If you don't like James Bond, better look away now, since here comes a rave review. I saw Skyfall the other day, and it's possibly the best action thriller movie I've ever seen. If you were wondering whether all the adulatory reviews are over-done, the answer in my opinion is that they are not. Provided you suspend your disbelief (better still, lock it up in a cupboard), if you are a thriller fan, you can scarcely fail to enjoy this film.
I think that will be true even for those who are not Bond fans. Daniel Craig (surely one of Cheshire's greatest action heroes!) is, I now think, the best of all Bonds. I am a long-time admirer of Sean Connery, but I think there is a decent case for saying that Craig, in three films, has not only reinvented the character, but made even more out of him than Connery managed. He is helped by a clever and witty screenplay. When I went to see it the twists of the story-line brought gasps and murmurs of appreciation from the audience at several points.
There is a great central idea - the secret service, led by M (Judi Dench at her best in this role) has managed to lose vital information identifying embedded secret agents. And, of course, it's fallen into the hands of a bad guy. The story opens with Bond and a female sidekick in Turkey, trying to get the material back from a trained assassin. But it all goes wrong, and M's career looks doomed.
A series of fascinating scenes take us to Shanghai, Macau, central London and finally a remote part of Scotland, where we learn the significance to Bond of Skyfall. Thomas Newman's soundtrack is very good, and Adele's theme song worthy of the late great John Barry. Naomie Harris is appealing as Eve, and Javier Bardem suitably menacing as Silva. Albert Finney also makes the most of a nice role near the end of the film. As I say, you have to suspend your belief. But trust me, it's worth it.
11 comments:
As with many of Martin Edwards reviews, this is spot on. I'm a big fan of Bond and I agree with everything Edwards has to say. Mr Edwards has made my reading and other artistic endeavors very pleasurable
Very generous, John. Thank you.
I can only agree completely. I saw it at the weekend, and the cinema was packed (in Germany, for the English version, which says something about the popularity of Bond!) with people who were all laughing, gasping and completely glued to the screen. Fantastic fun, and a fantastic film in my opinion. (I went home and read a John Buchan novel, actually, because my interest in espionage had been rekindled!)
I really enjoyed being able to enjoy a film without reservations (with the appropriate suspension of disbelief) - it doesn't seem to happen too often these days. A clever re-jig of Bond history, witty dialogue, and honestly, if I were in a city where I could see it without dubbing (I was away for the weekend), I'd probably go again.
Loved the film, but because everyone and his grandmother wrote an adoring review by now, I decided not to write one on my blog. Also, I have been mulling over the idea of doing a set of 007 reviews for almost a year now, and I finally decided to do that in 2013. A SKYFALL review might be in the stars then.
I thought Skyfall was the best Bond movie I have watched in a long time.
It was the first Bond movie where I thought Craig was actually expected to act.
I still find the absence of charm to Craig keeps him from being a top Bond.
Hi Lauren, good to hear from you again, and I couldn't agree more. And going back to Buchan is a very good idea.
Patrick, I'll look forward to your 007 reviews. I'm tempted one of these days to do a Bond music post.
Hi Bill, I guess it's all very subjective about Craig versus Connery. I like Brosnan and even Roger Moore as actors in the part but I don't think they are quite up with the top two.
Would love to see it ... but suspect that it will arrive at the cinema in Spanish.
However, I might find it on when I come over to the North East ... and failing that there is DVD, eventually.
Happy New Year!
Martin, there's an entire book on the music of Bond. It's literally called THE MUSIC OF JAMES BOND. I've read only the first two chapters but what I have read is quite good. If you are like me an enthusiast for the music of the Bond films, I think you'd enjoy the book.
Craig had the advantage of playing the part at a time when the series was being toned down and being made more realistic (relatively speaking). Most of the Connery and Moore films were almost like comic books, with Bond's main job being to push buttons to make the gadgets work. It's a shame that, of all the movie Bonds, Connery had the fewest opportunities to do any serious acting in the role.
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