Skyfall: A Review

Fifty years down the line, one cannot expect a new entry into the half-a-century long franchise to release without sky high expectations and/or hype. Especially when big names like Sam Mendes and Roger Deakins, along with Daniel Craig, Dame Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes and Javier Bardem are attached to the project. But does hype decide the quality of the movie? No. Overhyped films have certainly failed to deliver the goods. So how does Skyfall, the 23rd entry into the James Bond franchise, stack up, both to its predecessors and the hype? That’s not an easy question to answer.

If there’s one thing I want to leave you with, it is this. Skyfall is not a Bond movie. It does tell a story about all the characters from the previous Bond films, but it does not share the narrative structure, the global scale threat, the super villain with hubris, none of that. This is much more personal, and very very dark. A little about the setting first. Keep in mind that Skyfall is, chronologically speaking, the third adventure of James Bond, as Casino Royale was a reboot, with Daniel Craig’s Bond just attaining his 007 status. In Skyfall, someone has stolen a hard drive containing the details of all the double agents working for NATO, embedded into terrorist organizations. Whoever stole it plans to release it, in parts, to the world at large, and that doesn’t spell good news to MI6, M or the agents whose names are in the list. In an attempt to retrieve the list, Bond is shot and presumed dead, but he isn’t. He takes to a life of extremities, being somewhat disillusioned by his near death experience. Meanwhile it is evident that the real target of this whole terrorist charade is none other than M, as she begins getting threatening messages on her laptop, her office building is blown up, and M’s credibility and competency is on the line. As the terrorism escalates, Bond comes back from the dead, knowing that both M, and his country, needed him. The rest of the film follows this whole mystery to the very bottom, who is behind all this, why does he target M, what is Bond’s role in the story, all that covers the rest of the rather long 140 minute runtime.

Let’s get the performances out of the way. Not a single actor fails to deliver. Javier Bardem is the cool and calculative villain, Silva, with a hidden agenda. He has his reasons to target M herself (which is evident from the trailers themselves so I hope I haven’t spoilt anything). His hubris, his eyes reflecting with revelry and mockery as he puts the best of Britain’s secret service to the test is a sight to see. He BECOMES Silva. His body language, his diction, everything allows the viewer to imprint into his/head what kind of a man Silva is, and that is the greatest achievement any actor can accomplish. But then we all know how talented Bardem is, so can’t say this came as a surprise. And Silva is one of the most memorable Bond villains ever, because his agenda is very clear, and very relatable, in a twisted way. Daniel Craig plays this new avatar of James Bond, his eyes never lose the cold blue stare of intensity. He is a force to be reckoned with, a man with few words. Craig makes us all see how battered and broken Bond is, after the near death experience. When he returns to duty, it is evident that Bond is not fit for duty, and Craig does a stellar job in conveying that. I don’t know if his performance is “Oscar worthy” or not, but Craig has nailed the character that he’s trying to portray, especially during a rather emotional scene towards the end of the film. This is not the James Bond of the Pierce Brosnan days, this is a much more serious, much more cynical, much more intense and cruel Bond, a man with a past, and one has to respect that fact while watching the film. Dame Judi Dench returns to her role of M, but unlike the past Bond films, M does not have a back seat role, she is the centre of this whole story. In all essence, M is the Bond girl in this film. And Judi Dench NAILS the role, with impeccable poignancy, showing the correct amount of restraint and at the same time, affection when needed. I’d say Judi Dench was the real show stealer. Ralph Fiennes and Ben Wishaw have supporting roles. Fiennes plays the role of Garreth Mallory, the man in charge of unscrewing M’s screw up regarding the stolen hard drives. And while he may seem as a hard case and typical bureaucrat, he does have an opportunity to shine, towards the end of the film, but his screen time is limited. Limited, but not ignorable. He has quite a significant role towards the end of the film. Wishaw plays the newly rewritten Q (a name familiar  to Bond fans), who plays Bond’s quartermaster (a mission handler of sorts). Q is a brilliant man who gives bond a technological edge and is the brains of the film. He too has little screen time, but he is vital to the plot and does not feel wasted. Albert Finney has a role in the film, but I shall not reveal what it is, for fear of spoiling things. He didn’t have much room to shine, but it was refreshing to see him in the film, and he is perfect for the role. That’s all I’ll say.

 Now the film itself. I mentioned before that it is dark. And dark it is. There is no humour. There is casual womanizing, but just during one instance. Forget everything that’ve been series staples. “Bond, James Bond” is used just once, the trademark Vesper Martini isn’t highlighted, Aston Martin comes to the fray only towards the end, and that too very briefly. The stakes aren’t global (even though the stolen hard drive may imply otherwise), the film is purely about what Silva wants with M, and what Bond would do to protect her. The film explores the relationship between M and Bond, and puts it into the spotlight not just for the viewer to see but also for Silva to examine. Being a personal mission, the film lacks the usual globetrotting (it’s limited to Shanghai, Macau and Istanbul, with England and Scotland acting as the primary stages for the story), the famous and over the top villain. Silva is not over the top, he is the Joker to Bond’s Batman. He has an agenda and works only to fulfil it. Being very dark, there is very little room for humour, except for a few cheeky nods to the previous bond films. Furthermore, what we’ve loved about the Bond films is that it’s never personal. But Skyfall examines the core characters in a personal level (that was to be expected, seeing as Sam Mendes is the director), giving us a backstory to Bond, to Silva, to fleshing out the relationship between Bond and M (which was a great thing). I don’t know about you but I’ve always loved Bond to be the cool, casual and when needed, efficient spy, not a traumatized man with a scarring past. This film gives him that past, tries to humanize Bond. While Casino Royale did the same, it did not feel the need to poke into the past, it showed us present events that made Bond who he is. And for some reason, this made me forget that Craig was playing 007. It felt like Craig was just a random spy protecting a high level officer, with whom he’s had a strained, yet personal relationship, a parent figure of sorts. And that, to me, was the biggest disappointment, considering that this is a 007 film after all. There are magnificent chase sequences, expensive set pieces, amazing title sequence accompanied by a theme song which feels right at home, but somewhere down the line, the film deviates too much from the source in a disturbingly obvious way. Barring that, however, Skyfall is just a spectacular film. It has the right blend of everything else, just that it is not as Bond-ish as I’d have liked it to be. If it were a stand alone film, it’d be perfect. But it’s a Bond film. And that’s its major drawback. Roger Deakins has done an utterly mesmerising job, shooting this film. All the shots are utterly beautiful, the lighting is truly fantastic (especially during the sequences in night time Shanghai and Macau), the score is never obviously present, it’s just there playing in the background, nothing memorable. Some of the action sequences are nail biting in terms of tension, which is an amazing feat, especially considering the type of films Mendes has made before.
 
So the final question. Is it the best Bond movie ever? The answer is, in my humble opinion, no. That honour belongs to Casino Royale. But is Skyfall ONE of the best Bond films? Most certainly. And as I’ve said before, if it weren’t a Bond film but just a generic spy thriller, it’d have got perfect reviews from my part, but being part of a long running series has its duties, one of which is staying true to what the series stands for, and while this new humanization of Bond, making him dark and fleshed out, is not at all bad, it feels out of place. But maybe like all new clothes, we just need to adjust to them before they fit us perfectly.

What more do I need to say? Go watch it. In the theatres. Enjoy the 140 minute spectacle, but if you’re a long term Bond fan, you will feel like you’re in a stranger’s house. Does that mean the film’s bad? Not at all. My advice, watch it with no expectations or prejudice. Don’t expect it to be a Bond film, don’t expect it to be the greatest Bond film, take what you get and leave. But no matter what, this film will make history, not just in terms of Box Office numbers, but also in terms of the radical new, and dark, direction that the Bond series has taken. I’m already looking forward to Bond 24. Job well done, Mendes, Craig, Dench, Bardem.

Tweet