007 in Skyfall: A Solid Spy Thriller
"My name is Bond, James Bond". I just love it when the actor states it. the 1960's produced some of the most ever iconic franchises for movies or TV shows that simply transcend time and appeals to generations of all ages. Two of the most famous are 007, James Bond, spy master and Mission Impossible made famous by Tom Cruise. The Bond movies were always movies, but Mission Impossible was a late 1960's TV that ran for many years. Both franchises used specific music that one knew instantly what it was about: the Bond guitar soundtrack and the MI theme song.
Skyfall is the latest and best Bond 007 movie in many, many years. Like MI, it is fast moving, riveting from one scene to another and concise dialog. Skyfall begins like "jaws", the action scenes are incredible, filmed in Turkey. To clue you in, Bond (Craig), chases his nemesis in cars, on motorcycles on the rooftops of the Grand Bazaar (truly amazing, how did they pull this off?) and if that is not enough, how about the battle on top of the fast moving train? This is no ordinary scene. Bond uses a 10 ton crane that is being transported to try to kill him, when this fails, and the train cars start becoming disconnected, he uses the crane claw to keep them together until he can cross. I wondered how many takes did it take to get the scene timed right. Once 007 has crossed, there is a long hand to hand battle lying down. Why, you ask? As the train goes through a series of tunnels with not enough clearance to stand and fight, the enemies fight lying down.
All this is in the first 15 minutes or so. James Bond as portrayed by Sean Connery in the 60's was suave and flawless. Everything seemed to go his way. The new James Bond is not so lucky. In fact, he gets beat in this film and is taken out by one of his own agents during the fight. This shakes him psychologically and Craig even looks beat. Harry Potter fans will recognize the new M (Judy Dench, the old M, is killed in this movie) Ralph Fiennes, who played Voltmore. Bond even fails his qualification tests but M overlooks it.
The nemesis in this Bond movie is another ex-MI-6 agent seeking revenge on M. This guy is always one step ahead of Bond until the very end and this pisses Bond off. This enemy captures Bond and tries to make him ally as Bond is tied up. The sexual innuendo between them is hilarious as he tries to press Bond's button. Of course, no Bond movie is without stunning, hot women. In this one, there are two. In both cases, there is only talk of seduction. Yep, no bedroom scenes. The stunning woman that Bond may seduce actually is killed.
This Bond movie is about a down and beat middle aged agent who initially failed making a comeback and taking orders from a new Q, a 20-ish whiz kid. The film pays tribute to the old Bond movies: there is the famous silver 1965 Aston Martin with machine guns in the bumper and ejection seat (this was in the 1965 movie, Goldfinger). It was a nice tribute. The ending is pure classic bond also.
Bond, in this movie, has flaws, makes mistakes, but keeps coming and it all ends in the house he was raised in and where his parents were killed. This is the first time we learn that 007 was a orphan. This Bond is not so suave and smooth, he is emotional also-he cries when M (Judy Dench) dies in his arms.
Skyfall made $80 million in a single weekend. When I went, it was packed. I had to sit two rows from the screen. The age groups were across all generations, from 20 to 60, men and women. Go see it!
