Skyfall (2012)

Movie Info

Bond…sometimes I hate you.

A disastrous mission in Turkey leads to the loss of MI6’s undercover agents’ names to an unknown terrorist cell.  When James Bond (Daniel Craig) is accidentally shot by a fellow agent Eve (Naomi Harris), he is believed to be dead.  Now MI6 and M (Judi Dench) herself are targets for a terrorist named Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem).  James Bond must come back from his apparent demise and prove that the MI-6 program is not outdated to the new chairman Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) by capturing Silva before his plans to destroy the British Intelligence Agency come to fruition.  The only hope for Bond and M could be Skyfall…but what is it?

Take the shot!

Directed by Sam Mendes, Skyfall is the twenty-third James Bond film and the fifty year anniversary of the series.  Following Quantum of Solace in 2008, the production of the film faced problems and led to a four year gap in the series.  The movie’s title theme “Skyfall” is performed by Adele and the movie was well received by critics and fans.  The movie received the Academy Award for Best Original Song (“Skyfall”) and Best Sound Editing (which it shared with Zero Dark Thirty) plus nominations for Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Cinematography.

Skyfall is a very different Bond film.  There is the traditional Bond action, but much like Pierce Brosnan’s first turn as Bond, it feels like something has changed.  In Bronson’s GoldenEye, the old Cold War had given way to something new and here in Skyfall it feels like the same thing.  Much of the film is spent debating whether James Bond and other agents like 007 are really even necessary in the modern world of computers and high tech espionage.  The new Q (Ben Whishaw) points out that he can cause more problems sitting at home than running around with a gun.  This leads to a much more drama filled Bond than many of the previous entries.

I can’t quit you…

With the weighing of the good and bad of something like MI6, there comes a throwback to old Bond films.  The Aston Martin returns in dramatic fashion along with a certain secretary with some coinage in her name.  It is a welcomed return and I even enjoyed the modernized Q because he still had a quippy manner that played well with Bond.

With this movie, you dive deep into M’s relationship with Bond and it is contrasted with how she handled her former agent Raoul Silva.  Dench is the only Bond player to have survived the Daniel Craig “relaunch” and has appeared in the series since GoldenEye in 1995.  It is nice to see her take a more of a starring role since she plays such a cold character who is not allowed to show emotion…much like Bond.

For a genius, you just got played, Q!

Instead of a lot of exotic locations, after a trip to Turkey and Hong Kong, the movie reverts back to London which actually hasn’t been used much in James Bond movies.  It was kind of refreshing to see James Bond fighting espionage in his own home and then literally in his own home on the dreary moors of Scotland…a totally different world than Bond is normally seen in.

Silva’s name itself sounds a lot like Silver, and the “Gold”en age of Bond might have passed.  This is another age of Bond and though it might not be Goldfinger, it is still fun.  Skyfall isn’t your father’s Bond…It isn’t even the Bond that I grew up with, but give it a chance…James Bond returned in 2015 in Spectre.

Preceded By:

Quantum of Solace (2008)

Followed by:

Spectre (2015)

Related Links:

The 85th Academy Award Nominations