‘Skyfall’ is the latest entry in the venerable James Bond franchise and the third starring Daniel Craig, after 'Casino Royale' and 'Quantum of Solace.' The mother of all superspy series, like its titular hero, has just prevailed against a grave threat, not from any mastermind villain but MGM's financial troubles which cast its future in doubt. Some even wondered if Bond has lost its place to other franchises like Jason Bourne or Ethan Hunt. Well, considering Skyfall’s rave reviews and record-setting box office opening for a 007 movie, that theme song to 'The Spy Who Loved Me' sung by Carly Simon comes to mind.
'Skyfall' is different from the previous 22 installments in that we get to know this mysterious, tuxedo-wearing, martini (shaken not stirred) drinking womanizer a little more, and the nature of his relationship with his boss, the maternal 'M' (played by Judi Dench). The layers are peeled back, if only a little, to reveal who James Bond really is (hint: a tortured soul). Directed by Sam Mendes, best known for his Academy Award winning ‘American Beauty,’ ‘Skyfall’ represents an end but also a new beginning for Bond. John Cleese’s ‘Q’ is gone, replaced by a young geek who looks like one of the Jonas Brothers, and by the end of the movie, Judi Dench will yield her long-running role as 'M’ to Ralph Fiennes. In an interesting twist, 'Skyfall' also reinvented ‘Moneypenny,’ the secretary Sean Connery loved to flirt with during his stint as 007.
Fast cars, beautiful women, and Bond’s trademark unflappability in the face of danger are all present in 'Skyfall,' but Daniel Craig proved to be less gadget-dependent than any of his predecessors, a more human, flawed, and believable Bond. Consider this: he failed to save more non-villanous Bond Girls from an early demise (Eva Green in ‘Casino Royale,’ Gemma Arterton in ‘Quantum of Solace’ and Bérénice Marlohe in 'Skyfall') than any other 007 worthy of the name, be it Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan or even that Australian Lazenby fellow.
Javier Bardem shined in his role as the latest supervillain, Silva, a former MI6 agent who had an axe to grind with 'M' because she gave him up to the Chinese for the sake of political expediency. Like Sean Bean’s 006 in ‘GoldenEye,’ a villain with intimate knowledge of the workings of British Intelligence only made him that much more formidable a foe, and also evokes some sympathy from the audience because he too was a ‘victim.’
Grade: A
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