4 replies to this topic

[Desk]

Skyfall was a reasonably entertaining movie, but I'm not sure it felt like a Bond film.

This is not a James Bond we've seen before - no longer necessarily a man men want to be and who women want to be with.

And as you might expect from director Sam Mendes it's very thoughtful, introspective and character-focused, but this epic two-and-half-hour film sometimes feels too much like overwrought melodrama.

As for the plot....

Spoiler

Let's face it - Bond fails.

Silva's plan is to cause havoc for MI6 and kill M... And he succeeds. Okay, Bond denies him the satisfaction of seeing M die, but she still pegs it 30 seconds later. Every step of the way Bond allows people to die, and he only seems annoyed with the villains when they shoot his car. Not exactly heroic.

Also not very heroic is going off on a three-month sulk, knowing the bad guys have made off with a list of every undercover operative. Bond's been hostile, bitter and arrogant before, but petulant and sulky doesn't suit him.

This film doesn't conform to previous Bond formula. If I hadn't known Naomie Harris was Moneypenny I would have been scratching my head as to why this romantic frisson is established throughout the first half of the movie only for Harris' character to be quietly dropped midway through.

Meanwhile, Silva's plan just doesn't make sense. He allows himself to be captured, just so he can confront M, and an elaborate escape relies on his computer being plugged in and returning his freedom at the precise time M is appearing at a committee meeting which he races towards with his presumably hired goons. Why not just do what Bond did at the start of the film - break into M's home, confront her and then shoot her?

I'm glad to finally see Bond's nagging 'mother' despatched, and welcome Ralph Fiennes as M, but why not call his character Miles Messervy? The in-joke with the Aston Martin wasn't worth screwing around with the continuity, and the final act siege wasn't very Bondian; it should be 007 who ultimately goes on the offensive and takes the fight to the enemy.

Sadly, for me the film didn't work as either escapist fun or this diversion into moving personal drama (it doesn't help that I've never cared for Judi Dench's M).

I loved Casino Royale, but it's taken an epic third film to reboot Bond to the point we were at in Dr No. While I'm all for a bit of character development can we please drop the melodrama and get back to some good escapist adventure?

[The Shark]

Meanwhile, Silva's plan just doesn't make sense. He allows himself to be captured, just so he can confront M, and an elaborate escape relies on his computer being plugged in and returning his freedom at the precise time M is appearing at a committee meeting which he races towards with his presumably hired goons. Why not just do what Bond did at the start of the film - break into M's home, confront her and then shoot her?

Because he wanted to humiliate her in public.

[Pussfeller]

It's not accurate to say that Bond fails. That assumes that his objective is to keep M alive. It isn't. For the entire film, his motivation is to extricate MI6 from peril. By the third act, his specific objective is to lure Silva into a trap and neutralize him as a threat. M is the coconut in the oildrum. I'd go so far as to say that her death is a foregone conclusion. Bond achieves his goal of enticing Silva to a remote location and eliminating him. It's a costly victory, but it's a victory. It's much more of a victory than CR, where Bond totally fails to bring in Le Chiffre and obtain his intelligence for MI6. In that film, he escapes with his life and a bit of wisdom, but he doesn't achieve any strategic objective. He doesn't gain anything for MI6.

[Gothamite]

It's much more of a victory than CR, where Bond totally fails to bring in Le Chiffre and obtain his intelligence for MI6. In that film, he escapes with his life and a bit of wisdom, but he doesn't achieve any strategic objective. He doesn't gain anything for MI6.

While it is much more of a victory in Skyfall, Bond does still succeed in capturing Mr. White (and presumably all of that Treasury money) at the end of the film. Just because he gets away in QoS doesn't undermine the victory in CR.

I really liked how

Spoiler

Silva's plot initially seemed like it was going to be some epic Bond-and-Beyond cyberterrorism plot, only for the film to completely catch us by surprise by having Bond quickly capture Silva alive and return him to London (something we've never before seen in a Bond film) only for his true, simpler plot to be revealed and ultimately realised. While Bond wins, so does Silva. It's this kind of thing that really makes me feel like people need to see Skyfall a second time to truly enjoy it.

Edited by Gothamite, 04 November 2012 - 10:33 PM.

[Guy Haines]

It's much more of a victory than CR, where Bond totally fails to bring in Le Chiffre and obtain his intelligence for MI6. In that film, he escapes with his life and a bit of wisdom, but he doesn't achieve any strategic objective. He doesn't gain anything for MI6.

While it is much more of a victory in Skyfall, Bond does still succeed in capturing Mr. White (and presumably all of that Treasury money) at the end of the film. Just because he gets away in QoS doesn't undermine the victory in CR.

I really liked how

Spoiler

Silva's plot initially seemed like it was going to be some epic Bond-and-Beyond cyberterrorism plot, only for the film to completely catch us by surprise by having Bond quickly capture Silva alive and return him to London (something we've never before seen in a Bond film) only for his true, simpler plot to be revealed and ultimately realised. While Bond wins, so does Silva. It's this kind of thing that really makes me feel like people need to see Skyfall a second time to truly enjoy it.

It starts off as a typical Bond story, develops into what seems like another "deranged villain threatens world in general and MI6 in particular" plot, but once we're on home turf it becomes an elaborate assassination plan, which Bond twists into a plot to "trap a rat", to use Silva's own analogy. And M is the bait.