3 replies to this topic

[Joey Bond]

I just got back from an advanced screening of Skyfall (not exactly advanced, just 10pm on the day before the movie goes on general release here in Thailand). I'm literally shaking at how awesome it was, will watch it again a few times before I make a proper review.

For the first time since becoming a Bond fan, I stayed spoiler-free for a Bond film that was being made. I treated it like another other upcoming movie: watched the trailers and listened to the theme song. There were some other details that I found out through either the press conference or through CBN, but nothing major, mainly just character names.

So here are the major spoilers that I did or did not expect:

- M's death- I had a feeling it was going to happen, having read the plot synopsis about the story revolving around M. Also hearing reports of Dench's health made me have this thought at the back of my head.

- Mallory- this was the biggest surprise for me. I knew there was going to be a character named Mallory played by Ralph Finnes and that he was in some way in contact with M, possibly working for the British government, that's all I knew from the trailer. I actually expected him to turn out to be a bad guy, the mole in MI6 who helps Silva gain access to the MI6 computer systems. In his first scene with M where they discussed M's impending retirement the thought of him replacing Dench as M did occur to me, but my money was still on him being the traitor. So it was quite a shock for me to find out in the end.

- Eve- I did hear rumours that she was going to be the new Moneypenny, but once I saw the trailer and saw her in action and having a supposed love scene with Bond I dismissed the idea. Once there's the scene in the movie about her not being fit for fieldwork the thoughts returned, plus I was suspicious that we haven't heard her name up to that point. At the end of the film where she gives Bond M's bulldog, I have been so focused on the action that I have forgotten all about her. The thought did occur to me again of her becoming Moneypenny but I didn't think it was going to happen in this film

- I saw a picture of Bond's parents' grave before the movie so I thought it was going to play some role in the film, just didn't know what

- For a moment I actually thought Silva is M's son, especially after the scene where she interrogates him and he calls her "mother"- I thought she was actually his mother

What about you guys? How spoiled were you coming into the film? Which spoilers did you correctly predict? Which ones did you not?

[Walecs]

M's death - I read this in internet in springs (they don't allow a novelization to avoid spoilers, they put this over the internet. Clever.), so I knew that, and, like you, the health problems of Judi Dench's eyes made this stronger to me, though part of me wanted to think that it was a false rumor.

The box - That dog is probably the last thing I expected to find in the box.

[bonds_walther]

M's death - I had a hunch.
Mallory as the new M - I had a hunch. Fiennes is too good an actor for a one-off, small role in a single film.
The use of the DB5 - As the henchmen approached Skyfall lodge, I thought to myself, "Would it be awesome if Bond used the..." And there they were! Booom!
Moneypenny - I guessed it after the first scene with Bond after his return. The playful dialogue was a giveaway.

The story itself was pretty much an unknown to me. I obviously knew a little from the synopsis that had been released and from the trailers, but that was about it.

[Vauxhall]

Moneypenny - I guessed it after the first scene with Bond after his return. The playful dialogue was a giveaway.

Interesting. I knew about Moneypenny beforehand, but I thought that scene was a big early hint, and wondered if any non-spoiler folk would have twigged at that point. Clearly they did.