finney has.) And there’s a post-climax twist that really comes out of nowhere.
But none of that really detracts from yet another enjoyable entry in the Bond series. I give this 008 out of 10.
I was surprised at how much I disliked this film. Bond can’t save anyone in this film. Why does he let the guy get killed who’s looking at the painting? Then, he kicks into action and attacks the killer–but he had plenty of time to save a life. And with the beautiful woman at the shoot-the-shot contest. And on top of that he makes a bad joke almost at her expense–what a waste of good scotch. He spends the whole movie trying to save M! I don’t think he saves any one except Albert Finney….but there again, Albert is living peacefully with his dogs and scotch and Bond disrupts the whole thing. I’ll take Mission Impossible cleverness over any of this. There really wasn’t anything very clever about this bond. Rigging the mansion with explosives just doesn’t cut it.
Removed a couple of “spoilers” from your comment as it is still early in the film’s release! But I did have the same thought, and also with the security guard, pre-painting: Bond sits and allows a crime to happen. Still, i liked that it wasn’t a standard saving-the-world plot; the different feel is what made this better-than-average for me.
In terms of series quality, I’d agree that Mission: Impossible is tops right now, but I think Bond has nudged ahead of Bourne.