Per Matt
I can’t seem to leave you, Bond. Even when I try. Inevitably, I return.
I’m guessing the most recent James Bond movie I’ve seen was the second Pierce Brosnan movie. Was that one Tomorrow Never Dies? Either way, I can’t remember much of it, so it’s been a while. I’ve completely missed out on the franchise reboot, including the Casino Royale remake and Quantum of Solace, so this is my first Daniel Craig-as-Bond experience.
I realize I’m playing from behind, but from an outsider’s perspective, why do all the agents call Dame Judi Dench “Mom?” Sounds unprofessional. And she must not like Bond’s bad-boy behavior, because her judgement call was to greenlight the accidental death of Bond. This sounds VERY personal.
Mom is being forced to “voluntarily” retire after losing a computer hard drive containing every NATO agent’s identity embedded within terrorist cells across the globe, but she won’t quit before completing the current job. A cyberattack renders MI6’s offices useless, leading to James Bond, returning to the land of the living. After passing a few physical and mental tests — or did he? — Bond returns to duty.
Bond is eventually taken to the bad guy, Raul Silva. Zoom to Javier Bardem’s grand entrance. He shines in the spotlight, oozing bad-guy vibes left and right. There’s plenty of great cat-and-mouse games played by Daniel Craig and Javier Bardem throughout the remainder of the movie.
The movie’s theme seems to be “Getting Back In The Game.” The movie is a little slow-going in the beginning, as Bond readjusts to working for the British government. Also noteworthy, Bond gets a backstory (somewhat) and it feels unnecessary. For all these years, I always assumed the name Bond was a codename, not an actual name. Guess I was wrong. After 50 years, we now get a brief glimpse of his life before government service? Why now? It feels useless.
I’ve always thought the James Bond concept needed a great director, but the Broccoli family always thought they knew better than anyone else. Adding Director Sam Mendes into a well-developed script and it’s not surprising Skyfall made almost $400 million. Well done. It took 25 movies to get there, but Skyfall was a massive success and great fun to watch.
Summing up the movie… Does it have beautiful women? Check. High-tech gadgets? Check. Endless double entendres? Check. After so many years, seems like I haven’t missed a thing.
Strength: Amazing
Weakness: Bond means action. Not backstory.
WTF Moment: Did Bond really just come out of the closet?
Notable Quotes:
– “Think on your sins.”
– “You’re bloody well not sleeping here.”
– “Were you expecting an exploding pen? We don’t really go in for that, anymore.”
– “I like you better without your baretta.”
– “Soon, your past will be as nonexistant as your future.”
– “Orphans make the best recruits.”
Review: 4/5