Starring: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Naomi Harris, Bérénice Marlohe, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes
Director: Sam Mendes
Well from the moment I sat down there was no hiding from the
fact this was a Bond movie – almost every ad and trailer was Bond-themed or
action-styli. I was inundated with advertisements for the James Bond perfume,
laptop, phone, video game, watch and Heineken beer – rumoured to be replacing
the Martini but thankfully did not.
Packed from the pre-credit scenes with car chases, rooftop
brawls, girls, guns, explosions, creepy villains and gadgets it was proving to
be quite a stereotypical Bond-esque movie.
However, each typically Bond element had been updated
slightly, modernised to fit with current ideas. Gadget-wise
with Q (Ben Whishaw) half Bond’s age there’s a wonderfully witty scene between
them in the National Gallery “what were you expecting, an exploding pen?”
There was also an apparent lack of girl-action in Skyfall,
with only a hint of some naughty goings-on with a frankly disappointing Bond
girl (Bérénice Marlohe). There was an innuendo-filled shaving
sequence with Naomi Harris but again it fell flat relationship-wise.
If anyone was the Bond girl in this
movie then it was Judi Dench, whose M developed considerably as she battled her
own past while fighting the present which was forcing her to retire. This in
turn led to some brilliant lines “To hell with dignity, I’ll leave when the
job’s done”. There is one concern I had about M’s character and that was how
much she swore. I know that strong language isn’t exactly new in the world and
it may just be my love for Judi Dench but I felt a woman of her stature and
position shouldn’t be swearing so much, the odd ‘bloody hell’ perhaps.
As for the plot itself, I felt this was
back to the real image of Bond – spying and sleuthing, hiding in plain sight.
It wasn’t the ‘shoot first and ask later’ business of his previous few films.
It had a this-time-it’s-personal feel but not the merciless revenge of Quantum
of Solace. A real celebration of Fleming’s original character
Now Javier Barden’s Silva wasn’t
exactly evil but he was certainly twisted, hell-bent on revenge with a hidden
yet gruesome deformity. With a penchant for stories about rats Silva always had
a dramatic entrance and an equally gritty departure.
My expectations were high and Skyfall
certainly did not disappoint. Happy Anniversary Bond.
