Originally posted to the DMI Review on 7/3/13
Nobody Does It Better
2012 saw the James Bond film franchise turn 50, an event that called for much celebration. Retrospectives were done, books were released, and DVD/Blu-ray sets were cobbled together for sale, but the one thing every Bond fan could look forward to was the release of the 23rd film in the franchise, Skyfall. This would mark Daniel Craig's third outing as Bond, and the first in four years, what seems like an eternity in sequel-years*. Skyfall would also be a redemption of sorts after the maligned Quantum of Solace took Craig's hardened, realistic Bond from 2006's Casino Royale and pushed him further away from what we know the character to be. Thankfully, Skyfall is not The Bond Identity, but rather a thoughtful, franchise-changing film that rights the course for future films by mixing just the right amount of the old Bond charm with a post-9/11 espionage mentality that doesn't take itself too lightly.
Unlike Quantum of Solace, which was a direct continuation of the story told in Casino Royale, Skyfall tells an independent story that brings an emotional heft to the relationship Bond has with his profession, his country, and his boss, M, once again played by the excellent Judi Dench. The film opens with a rousing chase through Istanbul, including motorcycles atop the roof of the Grand Bazaar and a fantastic sequence on a speeding train, as Bond and fellow agent Eve (Naomie Harris) are hot on the tail of an assassin who has stolen a hard drive containing the identities of every undercover agent from the nations belonging to NATO. M makes a quick call that leads to a terrible accident (those who know the film's marketing likely know what it is, but I'll keep this review spoiler-free), costing her the drive, and as we soon find out, her job. Government official Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) is brought in to oversee M's transition out of power as she herself instructs Bond to hunt down who is targeting her and putting MI6 at risk.
Aside from the Bond actors themselves, the James Bond films have always had good casts, with talents such as Robert Shaw, Diana Rigg, Christopher Lee, John Rhys-Davies, Sean Bean, Jonathan Pryce, and Halle Berry appearing alongside their respective 007s as friends, foes, or a mixture of the two. Skyfall is no different in this respect, with the returning Craig and Dench joined by Albert Finney, Ben Whishaw (as the new Q), the aforementioned Ralph Fiennes, and Javier Bardem as the film's sure-to-be-classic villain Raoul Silva. Bardem steals the show anytime he's on screen, a bleached-blonde, flamboyant hacker who seeks revenge against the institution, and woman, that betrayed him long ago. Naomie Harris and Bérénice Marlohe make for fine Bond girls, the former playing the field agent 007 works, flirts, and jokes with, while the latter plays one of Silva's pawns, caught in an unfortunate situation Bond could possibly remedy. Although both Harris and Marlohe fit the more traditional mold of a Bond girl, they don't have as much screen time as their predecessors, and that's because it's Dench who is front and center as the woman in Bond's life in Skyfall. The film explores the quasi-maternal relationship she has with 007 (who was an orphan, after all), something that informs Silva's motivations, and Dench and Craig play this relationship beautifully, especially as the film nears its conclusion. Although it likely doesn't need to be stated, Craig continues to inhabit the role of James Bond with a distinct tough exterior and playful attitude that makes the part his own, the latter characteristic being something that the writers sought to restore to Bond after a fairly dower Quantum of Solace.
The screenplay for Skyfall, written by Bond veterans Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, along with franchise newcomer John Logan, is a key element of what makes the film work. It returns the trademark sense of humor that this film series has long been identified with, all the while adjusting and strengthening the darker tone set by the reboot that was Casino Royale. That film got away with quite a few departures given that it was essentially Bond's origin story, so if all the key ingredients weren't there, we could forgive them, enjoy the new and exciting ride, and expect to see those things in the next film. But that didn't happen, and so Skyfall became the reboot of the rebooted Bond, and the work done by Purvis, Wade, and Logan deftly balances paying homage to tradition and forging a new path. Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson were wise to hire the creative team they did, and perhaps the most important hire of the entire crew was director Sam Mendes. An Academy Award winner for his film American Beauty, Mendes is the kind of non-action director that few would normally consider for a Bond film, but he turned out to be the one person who made it all come together.
One thing that many hated about Quantum of Solace was its shaky, quickly edited action sequences, something familiar to Bourne fans, so one of the immediately noticeable differences in Skyfall is the steady camera that keeps everything in the frame, easy to see and understand. Yet another visual piece of Skyfall's success is its absolutely gorgeous digital cinematography by Roger Deakins, a Mendes and Cohen brothers regular who has created with Mendes a beautiful set of images; from the neon-clad skyscrapers of Shanghai to the fog covered moors of Scotland, everything is stunning. Team Mendes also includes composer Thomas Newman, who delivers a very Bondian score with not just a proper use of the classic theme, but also some electric guitar-infused moments that remind us that this is a James Bond film, not just another spy thriller. Another quintessentially Bond element that is a massive success here is Adele's title song, which invokes the Shirley Bassey tunes of old while delivering some ominous themes for the film's story as it plays over the wonderful opening credits. I can't say whether or not Mendes had a hand in approaching Adele for the theme (I think it may have been the producers), but her work is undoubtedly excellent, and well-deserving of that Best Song Oscar. Overall, watching Skyfall, I could easily tell that a great director was at the helm, because my mind was always on the film, and I was completely wrapped up in the story and spectacle on the screen before me.
Now, that would seem like a fine place to end this review, but I'm trying to break the world record for longest film review I think it would be a wasted opportunity if I didn't address some complaints I've heard expressed about this film. One concern is that Skyfall is too dark, or even joyless when placed alongside the lighter (but in no way lesser) fair that Sean Connery took part in, and while I can't deny that, I think the James Bond film series is the rare entity that needs to evolve with the times, and with the Bond of the moment. Connery was a winking balance of sly, suave, and powerful, Roger Moore was far goofier yet still refined, Timothy Dalton was cold and intense, and Pierce Brosnan was an action hero blended with a Bond not too dissimilar to Connery's. Daniel Craig gives us a 007 along the lines of what Dalton attempted in the late 1980s, a cold killer (something closer to Bond creator Ian Flemming's original vision), although he adds his own level of charm and wit that brings to mind Connery's work. The Bond franchise has always evolved with time, and with Skyfall it's found the right way to introduce a more serious atmosphere to its inherently playful world. The one other major criticism I've heard voiced about this film is that its action is too big and bombastic, essentially a great deal of noise. Compared to Dr. No, the 23rd Bond film does seem like a Transformers movie, but looking back at the 007 outings from 1987 onwards (I'm less familiar with Moore's films) reveals Bond has been in the middle of an action extravaganza series for more than two decades, and Skyfall handles the action quite artfully compared to some of the recent Bond films.
I'm sure we'd all like to see Sean Connery back in that classic Aston Martin as his 1960s self, but ever since George Lazenby and Roger Moore inherited the role of Bond from Connery (the Grover Cleaveland of 007s), it's been understood that once an actor leaves the role, their interpretation of the character can never live twice. Daniel Craig has proven to be a worthy successor to the Bonds that came before, and Skyfall only enforces that he's the right 007 for our times. Sam Mendes' entry in the James Bond franchise has set a new standard for this long-enduring series. Following legendary work that's come before is an unbelievably daunting task, let alone altering a tone and formula that's been so successful in the past, but when it comes to rebooting a franchise, charting a new course for the future, nobody's done it better. 10/10
*The first four Bond films starring Sean Connery were released four years in a row, from 1962 to 1965.
The über-mega-length review returns! And I thought my Man of Steel review was long. Well, I suppose a 50 year old franchise demands quite a few words.