James Bond In Skyfall - - Part 11

[SoNicRaDiATioN]

I was evaluating his performance. The choices he made. It was good. A performance is an interpretation of the written word. Ledger and Nolan were on the same page with how they saw the character based on interviews I have read.

 

[Solidus]

Superb film. Loved it a lot. I put it up there in the top three with Casino Royale and Goldfinger (sometimes I fight between Goldfinger and From Russia with Love as which one is better). But Skyfall was brilliant. Silva was a little a awkward at times, but still I loved the film. Best film I've seen so far this year.

 

[DyeLorean]

I can FINALLY come here to read, I just came back, and I thought it was a great Bond film.

Specially liked all the connections to the Sean Connery era, I think where Casino Royale put an emphasis on the character and his beginnings, Skyfall put that emphasis on the character's mythology.

Both films work very very well at putting the character back.
Don't know if you noticed, but both Q's dialogue with Bond and M's speech are heavily related on how the character worked before, 50 years ago, and how it works today. The movie found the perfect balance of what made those movies so special in the first place, and tried to do so 50 years later.

The villain's portrayal, the 'private island' from the villain, the car, the Martini line -very very subtle what happened in Skyfall-, the final scenes, all of that is just nostalgia, a love letter to what the old Bond films were.

It doesn't hurt that the movie was helmed beautifully and with a lot of style from Sam Mendes.

Would've liked some more action in the middle, same style as the opening sequence, but that's just nitpicking.
It is also true that the film falls a little bit apart in the third act, but the atmosphere, and the emotional resonance of what happens there is what makes it work.

Honestly, I can't wait to see what happens next.

8.5

Note: special kudos for the opening titles and the music.

 

[bullets]

I don't know that we're going to get anywhere comparing Ledger's Joker and Bardem's Silva this much.

It's very layered for a Bond film so I get some of these comparisons. Silva is one of the most eccentric villians since The Joker in TDK. I thought he did a great job. His affection for M might of been too convenient though. This could of ended much differently , lol. One thing that reminds me of TDK was

Spoiler

Silva supposedly wanting to be captured. The whole time I expected something similar to happen for his escape and sure enough it did.

It was nice seeing M more central to the plot though instead of just a side character.

 

[DyeLorean]

People are jumping into the TDK comparisons just because Mendes said it was an influence on Skyfall.
This type of villains have been a classic in earlier Bond films -some more than others-. Nolan didn't invent the wheel, he just made a serious, interesting, superhero movie like no one before. That's a huge achievement.
But not everything needs to be Nolanized or discussed under the 'Nolan' tag. It is getting tiring to read all about him, not only here but also in many other forums, even in the Star Wars one (!).
He's a great filmmaker, has great, excellent films under his belt, but TDKR proved that he isn't perfect.

 

[TheVileOne]

Lucius Fox is a ripoff of Q.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Superb film. Loved it a lot. I put it up there in the top three with Casino Royale and Goldfinger (sometimes I fight between Goldfinger and From Russia with Love as which one is better). But Skyfall was brilliant. Silva was a little a awkward at times, but still I loved the film. Best film I've seen so far this year.

You liked it more than TDKR?

 

[mclay18]

I thought it was very good film, about as good as Casino Royale, and a solid entry into the 007 film canon. I do like how Judi Dench's M was more integral in the plot, as opposed to being one of the side characters. Bardem's Silva was definitely eccentric, but that blonde dye job was awful (I could take him more seriously if he was brunette).

But I could tell TDK was a definite influence on Skyfall, and not just because Sam Mendes said so. Some elements of the photography (especially the climatic scene and the night scenes), Newman's score, and a few minor plot points. But this was a Bond movie through and through.

Did anyone else fall in love with Roger Deakins' work on this film? His camerawork was beyond reproach here, and a definite reason to shoot digitally. It looks so clean, crisp and filmlike I was astonished to hear that Deakins used the Arri Alexa and not his usual standby of 35mm.

 

[Bruce Malone]

It was a good film maybe it would of been a great film if not for all the media hype that it may be the best bond film ever. So my expectations might have been too high.

I was hoping this would be the best in the craig series but i still feel that is Casino Royale by some margin.

Anyone else get the vibe that this was more of a set-up film for craig as bond than anything else? Which is kinda weird seeing as this is his 3rd film in the series.

 

[The Joker]

Lucius Fox is a ripoff of Q.

Pretty much. He's been accused of that since Batman Begins.

 

[kguillou]

Just came from it and---it was good. I'm still sorting out my feelings. I feel like the media hype ruined it for me. All i've been hearing for two weeks is how this is by far the greatest bond movie of all time and a superbly, brilliant film. I walked into this with all of that in my head and i think it tainted my experience. I kept...waiting for something, some big twist to blow me away and it never happened.

With all that being said, I'm not a Bond fanboy. I've seen the Craig movies and enjoyed them and thats about it. So, I think there was definitely alot in this film that i did not appreciate and alot that went right over my head.

All in all, good, solid film. I just wish I didn't go in with such monumental expectations.

 

[El Hombre Gato]

This felt more "classic" Bond than the previous two films. A real treat for the fans. And the finale pretty much indicates that we're going back to basics.

 

[GamerSlyRatchet]

Yes they did:

Spoiler

Silva can no longer release any more MI6 names and they contain the leaks now.

Not to mention the more important victory:

Spoiler

Silva's attacks, if anything, reinforced why MI6 and its methods are still needed today.

 

[El Hombre Gato]

Spoiler

Silva's attacks, if anything, reinforced why MI6 and its methods are still needed today.

Yeah, the movie is very critical of the way we have been handling the war on terror. Gutsy for a Bond flick.

 

[Octoberist]

After readnig some of your comments and openly talked about the hype, some of you guys need to gauge your expectations even with the hyperbole. Unless the film really disappointed you legitimately, hype on the Internet is nothing new. play it smart.

 

[Bruce Malone]

It's not just internet hype it's everything around, the critics reviews, the 50th bond anniversary. When a film is being sold pretty much as the "best bond ever" it's hard to ignore that.

I wanted to go in thinking this would top Casino Royale which i loved but like i mentioned i don't think it reached there. It was a good film but i just don't think there were any really impactful scenes in the film that left you with a big impression and i can think of so many from CR. So many of the scenes in skyfall just seemed like references to the previous films.

It's opening seemed a bit of a callback to the chase scene in CR but i thought it was done much better in cr. I think it may be both a blessing and a curse that craig hit it out of the park with his first bond movie.

 

[DACrowe]

Silva is somewhat like the Joker, but I think Nolan's influence was more abstract than Mendes wanted a villain who escaped from the heroes in the second act. I think what they finally did is make a Bond villain be congruent with the post-9/11 world. They mentioned terrorism in the other two Craig films, but this is the one where the baddie is a true terrorist and non-state actor. This isn't just about the Joker, but it is about Bond being just as relevant now as he was when he was created to fight the Cold War in the 1950s. Hence, M's big speech when she is being grilled by Parliament.

As for where this ranks in the Bond canon for me? I enjoyed it, but it did not blow me away like it apparently has some fans. My ranking:

1. Goldfinger
2. GoldenEye
3. From Russia With Love
4. Casino Royale
5. The Spy Who Loved Me
6. Skyfall
7. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
8. Dr. No
9. For Your Eyes Only
10. The World is Not Enough

It's one of the good ones. But despite being visually stunning and literally exploring both the Bond and M characters more than any other film, it is not the most memorable or fun for me.

 

[weezerspider]

Its just how Silva[BLACKOUT] let himself get caught so he could break out and cause havoc. Always one step ahead of everyone. I mean him dressed as a cop brought some memories back of Ledger dressed as one.[/BLACKOUT] I'm sure there are other things but plot wise those things stuck out.

That particular plot element has been used to death pre and post TDK. In TDK it made sense because it got him close to Lau. Often times, its a bit of a stretch...like in The Avengers. "ooo Loki wants to be caught....so he can make us argue?"

Not bashing TA, btw. I loved it. The point is, that plot point is used often and often times its kinda cheesy.


EDIT: Oh and I'd give Skyfall 9/10. The film was awesome!

 

[El Hombre Gato]

By the way, I hope they don't take a million years to make Bond 24. I'm already hyped for a "proper" Bond film.

 

[Liam_H]

That particular plot element has been used to death pre and post TDK. In TDK it made sense because it got him close to Lau. Often times, its a bit of a stretch...like in The Avengers. "ooo Loki wants to be caught....so he can make us argue?"

Not bashing TA, btw. I loved it. The point is, that plot point is used often and often times its kinda cheesy.


EDIT: Oh and I'd give Skyfall 9/10. The film was awesome!

Don't want to get too off topic but God of Mischief. Wanted to manipulate them into destroying each other, his preferred method over brute force.

 

[Dark Sentinel]

This felt more "classic" Bond than the previous two films. A real treat for the fans. And the finale pretty much indicates that we're going back to basics.

I will agree here. Craig as Bond really came into his own, and Bardem as Silva was phenomenally deranged.

And how creepy was it when

Spoiler

Silva removed his upper teeth/jaw prosthetic? A definite moment for me.

Ben Wilshaw was the PERFECT Q for a 21st-century Bond. A whizkid tech prodigy with dry wit and computer savvy, a perfect contrast with Craig's "grizzled" Bond. Looking forward to their relationship in the next two films.

 

[TheVileOne]

All the Nolan comparisons are annoying to me.

It's obvious that Nolan's Batman movies had an influence on Sam Mendes. Mendes was honest about it.

At the same time, everything in the Batman movies were hardly original. The re-used conventions in all those movies are pretty blatant. Nolan himself took cues from the Bond movies so it's all a circle of sorts. The Bond movies inspire Nolan's Batman and that inspires the modern Bond movies, etc. Makes sense to me. Akira Kurosawa was inspired by old school westerns when he made Seven Samurai and Yojimbo and then in turn that begat a new generation of classic westerns inspired by Kurosawa's samurai movies.

 

[weezerspider]

Don't want to get too off topic but God of Mischief. Wanted to manipulate them into destroying each other, his preferred method over brute force.

True, they are playing off of his ego, as God of Mischief, which can be applied to Silvia also. They play off his ego, as Silvia wanted to embarrass MI6 and kill M. Getting caught and breaking out and **** is much more of an embarrassment than just simply assassinating M.

 

[Brian Braddock]

And I'm pretty sure that there had been movies were a bad guy poses as a Police Officer [for the purposes of infiltrating through security to get to their intended target] before Nolan used it in TDK.

 

[The Englishman]

There were films before TDK??