Saturday, November 17, 2012

Skyfall


Last week before leaving town I decided to kick my vacation off by seeing Skyfall. I have been looking forward to seeing this movie for some time and I thought it was better than the the prior Quantum of Solace installment. Skyfall begins as a computer drive containing a list of secret agent's identities is stolen and the names and identities of those spies are made public. We later learn that the person responsible is an ex MI6 operative who has a grudge against M.

Daniel Craig gives a good performance in this film. One thing that I have liked about his character is that he is not perfect. The prior Bonds never seemed to make mistakes and relied too heavily on gadgetry. I have enjoyed seeing Craig as an agent with a human side. This is only the second Bond movie where he cries. The first was On Her Majesty's Secret Service after his wife was killed. I particularly liked the scenes that showed his difficulty in coming back to the service after sustaining an injury in the opening sequence.


The majority of this movie takes place in the United Kingdom. There is not the usual amount of exotic locations and globe trotting, but there are also some scenes in Turkey and China. Javier Bardem plays a flamboyant and creepy villain in this movie. Ralph Fiennes and Albert Finney have minor roles, but are a nice addition to the cast. It was also interesting to see the introduction of a new Money Penny and Q. I think Judi Dench has done a great job as M over the years.

One complaint I had was how the movie took on a "Home Alone" turn at the end as they booby trap Bond's childhood home as they prepare to defend themselves against their pursuers. This may not have been the best plot or the best Bond film, but I was still glad to see it and enjoyed it more than several others (The World is Not Enough, Licensed to Kill, Diamonds are Forever, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, Never Say Never Again, etc.)


I was shocked when I read so many reviews of haters who didn't care for this movie. There have been 50 years of 007 films and some are definitely better than others, but I like what Sam Mendes did as the director of this installment and I give Skyfall 8.0 stars.

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