Skyfall

Skyfall (2012)

Predicted Rating: 4 Stars

Directed by: Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Jarhead). Starring: Daniel Craig (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Cowboys and Aliens), Judy Dench (Shakespeare's in Love) and Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men).

Picking up in Istanbul, secret agent James Bond (Craig) is pursuit of a criminal who has in his possession a stolen hard drive containing all the information of every agent placed in terrorism organisations around the planet. In the chase for the drive, Bond is appears to be fatally wounded by another agent and is thrown into the river. After the MI6 base is attacked, Bond returns with the mission to track down who has the missing drive.

I am probably not the best person to review this movie as I am not the biggest bond fan on the planet. I have only watched a half dozen of the other films and thought they were reasonably good without blowing me away. Or maybe I am a good person to review it because I can bring an impartial view to the singular film without being blinded by fandom. A conundrum that will be discussed for generations, wait probably minutes. Anyway enough of that, all I will be able to tell you is that this review is going to extremely short because I really can't think of much to write about. All I can really say it is a Bond film. Bond comes in, gets a mission, there are some action scenes, taps the bond girl, more action, movie over. So like I mentioned before, it is a solid film but it really didn't blow me away and made me think it was a fantastic film. The rave review from most critics seem unwarranted in some instances but hey, the public doesn't lie, it has already made an absolute truck load of money.

I was thinking, I would love to say this edition to the franchise brings x y and z new to the fold. However, as I have only watched a few a few of the other Bonds, I am grossly unqualified to make any such statement. From what I have gathered though, it really doesn't seem to introduce anything new. There are very few gadgets used, which seems to be consistent with the Craig films, but it would be cool to see one or two new gizmos. There also seemed to be a lot of the typical egotistical battles between characters where they use big words and stare at each other until someone gives up. There is also a huge reliance on the nostalgia factor trying to appeal to the diehards, and not so diehards. From the use of the DB5 to the introduction of characters who's true identity is not revealed until the end of the film ala Robin in the Dark Knight Rises. Oh no I ruined that for you, oh wait you should have seen it already! It all seemed a little tacky though and was unnecessary. Chatting with a big Bond fan afterwards, he was very disappointed with this factor, quoting the film as very camp.

My favourite part of the film was the villain. His back story wasn't very impressive, as he only wanted to kill M, rather than being hellbent on world domination like so many Bond villains have done in the past. However, he was very well played by Bardem, who is an Oscar winner by the way. He just seemed evil, like the dog from the Simpsons with the evil eyes, or when they put the dodgy music complementing the report on Groundskeeper Willie's home videos, he's Rowdy Roddy Peeper! He is no Hannibal Lector but Mr Silver adds something to what would be just a normal action film.

In the end all I can say that this was a solid film without being fantastic. It will satisfy the Bond fans as well as those who like action movies. Oh and it is not in 3-D, yes!

Overall: Good but not great, 3.5 Stars

Next Time: There is Sweet F.A. out until Boxing Day, where there is the Hobbit and Wreck-It Ralph. Looks like I will put out some reviews of classic films. January looks like a busy month though with Jack Reacher, Hitchcock, Paranorman and Django Unchained