SKYFALL Review: 007 is BACK at his best!

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I really think there hasn’t been a more entertaining Bond film EVER.” Those were the first words I heard after watching Skyfall, and I couldn’t agree less. With three viewings under my belt, I’m convinced this is not just possibly the best Bond movie, but also one of the best action-adventures of the decade. Possibly of all time.

Sam Mendes directs the film, starting off with a bang; a nailbiting rooftop chase of a kind you have NEVER seen before. This movie is a great reminder that all the CGI movies we’ve been subjected to lately are no match for good-old superb stunts juxtaposed with unbelievable scenery…

The stellar ensemble cast of Skyfall

The stellar ensemble cast brings together the new Bond girl Bernice Marlohe, the oh-so-evil-but-surprisingly-lovable-and-gravely-wronged villain played by Javier Bardem, the quintessential ‘M’ (the only carry-on cast member from the Pierce Brosnan 007 era) played by Judi Dench, the annoying and devious beaurocrat always switching things up unnecessarily played by Ralph Fiennes, the entertaingly trigger happy gamekeeper played by Albert Finney and Daniel Craig as 007 once again.
 

Its a refreshingly simple story. Not focused too much on impossible gadgetry but more on building the story of 007 as the suave assassin we all love. Long-standing Bond fans will enjoy the way elements are brought in from early Bond films, especially the appearance of a well-known car synonymous with classic James Bond : The Aston Martin. Also making a return is the dangerous yet flirtatious relationship Bond has with fellow MI6 co-worker Miss Moneypenny (played by Naomie Harris). In the pivotal role as M, Judi Dench does more in Skyfall than ever before in a Bond movie, and endows the movie with a lifetime of experience, sincerity and authority. Bond also gets his scariest adversary ever: a man not bent on world domination, but a man with a vendetta against the very organisation the entire story is anchored on, MI6. (And he sure has good reason to.)

Javier Bardem as the villain Silva exuded a peculiar kind of menace: a cheery perviness and demented nature that reminded me of the brilliance of the late Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight Rises”. Yes, he was THAT good. Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a contender for a few awards based off of this performance.

Javier Bardem as the maniacal Raoul Silva

By the start of the movie, Bond is already missing. In comes the famous title sequence during which the Bond song is always played in its entirety, with an always exciting picture collage containing key elements to the movie. The haunting delivery of Skyfall by Adele transports you back to the classic era of Bond songs such as “Diamonds are Forever” and “Goldfinger”. Skyfall is without a doubt the BEST Bond song of the Daniel Craig era.

Needless to say, (with the miraculous relaxation and recuperation powers of Heineken too) Bond is soon back the helm of MI6 track down Silva, who — in classic Bond villain style — has endless funds, a limitless supply henchmen (as usual very beefy men with surprisingly poor marksmanship and apparently no hostile situation training), and a dangerously beautiful woman in tow.

 Subtly plugged in Heineken is guaranteed to 

leave you craving a crisp cold one too!

One of the best aspects of this movie is that the audience is finally revealed to more of Bond’s back story than ever before. Who he was before he had a license to kill. The one set back though, is because of this, there are more acting scenes than we’re used to in Bond films. This means less action packed scenes and the movie does seem to drag on a little long. However the quality of the cast with their unexpected humour makes up for it. The gravity of things revealed to us makes this film extremely genuine and not entirely about superficial action sequences: Bond’s traumatised childhood is explored, his relationship with ‘M’ and how she’s become the mother he never had, his pressures in the work place, his struggle as a defiantly virile Bond well past his early youth, and not the honed athlete he used to be.

But the biggest reason Skyfall excels is that it builds on our familiarity with much more relevance to world politics in the 21st century. Bond finally enters the age of cyber-terrorism. 007 has been regenerated in a way we can relate to. The central idea is to expose the heart of our intelligence agencies. In the age of WikiLeaks, ICC trials and public accountability it is the most real of concepts: do we want true transparency or are we okay with admitting transparency can be sacrificed for some things deeper than that?

Without giving too much away… All I can say is I don’t see how anyone can deny that this really may be the best Bond story ever. And with the cast, it really was a story very well told.

Make sure you catch the new James Bond movie, in cinemas NOW. Here is the trailer below.

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