Skyfall


release year: 2012
genre: action/adventure
viewing setting: home Bluray 2/9/19 and 8/11/13

synopsis: James Bond helps MI6 defend itself against conventional and cyber terrorist attacks, masterminded by someone with a vendetta.

impressions: As with other recent Bond movies, this was entertaining and action-packed but didn't really feel like a James Bond movie...which makes sense since I grew up with an entirely different sort of Bond movie. This one made over a billion dollars, but lacked the gadgets, the humor, the villains, and other over-the-top elements that made the 1970s and 1980s Bond movies _fun_. Oh well. Times are changing, audiences are changing, and expectations for this sort of movie are changing. Without spoiling the plot, I'll say that this movie changed up some background elements and characters. It starts off, for example, with Bond being presumed dead in the line for duty, and hiding out on some island and drinking all day until he feels like reappearing. There's also a new Q and the apparent new M, and the backstory of Moneypenny.

acting: Daniel Craig follows up his last few Bond performances with more of the same: he's intense, violent, and all business. Judi Dench continues to be a super-serious "M" (even dropping an F-bomb at one point) although some of her past deeds come to light here, and she's definitely done with the series. Javier Bardem, whose reputation exceeds his acting ability in my opinion, is the angry villain here. Naomie Harris is MI6 field agent Eve.

chases: car chase, motorcycle chase across rooftops, train chase

neat gadgets: pistol with palm print reader, old car from Goldfinger

confirmed Bond kills: yet again, more than most past movies...probably several dozen...it becomes difficult to tally when he's using a machine gun at times

confirmed Bond seductions: 1.5 (he was so close to the second)

obnoxious female name: none

defining Bond moments: 

quotable: 
Severine: "Can you kill him?"
Bond: “Yes.”
Severine: "Will you?"
Bond: “Someone usually dies.”

Bond: (to bystanders, after opponent is dragged away by a Komodo Dragon) "It’s the circle of life."

Kincade: "What are you doing here?"
Bond: "Some men are coming to kill us. But we’re going to kill them first."

final word: Entertaining but different, just like the last couple. When I sit down to watch a James Bond movie, this isn't really what I have in mind. I suppose it's just a matter of reprogramming my mind and its expectations...depending on what type of Bond movie I want to watch.

back to the main review page