Monday, December 31, 2012

S K Y F A L L

SKYFALL is the 50th anniversary James Bond movie, and it's the best film they've made yet. It's filled with love of the character, his history, and all delivered in a well-paced tightly written juggernaut of an action/spy thriller.



The film is a MASTERPIECE, and here are a few of the reasons I think so...

1) Bond - By the end of this one, Daniel Craig IS the Ian Flemming character.
2) M - I love Judi Dench, and the Motherly relationship explored so well
3) M's death scene - emotional and anything but gimmicky ..very well delivered.
4) Javier Bardem's SILVA ..wow, best single Bond villain yet
5) Silva's intro scene - exceptional
6) Silva's "advances" on Bond - ballsy stuff, and watch Bond for his disappointment - extremely courageous performance matching the writing perfectly
7) CINEMATOGRAPHY - Roger Deakins is a genius - this is a BEAUTIFUL FILM
8) DIRECTION - Sam Mendes might be made for Bond ..very surprising
9) Moneypenny - yum yum.. she is one charismatic actress
10) Ralph Fiennes - Great addition, and a character well-played
11) Q - I like 'im - great chemistry with Bond
12) The Cuff - Bond fixes himself as he lands off the tractor on the train - Great Moment
13) The Casino - Beautiful, and evocative of Bond in the '70s
14) Silva's Island - too cool ..great Art Design, and a particularly nice evolution of the Bond Baddie Secret Lair - wish I could visit that crazy spot
15) The SUITS ..man, they are nice
16) Bond Assassination and FALL ...what a scene, and it led perfectly into...
17) The Titles - Gorgeous, and thematic ..very nice.
18) The Relationships - Enemy/friend - the character writing is really solid
19) The New MI6 - Stylish, and subterranean - cool
20) Silva's girlfriend - Lovely, but mysterious ..again, evoked memories of the '70s
21) Her Death - Surprising, and his line "Your lovers are here" was oddly chilling
22) The rescue by MI6 - Bond doesn't usually get "the Cavalry" but it worked
23) Silva's "monster face" and origin ..dramatic, but not ridiculous(Robert Carlyle anyone?)
24) The LIGHT FIGHT - simply one of the best staged/photographed fight scenes in Cinema History
25) Bond AGES, and we see it's effects - very human, but still the spy we love
26) M makes mistakes, and is going to be "fired"
27) Mallory's arc from "jerkoff" to "M"
28) Great Script overall
29) Bond's visit to M's house ..fun
30) The ASTON MARTIN DB7 - Glorious, and a very nice touch that Connery's car is Craig's Bond's one passion he reveals.
31) SKYFALL is a great title, and almost makes up for "Quantum of Solace"
32) Skyfall the place - Stark and beautiful - Interesting thing to finally give us some real humanity with JB
33) Good origin tale, and hey ..we knew he and Batman had similar pasts - how could they not?
34) Kincade - I love Albert Finney, and do wonder if Connery would have been asked to play this role ..regardless, he was fantastic, and it was a treat to watch he and Judi Dench flirt it up
35) Watching the three of them turn JB's family home into a "Home Alone" movie was pretty fun
36) The attack on Skyfall, and his car - rough to watch
37) The Final fight with Silva - personal, and well done
38) Almost forgot how much I liked the Adele song too
39) It was long - I love a GOOD long movie
40) The "exploding pen" comment from Q
41) The Women - far less focus on "Bond Girls" and more on making the females relevant
42) Kincade doesn't die
43) Bond on the roof/top of MI6 - nice metaphor
44) The central plot is Silva's revenge on M - Bond is simply in the way - I like that
45) THE BAD GUY WINS - Never happened before - he has one goal, and he does achieve it
46) The Moneypenny reveal
47) The Bulldog gift from M ..nice
48) A BILLION - It made over one billion dollars, and that means someone just might say "Whatever you just did - do it again". Good.
49) "James Bond will Return" - nice 50th anniv. homage to those old ones that had the next film title in a promise at the end
50) THE EJECTOR SEAT GAG!!! - I sooo love that moment "Oh go ahead, Bond - eject me - see if I care.."
What a brilliant moment, not unlike the third "Indy" movie where the first film is reduced to one sound bite joke I thought this was so Mother/Son and just so damn charming. I'll miss her in the series, but boy - what a note to go out on.

Funny, I've seen it twice but having just finished this I think I'll see it again.
How often does a franchise produce it's best work at age 50? Gives me a little faith...

The irony of Bond's "no parents" for this kid is that I've lost mine too
 ..but man I wish I could have taken them to see it.

A.

3 comments:

Ceilidh said...

Its the first Bond movie I've ever seen, and I was definitely impressed. Captured my attention the entire time!

Paul said...

Great summary A! I think I agree with about 98% of everything you wrote.

Arthur Canning said...

Cool - thanks, you guys..
I wish I could see it again today.
A.