Skyfall (2012)

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Roze-Rating: 4.5 / 5

This time round the story is centred round James Bond and his loyalty towards M, forcing him to come out of hiding after a failed mission. MI6 is under attack by a mysterious villain who has managed to get his hands on extremely sensitive data which could put British intelligence agents in danger. The more they find out about the villain, the more they realise that he has a strange interest in M, which could put the agency and her life in danger. James Bond meets his match as he tries his best to get one step ahead of his enemy.

The newest edition of the Bond franchise brings a gritty, dark and incredibly polished film, making it one of the best made Bond films ever. It may be technically better than its predecessors, but it still seems to fall short to Casino Royale, but only by a bit. The location shots were incredible and remained incredible throughout the film. You could tell a lot of work went towards finding those perfect locations and the attention to detail aided the success in making them look stunning and extremely sexy. It’s definitely one of those films you have to watch in HD and would make a perfect addition to anyone’s Blu-ray collection. It’s hard not to appreciate the polished aesthetics which you will notice from the traditional music introduction, which will stand as one of the best music intro’s for a bond film to date. It was clean, innovative and really nice to look at, I was literally in a state of awe.

Skyfall totally triumphs in terms of the dialogue, bringing it back to its British roots, exuding sarcasm and good old British wit. This is what Quantum Of Solace missed out on. M and Bond had genuine chemistry in this film, which is what I haven’t seen explored before in the Bond films I’ve watched. They’re both snappy with their replies making for a humorous and fun listen.

The plot is smart and interesting, aided by Bond’s antagonist who is a lot more memorable than past villains. Bond definitely found his match in Silva (Javier Bardem) who is always a step ahead. The villain is one of the major highlights of the film because Javier Bardem puts in an amazing performance playing this insane character who has an obsession with making things right with M. It’s such an unusual and crazy character that it’s actually brilliant. James Bond is of course gritter and darker than ever, which shows in his rusty attitude towards missions. It seems that due to the ending of Casino Royale, the Bond character has been moulded to a specific tone, a dark, gritty, no nonsense James Bond, and it totally works for Daniel Craig. There’s a certain vulnerability that I’ve not seen from past Bond characters and that makes him a more compelling character, and you realise that he is actually human sometimes driven by his feelings. Props to Daniel Craig who has, in my opinion, played this character to perfection making the character his own. There’s some pretty cool appearances as well by Ralph Fiennes, Naomi Harris and Ben Whishaw, which are worth watching for, and make for a promising sequel as they all seem to be sticking around for future films.

The action scenes were realistic and engaging and were stylish at times, continuing the polished aesthetics of the film. But that’s what Daniel Craig has brought to the films from the start, a more believable character with realistic fighting scenes showing true brutality with his kills. Despite that, I think that’s where the film was a let down. It lacked proper iconic, large scale action sequences which Casino Royale and Quantum Of Solace had. There were some big explosions here and there but it needed more in my opinion, and then it would have been a perfect film. Luckily everything else about the film compensated for the lack of action and still makes for an incredible watch.

I just hope that Daniel Craig has the capacity for at least another two films, because this character is truly one of my favourites at the moment, and he just seems to fit the role so perfectly. Although, I do think the next films need to be a lot more light hearted and fun, we’ve already had three fairly dark films and I think it’s time for a film filled with gadgets, over the top action and a freaking creepy villain wanting to destroy the world. Thanks to the introduction of Q and Eve I reckon the sequel will give us those gadgets we’ve missed and some sexual innuendo, WOOP.