Friday, November 23, 2012

Movie review - "Skyfall" (2012) ****1/2 (warning: spoilers)

Very good James Bond film which I felt fell short of being an absolute classic. The opening motorcycle chase felt a bit too close to the Bourne films; the plan of the villain is really, really complicated when you think about it (there are a lot of easier ways for him to act); it's surprisingly sexless even if Bond has sex a few times (Daniel Craig's Bond is far more professional and focused on the job - Sean Connery and Roger Moore seemed to enjoy sex more); Albert Finney's part appears written for Sean Connery (and really should have been played by a Scotsman); Naomie Harris isn't much in what is a dream role; it probably slows down too much in the "breather" before the final attack.

But Daniel Craig is excellent; it's visually stylish (Sam Mendes lets his DOP do some awesome visuals which you don't often see and admittedly do sometimes take you out of the film e.g. a fight on the top of a Shanghai skyscraper, a burning Scottish mansion); I loved the homage to Bond's beginnings with mention of his parents; Judi Dench has never been better; Javier Baderm is one of the all time-great villains (with a homoerotic yen for Bond to boot); Berenice Lim Marlohe is wonderful as a femme fetale; Ben Whishaw is a superb Q and made me furious they persisted with John Cleese as long as they did; Ralph Fiennes is intriguing and a great red herring; the opening credits and theme song are first rate, as are the nods to the series history. It's a really respectful Bond film which also adds lots of fresh stuff and is more British than usual (lots of Union Jacks and most of it is set in the UK).

I do feel sorry for Pierce Brosnan, with everyone going "gee how good is Daniel Craig and isn't that a great idea to have someone getting revenge on M" when that was the plot of The World Is Not Enough. But it's a real roller coaster emotionally satisfying,

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