Skyfall (2012) – 4/5

Bond back to greatness in a film dealing with one or several lost sons

Until a couple months ago, „Skyfall“ was the newest entry to the famous 007 franchise. Then „Spectre“ came, also begins with an „S“, also 7 letters. Obviously, Academy-Award winning director („American Beauty“) Sam Mendes and the people in charge of this film tried all they could to replicate the success of „Skyfall“, yet they came somewhat short. I am not saying „Spectre“ is a bad film, not at all, it is a good film like „Quantum of Solace“, but both are clearly inferior to „Skyfall“. I always think that one crucial indicator for how good a Bond film is is the memorability of its locations. And there are many great places in here. The finale at Skyfall is pretty badass, but the real ending at the small church is just as good and even more significant. Then there is the place with the Komodo dragons, the replacement location for MI6, the locations where Bond fights Patrice (on top of the train and in front of the luminous jellyfish) or even in the very cold water, almost at the end, a nice reference back to the intro sequence very early. The subway train just like the tunnels down there also delivered for sure. You will not find a more London-themed 007 movie out there. And motorbike lovers also get their favorite vehicle included in a spectacular chase sequence. Those are all great and one reason why this film is seen the way it is and appreciated by many. Then there are the characters with the introduction of Moneypenny, Fiennes‘ role and what he becomes in the end, the scenes with Dench’s character (oldest Bond girl in history and one of the most memorable) etc. The character development is something that was totally missing in the newest Bond film in my opinion, even with Bond himself, who has to find his strength again.

And then there is Silva, of course. Javier Bardem does not appear until halfway into the film. His character impacts the story for the entire first half, but we do not see him until 70 minutes in. When finally there in person too, he lifts this film again to an entirely new level in my opinion. Bond villains are always a bit gimmicky and he is at least as much fun to watch as Le Chiffre in the equally great „Casino Royale“. The trick is to make them gimmicky, but still make them seem realistic and this is something that worked out really nice here. I wish I could say the same about Waltz in the newest film. Oh well, back to Silva: He has so many memorable scenes and actions in here that I cannot name them all. The trademark blonde hair with the Hispanic background, the homosexuality, the fake teeth, the blasting music when he and his soldiers approach Skyfall and I could go on and on. He really deserved the Oscar nomination. Really sucks to see he did not get it. He was probably very close. I also quite liked the way the character was introduced when we finally got to see him. The static camera and Silva approaching us and Bond while elaborating on the rat analogy and the end to this metaphor is also what he hears from Bond when he is dying. But the introduction was also very tense and very smart, also with the elevator arriving. This static camera decision was one of the finest shots from the film. Oh yeah and as you may have expected around the 90-minute mark, MI6 really has a problem with keeping their prisoners. So many manage to flee in these films. They need to work on that. Some other people working on this film, however, were more successful than Bardem during Oscar night (or nomination morning) and I quite like that. They won a tied vote with „Zero Dark Thirty“ in Sound Editing (well-deserved as „Skyfall“ is also great from a technical perspective) and Adele won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her excellent theme song. This was already the second time I watched „Skyfall“. First time I saw it in theaters right when it came out back in 2012. This is certainly a film that makes an even bigger impact when you see it on a really big screen, but it’s just such a wonderful example of quality filmmaking that it is also worth seeing on a small one.

Now, critics will say as usual that this is not the old Bond in the traditional style and sense of the films and they may be right. But I personally love the new approach to Bond just as much. There are also many clever references back to the old days, for example the one about exploding pens etc. So this film also brings a lot of humor, mostly via smart and witty funny comments, such as Dench’s character saying she will not turn her back on the dreadful woman who questions her or Bond’s comment near the end that he had to take a short swim. And I 100% must mention „I like you better without your beretta“. A movie that will also make you smile during the delightful moment. The beretta moment was between Bond and Bérénice Marlohe’s character, who was the closest to an actual Bond girl in here. She vanished quickly though in an epic twist that showed us how ruthless Bardem’s Silva really is. A second Bond girl is Moneypenny this time and this is maybe what I liked least about this film. There I am really with the old films. I understand they were already going for female empowerment and so on in films like this, but from my perspective Moneypenny is best as a witty secretary at the headquarters fantasizing over Bond like it was handled in the 1970s and 1980s and even in the Brosnan movies still. They also managed memorable inclusions for this character there. No need to turn her into another field agent. How she appeared at the courtroom shootout, how she even showed up in Asia when Bond fought the guy down there in the pit, it was all too much. Just my thoughts. Her color I don’t care about, it’s okay. By the way, Bond had many one-on-one fights this time. This includes the guy he takes on twice, once atop of the train and then up there in the tower, but also with the bad guy I just mentioned down there in the pit with the Komodo dragons. By the way, this was quite interesting how the bad guy was pulled away there. Incredible strength they have and they are utterly fascinating creatures, so the name „dragon“ fits them nicely and they don’t have to spit fire for that.

Anyway, I was talking about the one-versus-one inclusions. To some extent, this also applies to Bond vs Silva. Obviously, both have many helpers, but they are still lone cowboys out there and prefer to not have anybody get really close to them for the most part. Kinda fitting that there are no real henchmen anymore the moment Silva enters the picture. His helpers are just there, actually everywhere it feels like, but we do not find out anything about them. It is all about Silva. There are many beautiful shots during this film too. Perhaps my favorite is the one that has Bond on top of the skyscraper after the bad guy fell down (this time not Bond falling down when the two fight like with the train struggle early on) and then we see Marlohe’s character stand there on the other side watching Bond. Really nice moment and first encounter that makes it a bit sad that her character did not get the happy end treatment like many other Bond girls. Then again, she is also not the only Bond girl who dies and with Bond’s comment about the alcoholic beverage immediately after, she apparently did not mean a lot to him (yet) anyway or maybe he just did not want to show his real feelings to Silva. Speaking of Bond girls, I stated early on already that Judi Dench, also without a romantic connection to Bond, perhaps rather one to Bond’s old friend if you really interpret a lot into it, may be the biggest Bond girl in this movie and there is also no happy end for her character here. It is maybe a bigger surprise if you watch the film for the first time, but if you have seen it already, then you can find some implications that she will not make it out alive, especially with all the people who died and she had a direct impact there with her decisions. How she Silva, who was also a bit of a lost son to her. How she tells Moneypenny to take the shot and endanger Bond’s life. How she tells Bond even before that to leave another severely injured agent behind and keep going for the target. The target is a digital list here that includes basically every single MI6 undercover agent and those are are at risk of being exposed. Some even get exposed, I think five, but we do not find out specifically about their fates then. This could have made for another movie, actually several other movies.

The film ends with Ralph Fiennes as the new M telling us and Bond that there are many new challenges waiting (now I am a bit confused with Moneypenny’s name also starting with an M, never thought about that before) when before that it was not safe at all that he would be chosen to work as Bond’s new boss, although from the name Mallory you you could have guessed already. The only thing safe was Dench’s character not continuing as she is indeed fired, even if it was in a gentle manner. Before I come to the end of my review now, I want to mention Bardem again because really I think he is such a versatile actor and it is always nice to see a non-American actor have a Hollywood breakthrough where they appear in really big films and franchises. He deserves it. Of course, the make-up with the absolutely non-Hispanic light hair and even dyed eyebrows also helped in making this character more memorable or the scene when we see his missing teeth where his face almost looks a bit like Jaws add a lot too, but the actor does so much physically too during this film, especially with his eyes and facial expressions. He is a real chameleon and I cannot think of another actor who could have played the part better. Top-notch turn. Finally, this film runs for almost 2.5 hours (much longer than the previous entry) and does not drag at all. I am glad they did not shorten it down. Deserving running time. It’s tense, it’s entertaining, it’s well-written and well-acted. Everything you could ask for in a movie and I highly recommend the watch.