It's a rare occurrence when I decide to change the background on my laptop. It's usually an image of my current favorite movie or show or something of that nature. By I try to be very picky when I choose to change it up. I like it to be a special occasion of sorts. Just today I decided to replace the background of a Cloud Atlas movie poster with a wallpaper for Skyfall. I suspect that had I owned my laptop when Casino Royale came out several years ago it most definitely would've found its way onto my computer's desktop. The point I'm trying to make is that Cloud Atlas is currently my pick for the best movie of the year. Had I decided to follow my usual method of sticking to one image for a fairly decent amount of time on my laptop, I most likely would have kept Cloud Atlas as that picture. But I didn't. I changed it to Skyfall. Why? Do I think it's the best movie of the year? No. Is it as good as Casino Royale? No. I'd estimate it falls somewhere like my third favorite movie of the year right now. This, of course, could change within the next month with the release of The Hobbit Part I, Les Miserables, and Django Unchained, all films that seem to be strong contenders both for my top picks of the year as well as potential Oscar nominees in multiple categories. Naturally, we'll just have to wait and see. I wrote at length recently about why I think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is one of the best films of all time. I said that the movie is decidedly imperfect, there is melodrama galore in the film and scenes that go on a little too long, but the point I was trying to make was more that the movie itself was both equally and simultaneously intelligent and moving as well as fun and entertaining. There was never a dull moment. Skyfall is that movie this year. There have been numerous other films this year that have attempted the same and ended up being very well done, but with too many flaws in them that tipped the perfection scale out of balance, they wound up further down the Best Of list than they could have or should have been. Prometheus, while ambitious, tried too many things and was bogged down in the murky details of an over-stuffed plot. The Amazing Spider-Man, The Avengers, and The Dark Knight Rises while all equally fun and exciting and explosive and relatively character-driven in the best possible ways also had moments of too much cheesiness or too much maudlin, dramatic claptrap. Skyfall beats them all. I would even rank it above Lincoln in its quality-goodness. Too much praise? Perhaps. But that's my whole point with this blog. Everything comes down to personal opinion, whether you're talking art or film or whatever. I said a while back in a Louis Malle class I took several semesters ago that while My Dinner With Andre was technically my choice for the best film of all time, I always edge towards giving slightly more praise toward Pulp Fiction. It is both the best film of all time as well as my personal favorite. I can sit down and enjoy it purely on the basis of its cinematic beauty, but I can also turn off my brain and be entertained by its sense of fun and playfulness, its witty dialogue and jokey prods at the conventions of Hollywood films in general. It is also an easier film to watch than My Dinner With Andre, which can only be viewed, I feel, when you're in a certain mood. I don't eat popcorn with my Andre Gregory-Wallace Shawn-Louis Malle flicks. Skyfall isn't as good as say Cloud Atlas or We Need To Talk About Kevin or even necessarily Lincoln, but it is more exciting than Lincoln, and sometimes that matters more.
My first experience watching a James Bond movie was in the theaters. I saw Tomorrow Never Dies when it came out in 1997 and I never turned away from another Bond film. Except for Never Say Never Again and the travesty that was that incredibly bizarre spy-spoof also unfortunately titled Casino Royale. But those don't count officially. Tomorrow Never Dies is far from the best Bond movie. But purely for nostalgic purposes it is the one Bond film I will always turn to to simply watch and enjoy. It's not terribly sophisticated in terms of its writing, but I think it's the best of the Brosnan Bonds. It's my ultimate guilty pleasure and I always vehemently defend it against those who believe GoldenEye is superior. The World Is Not Enough followed in 1999 and was equally enjoyable, but it had its silly moments and subpar aspects as all adequate Bond movies have. Then Die Another Day...happened. I admit, it's another guilty pleasure of mine. It's bombastic and loud and absurdly over-the-top, but so what? So are most of the Bond films. I feel like it's almost a Roger Moore type Bond movie done in the modern era. In 2006, Casino Royale effectively rebooted and reignited the entire stale Bond franchise. It remains my pick for the best Bond film ever, Skyfall is only slightly below it. I remember sitting in the theater expecting just another thrill-ride, just another roller coaster of action and silliness. What I got was wholly unexpected. Here was a sparse, minimal Bond movie. Gone was Q. Gone were the gadgets and the endless CGI chases and explosions. Instead there was a modicum of incredibly well-done action that supported and invigorated the quiet and methodical and suspenseful tone of the rest of the film. When something action-oriented or exciting occurred it was a bit frightening in the way it offset the rest of the story, here was our protagonist in what felt like genuine danger doing real things to save the day or rescue the stakes of the story from being completely destroyed. I watch it now and see how incredibly introspective it is of a character unseen by us before, here is a Bond who is fresh not only because he is a new actor, but because he is essentially a new person. A student who is learning the ways of a very dark, very brutal, and very untrustworthy world. It was...dare I say, unsettling. I couldn't tell where it was going to go next. And when Vesper was revealed to be yet another form of a mastermind in the shadows manipulating Bond...it was heartbreaking. As was even more so her death. I was compelled right along with Bond to seek revenge, morality and ethics and the code of the spies be damned. Bond wanted, nay needed, payback for what had been done to him. Then came Quantum of Solace. And it was...different. Retrospectively I like it slightly more than I did the first couple of times I saw it. There are still definite problems. First and foremost is the prevalence of an insane amount of action. The intrigue and the character study stuff and the drama is all there, but sadly it's buried beneath the surface because of a half-completed screenplay. The Writer's Strike of 08/09 occurred right when the movie was in production. It essentially did it's job competently and finished up the wrap on the entire Vesper storyline while introducing Quantum as potentially the new SPECTRE of the Bond world.
Before I get into Skyfall specifically, I want to make a quick note about something. I love James Bond. The entire series of films. I love them all. Sure, many are better than others. Many are dated and sexist and racist. But this only emphasizes the point I want to make. Bond films exist as small microcosms of their eras. The most fascinating component of any given Bond movie is the fact that they essentially create some form of commentary, subtle or overt, regarding a given issue of the year or decade. Cultural, social, and historical events and issues are all addressed in varying capacities and to different levels of success. And yet, like I said before, the movies are also entertaining. We don't always get bashed over the head with the relevance of a specific contemporaneous problem to a certain place or time. It's there in the background.
Really the Bond movies are way all over the place. They are hopelessly inconsistent in terms of their quality. And that's okay. I hate Moonraker with a passion, but there are the camp aspects that are oh so entertaining. I don't think GoldenEye is the best Brosnan Bond film, but there are elements that are very well done and the movie itself is still quite entertaining. It all goes back to that matter of personal selection. I like what I like for a certain reason. I'm not about to badmouth a fan of Roger Moore simply because I disagree with him on who the best Bond is. So when I posted my list of what I thought the best Bond movies are it was purely personal. Why bother with trying to appease everyone by simply matching another entertainment magazine's choices for Best whatever?
Sam Mendes wasn't the most obvious of choices for directing a Bond movie. Many suspected he would drop all the action scenes and go for the intimate character moments. Boy, were they wrong. The action's incredible, but like in Casino Royale, it's actually quite minimal when you look at the entire film and its story. But unlike Casino Royale, the action is a notch above really, it's a little more epic, a little more grand, but I still prefer Royale because of its free-running scene. Skyfall features an extraordinary amount of character-driven scenes and moments and chunks of dialogue. Almost everything is driven by the nature of people. Yes, Silva has a diabolical plan of sorts of destroy M and her reputation, but it is fueled by him not a screenwriter or a director. Mendes sells all of this through some wonderfully original and surprisingly subtle methods of direction, and yet never overwhelms the screen with intimacy, it feels in perfect balance between genuine cinematic movement as well as natural character-driven closeness.
Like I said in the last bit, none of the story seems forced. Everything's spontaneous, it kept me on my toes, and like Royale, I couldn't possibly guess what was going to come next. Certainly there were moments of expectation where one waits for the villain to escape or for Bond to make the next logical heroic move in order to save the day. But what those things were specifically were surprising and unexpected. The quality of the dialogue is excellent as well. There are glorious moments between Bond and M and Eve and most everyone that evokes perfectly the classic repartee between all of those characters and more. Perhaps my single favorite scene in the film is the monologue Silva (Bardem) gives when we are introduced to him. The manner in which the scene is shot is a such a wonderfully simple way and one that works to truly emphasize the strength and impact of the character and what he is saying. It's extraordinary.
This brings us to the matter of the actors and their characters. Everyone's pretty much flawless. They all bring something unique to the table, even the established people like Craig and Dench. Bardem, naturally, exudes pure villainy. And everyone else is just top notch and well-suited to their characters.
The production of Skyfall must have been insane. This is, I'm sure, always an issue for the Bond makers, even with their butt-loads of money to throw around, the logistics of putting together such an expansive and expensive movie is mind-boggling. The locations, the effects, the stunts, the sets, the lighting. Everything has to be perfect and pristine. There's rarely been an actually ugly looking Bond movie, unless it's done on purpose like with Quantum of Solace or Licence To Kill. Roger Deakins' cinematography is, of course, renowned the world over, and he, of course, doesn't disappoint with some shots that seem impossible, many shots that seem improbable, and all shots that are simply gorgeous and sumptuous to look at and be enraptured by. The opening sequence is a mad dash across roofs and streets and trains and nearly all of it seems real. The brief moments of CGI insertions are naturally by necessity and kept to a relatively bare minimum, unlike in the last film which was chock full of awkward slow motion and slam-bang computer effects that are mostly hit and miss in the quality department. The editing in Skyfall too is back to the Casino Royale level of consistency and lack of chaos. Gone is the Quantum of Solace flashes of action and prevalence of confusion. I can see and understand spatially what is occurring in Skyfall at all times. It's pleasant and makes for a much more exciting rather than headache-inducing experience.
Skyfall itself seems to conclude a trilogy of sorts in much the same way The Dark Knight Rises drew the curtain on a certain version of an established character and world. As Casino Royale was essentially a reboot of the series entirely, it made sense for Quantum of Solace and then Skyfall to follow through with a further re-emphasis on a character who is, for lack of a better word, pretty much unfamiliar to audiences. I said before, in Royale, we had no idea what kind of person this Bond is or could become. Skyfall pretty much answers the majority of questions about Bond that have irked myself and others for years. Why does Bond throw away so many women as though they were tissues? What is the backstory between Bond and Moneypenny? What kind of relationship does (or did) Bond have (or had) with M? And where exactly did someone like Q get his start? Some of these queries are inconsequential and don't really matter all that much within the context of the Bond films themselves, but a couple of them do matter and in accordance with the way Skyfall looks at some of the issues inherent to the character that is essentially Bond himself force a new and refreshing perspective on a character who has been rather ambiguous and unknown to us before. Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and Skyfall form what I am referring to as a 'trilogy of re-introduction' wherein something that has been relatively known before by all, but only on a surface-level, is given a new twist and perspective. This re-introduction then establishes the character and the world in a different light than before and enables a theoretical return to formula in future films to be more justifiable. I'll get into specifics of what I mean below.
But before I can carry on, I want to say one more thing that really struck me about the movie overall. And that's the structure. The formula has been in the past that the final third is the section of the Bond film where Bond is essentially in control and all he has to do is to go rescue the girl and defeat the villain and his evil plan. That is sort of true with Skyfall. There is a final battle. Bond is essentially in control. But the circumstances are different. Bond and M don't feel safe. They put themselves up as targets for Silva rather than risk the lives of innocent civilians. And the methods at their disposal to defend themselves, or lack there of, are minimal and simplistic. Finally, though Bond is essentially in control, there is a cost, in a sense to his actions. A very large one that I wonder if he in future films will feel guilty about.
Basically, Judi Dench's M dies. Having been something of a surrogate mother to Bond for the last couple of movies, I found this event to be particularly fascinating and compelling from an emotional perspective. This has completed Bond's journey for him, which in and of itself lends to another matter that I just mentioned. Bond in control, or is he always? Is he truly a cocky, smarmy bastard who seemingly knows everything? Or is it an act? It is said in this film, that Bond isn't really the big bad ass spy he thought he was. His test scores are underwhelming and prove him to be unfit for duty. This subject was laughed aside in previous films, but here it is treated quite seriously. This is a problem both for M and Bond, and towards the end of the film M all but admits it was a mistake putting him out on active duty when he wasn't fit for it. I'm very eager to see what kind of potential ramifications this may or may not have on Bond's character in future films, will there be moments where he honestly doubts his own abilities and breaks down again as he does in this film and admit in a small moment at the end that he is in fact human and vulnerable to pain?
Eve is Moneypenny. There I said it. She wasn't really ever a major player before in the earlier films. But she had such a presence of character and seemed to have such an enjoyable impact on both Bond but also the movie she was in, we all just felt she was essential...for some mysterious reason. And here we know how they met and why they are the way they are. The nature of what she did to him as established in Skyfall solidifies why essentially they can never be together, and yet they respect one another deeply and emotionally and because of it have that sexual charge between them. A charge that they both deny and for good reason...
Ben Whishaw is my new favorite person. He's like the gayer and more British Andrew Garfield. Adorable by virtue of being. But he's also a solid actor. And in some surprisingly sweet and funny moments really sells what feels to be a kind homage to the entire character of Q. Something of a sad and lonely man who relies on his incredible intelligence to create things for others to use and though Bond pokes and prods him all the time, the two really do appreciate one another. It's a nice take on what has been a formula character in the past.
This brings us to the matter of the homages in general and the stronger sense of humor Skyfall has overall. Yes, there are elements of incredible darkness in the film and the drama is driven by intense character moments and scenes and choices, but refreshingly, there are jokes and bits here and there that reference the earlier films in bittersweet and poignant ways. After the last two movies did away with such things, it was nice to briefly see something of the past that wasn't overt and clunky like it was in Die Another Day.
The use of Bond Girls in the different films have always been a little controversial and problematic for some. At times, I'd include myself in that category. I understand the matters of the old era Bond with Connery and Moore where it was acceptable to slap a woman on the ass or just fuck the shit out of her and drop her out of a window into a pool for some reason I can't really remember...the point is, women in Bond films are iffy at best. And I mean this mostly in the way they are written and the impact, or lack thereof, they tend to have on the overall story or the characters involved. Take for example Plenty in Diamonds Are Forever, she begins a daring thief of sorts and by the end is a woman who is incapable of holding a gun, let alone shoot it. It's pretty damned sexist is what I'm saying. Compare her to maybe Christmas Jones in The World Is Not Enough. Yes, it's Denise Richards, but so what? Think about her character, she's a nuclear scientist (granted she wears short-shorts, BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT), the point is she has something to do at the end. She helps rather significantly with Bond's defusing of the warhead that's gonna kill a bunch of people. Then compare those two girls to say Vesper in Casino Royale or Wai Lin in Tomorrow Never Dies. They both have significant presences and impacts on the entire story of their respective films. They matter. So, overall, what do we have? A mixed bag at best.
And Skyfall works to answer that problem. Think about it- Royale had Vesper, the one woman Bond loved apparently, Quantum had Camille, one of the few girls Bond doesn't sleep with (they are similar in personality and goal, they exist in the same state of mind in the film), and Skyfall has...? Eve? But she's Moneypenny. Can't happen. Severine? She dies half-way through the movie. Bond has no true Girl to speak of in Skyfall. And it's noticeable. And extremely important in my opinion. This is the movie that establishes why Bond discards women in the way that he does. Both as a result of Vesper's death, but also the experience he goes through at the start of Skyfall. It jades him. Significantly. It finally dawns on him, he must always be alone. To be what M needs him to be, he must be a blunt instrument, a cold, detached, half-monk, half-hitman. He can't afford to be married (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) and he doesn't get friends (Licence To Kill). This is the true Bond of the real world. Something of an anti-hero, but mostly tragic, sad, alone. I want to give him a hug.
So I will close with a pure and simple statement. The Skyfall theme song by Adele is my second favorite out of them all. The World Is Not Enough will always remain my favorite song by my favorite band of all time. But Adele nails it in much the same way Garbage did. A fitting, emotional, lyrically-driven yet beautifully sung torch-song type ballad that retroactively references the earlier Bond songs like Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice and Nobody Does It Better and For Your Eyes Only by its incredible 60's-esque sound quality and tone and style. It's beautiful and grand. Just like the best of the Bond movies. Which Skyfall most certainly is.
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