Skyfall (2012) - 9/10

I'll preface my first James Bond review by saying that I am not a die-hard fan of the IP. I grew up in the Pierce Brosnan era and never fully loved any of the movies. Looking back, it was also an era that was representative of an awkward transition for the franchise. Audience sensibilities were rapidly evolving in the post Cold War era and the Brosnan run always seemed plagued by not knowing how to fit into that. It also struggled with some of the newer technologies of filming which caused it to flail wildly between grounded action scenes and parachute surfing on a tsunami created by space lasers. 

Point being, Daniel Craig's run as the titular hero was the first era where I really started to like Bond (outside of some beloved old video games). And Skyfall, while probably disliked by die-hards, is one of the best outings the franchise has to offer. 

1. Acting

Daniel Craig was, in retrospect, a fantastic choice to embody the newest era of Bond films. At the time of his casting there was a wealth of backlash both for his physical appearance, as well as his unknown acting chops as a leading man. However, between Casino Royale and Skyfall, I think Craig established that he had all the chops needed to pull off the classic spy in new ways.

For this particular film, I think Skyfall is actually not Craig's best performance as Bond, but is his most introspective. In the initial third of the film, he plays Bond with a sense of apathy that is designed to show Bond is in a darker place. Slowly, he must pull Bond out of that languidness and starts bringing back the flirtier and more debonair aspects of the spy that he has shown in the past. And then in the finale, he taps into a broodier or haunted affect while still balancing his return to a more empathetic and protective version of Bond. Point being, Craig needed to find a way to portray Bond in a far more nuanced manner than had been done in the series so far and I think he largely pulls it off quite well. 

In addition to the pure 'acting' of Bond, Craig also does well with the physicality of the role. The design of the action scenes helps a lot in this respect, but Craig's body language is able to transmit the effect aging is having on Bond, while still displaying his confidence and prowess as a master spy.

Outside of the titular hero, we have a strong supporting cast including Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Javier Bardem and Dame Judi Dench. Naomie Harris serves as the 'Bond girl' of the film and her flirtations with Craig are playful and endearing which helps break up the more brooding nature of the rest of the film. Ralph Fiennes doesn't get a ton of screen time, but is able to endear the audience to Mallory after being initially presented as a bureaucrat foil tampering with MI6's machinations. Javier Bardem takes on the challenge of becoming the film's villain; Raoul Silva. Bardem takes a decent sized swing at making Silva an off-kilter type villain who is strangely flirty with a darker side. Unfortunately, Silva feels a bit too jocular and I think it undermines the sense of threat that he poses to the other characters at times (probably more writing than acting, but its a definitely a mix of both). 

The last performance I will point out is Judi Dench as M. Dench is extremely credentialed and the caliber of her acting elevates Skyfall into another level. She also serves as a bit of a bridge between eras of Bond having first played the role all the way back in Brosnan's first film GoldenEye. I can't recall each of her 8 performances as M, but this film basically elevates her into a co-star role alongside Craig; a challenge she is obviosuly up for. Dench is able to deliver more in a single line reading than most actors could do with an entire script. Her poise, her smirks, her wit - everything is pitch perfect. 

2. Cinematography 

Skyfall is perhaps the most beautiful Bond film ever made. Unsurprisingly, that is due to the collaboration of director Sam Mendes and the legendary Roger Deakins. When designing his look for Skyfall, Deakins took note of two major things. First, in his discussions with Mendes, he noted that the director wanted to try to capture an essence of noir within the film. Secondly, from the script, Deakins took note of a reoccurring motif: working within the shadows. We can see this influence in his approach from the very first shot of the film - the scene opens on a dimly lit hallway with the silhouette of Bond walking towards camera. As he comes to his mark, Bond's face emerges from obscurity and we see his eyes emerge from the shadows - Bond is literally emerging from the shadows with the type of classic lighting used in many early noir films. This style would show itself multiple times including, most notably, during Bond's fight with the assassin known as Patrice inside a desolate floor of a skyscraper. During this sequence, almost the entirety of the scene is lit using the ambient neon lights from surrounding buildings with the characters, and their fight, obscured within the shadows. 

Outside of the more heavy handed (but still gorgeous) shadowed shots, is plenty of scenes that have wonderful and engrossing composition. The use of lighting at times feels seductive - drawing the viewers eyes into the spectacle of scenery such as during the casino scenes. Other times, the wonderfully chosen locales of London, Scotland, Istanbul and Shanghai take center stage with the natural landscapes acting as an elaborate stage for Bond and the characters to play in. It truly feels like not a single shot in this film is not worth gushing over.  

3. Production/Costume Design

Craig's Bond films have always seemed to go out of their way to show how grounded they are. To that effect, the production value of the film is fairly straight forward. Bond and company get some lovely attire to look swanky in, but otherwise, the productions is far removed from the jet packs and laser beams of old. Nevertheless, the teams managed to sneak in some worthy moments within the film including the use of a classic looking Aston Martin DB5 which is a not so subtle nod to the 1964 classic Goldfinger. 

4. Writing 

 I know a lot of die-hards bemoan the serialization within the Craig era Bond films vice the more anthology feel of the early runs. However Craig's sequels, including Skyfall, keep a fairly loose association with each other and I enjoy that we get glimpses into the underlying character details that drive Bond in his efforts (as well as hold him back). 

In Skyfall, we find Bond in an interesting spot. Not only does he seem disillusioned in his MI6 role, he seems to be struggling with his aging and self-fulfillment. In the opening scene we see him struggle with leaving another wounded agent behind and the tension that causes between him and M. This sets up the fall Bond takes at the closing of the opening sequence in which Moneypenny, at the behest of M, takes a risky shot at Patrice and instead hits Bond. We transition out of the credits sequence to see Bond hiding away from his former life, using his apparent death as an excuse to leave MI6 and start a different life. However, we also quickly see that, despite his internal struggles, the attack on MI6 (and more specifically M) draws him back to his old life. These small character moments might not seem like much, but are cuing the audience into the deeper character underneath Bond; something not many other Bond films have tried to do. 

As the film progresses, we see Bond struggle in returning to his former glory. His age and extensive injuries have taken a toll, and his failure at the field agent tests demonstrates his desire to return, but physical inability. It's a somewhat bold move from Mendes and company since Bond is more classically immune from such fragilities. It also give us insight into who Bond is at his core. He is still disillusioned with MI6 to some extent, but the threat to M is triggering his protective instincts and speaks to the power/reverence she holds within his life. 

As we move from the second to third act, Bond is returning back to form physically and is even showing signs of being back to his flirtatious nature. However, this is also the point where the film forces Bond to confront some of the demons from his past. In an attempt to bring M to safety and lure the villain to an even playing field, Bond returns to his childhood home. And it is here where we see the filmmakers are willing to peel back a little bit of Bond's layers, while also resisting the temptation to exposition dump the sordid details of his past. Instead we just tip toe around it - getting subtle hints of what led Bond to MI6 without feeling the need to overtly state it. It's a reserved choice, but one that respects the mysterious nature of Bond while still creating depth. 

My overly long point being, part of what makes Skyfall great is its attentiveness to making Bond into an actual character without completely dismissing what has come before. It also builds more nuance into a character that had arguably become more trope than person. 

Outside of Bond's character, Skyfall has plenty of other wise choices in terms of screenplay. For the sake of brevity however, I will quickly just mention two things.

First, turning M from a smallish supporting role into a co-star was a smart move. Audiences were already familiar with M from her other outings in the Bond universe, and highlighting not just her, but her relationship with Bond is a great way to add depth to the story. Also, any excuse to give Dench more screen time is a good play. 

Second, I don't love Silva as a villain - but I do love villains that act as mirrors for the protagonist. A lot of films have established their villains this way, but too often they fail to make it compelling. I think what helps make it successful here is by centering the plot around M. Both characters have a relationship with M that defines them, but with radically different outcomes. This is also why Bond's disillusionment from the opener is so important - he could have easily followed down the same path of Silva, but his fundamental characterization (and his relationship with M), ensures that he doesn't. That setup is payed off with the two opposing forces competing for M - one that seeks to end her and the other that seeks to protect her. 

Now, this was a fair bit of praise for a film that does have some flaws. So I will close this section by acknowledging that the whole 'villain gets caught but it's actually part of his elaborate plan' sequence is a tired cliche. It doesn't necessarily hurt this film's better parts, but the notion that Silva had a master plan that included 'kind of' dropping a train onto Bond with pre-planted explosives requires a big stretch of the imagination. Also, there is no shortage of techno-babble nonsense that involves Silva being a master hacker outsmarting Q that is just ridiculous. 

5. Sound Design 

The sound design is solid for all of the action that takes place. And the use of the classic Bond score is, as always, highly effective.  

6. Editing 

 The film clocks in at a surprisingly long 143 minutes. I say surprisingly because the film feels incredibly well paced and far more succinct than that. The action scenes also feel very well edited with all of its freneticism seeming very coherent. It may be one of the longer Bond films, but it is well managed (aided certainly by the film's visual acumen). 

7. Visual Effects 

I think what helps Craig's Bond films feel much more grounded is their willingness (and budget) to get a good deal of shots done in camera. A great deal of praise should go to the VFX, production, and stunt teams for bringing a lot of these sequences to life. In particular, while the train dropping on Bond scene is ridiculous from a script standpoint, its execution is awesome because they literally crashed an actual train. 

8. Originality or Strength of Adaptation 

Skyfall isn't a direct adaptation of any of Fleming's novels or the continuation series. Rather, it draws from a variety of sources in an attempt to create something newer. I enjoy some of the more timely elements they included into the script such as themes of surveillance states,  advancing technology and the death of Cold War espionage. However, it would be hard to call this film 'original'. Ultimately, it is the filmmakers willingness to peel back some of the facade and bravado of old Bond films that make this adaption feel more modern and intellectually interesting. 

9. Stunt Coordination 

There is a ton of top notch stunt work being done on this film. For instance, it is a franchise staple to have a great car chase scene and we get that within the first 5 minutes of Skyfall. In fact, the opening sequence alone includes a car chase, followed by a motorcycle chase, and then concludes in a fist fight on top of an actual moving train. 

I also already mentioned the wonderful fight scene that occurs in the Shanghai tower, but failed to mention the short but sweet casino fight or the simple yet creative courtroom shootout. The courtroom scene is also predicated on a long foot chase between Bond and Silva which is parallel cut with the court hearings involving M and includes the train explosion stunt. 

And even after all that, we still get a lengthy final showdown which involves a well choreographed siege at Bond's childhood home which concludes with a massive explosion. All of these sequences are extremely well executed and they certainly made use of the film's budget. 

10. Direction 

There is a fun anecdote that Craig, after having worked with Mendes on a previous film, offered the director the helm of this film drunkingly at a Christmas party. After awaking the next morning, Craig called Barbara Broccoli (longtime producer for the Bond franchise) in a panic and confessed what he had done. However, after some initial hesitancy from Mendes and a series of meetings with the studio, the director did eventually accept the position. 

For his part, Mendes was able to right the ship after a disappointing showing for Craig's second Bond film Quantum of Solace. By focusing on a deeper level of Bond and interjecting some timely social elements, Mendes was able to create one of the more compelling Bond films ever made - to say nothing of the wonderful action scenes within the film. 

Legacy/Final Thoughts

Skyfall is in a fairly elite club of movies that have grossed over a billion dollars. It was also highly praised by critics who appreciated its more complex narrative and dazzling action sequences. As far as its legacy within the storied franchise, Skyfall is often mentioned amongst the top 5 Bond films ever produced and has become a hallmark by which all action spy films are judged in the modern era. (Though I still prefer Casino Royale myself)