Skyfall may have less action, but it is more of a psychological thriller with an ominous, demented villain, brilliantly portrayed by Javier Bardem. Once again, Daniel Craig does an excellent job as the cool, calm, and collected Mr. Bond. In addition, I am delighted to see Ralph Fiennes join the franchise!
The opening sequence with the fabulous soundtrack performed by Adele and dark visuals was well done. Some shots had a Tim Burton feel such as those with cold tombstones, thick fog sifting in the air, and foreboding trees with dead branches. The cinematography was marvelous as well. No shaky shots that may obstruct the flow of the action scenes. Also, the locations were interesting, especially the glass building with bright blue lights and the desolate hills of the film’s finale.
I love the references to previous James Bond films. There was applause from the audience once the Aston Martin makes an appearance! One moment near the end gave me a laugh. Once Silva ordered his men to blow up the Aston Martin, James Bond obviously thought that was uncalled for. No one hurts his dear Aston Martin…No one.
Skyfall’s only flaw is in Javier Bardem’s elaborate scheme, which results in various plot holes. I would think that Silva, being such a cunning rogue agent, could easily kill M. However, he creates cryptic codes, devises his own arrest and escape, and threatens to uncover the identities of numerous MI6 agents just to make a failed and disorganized attempt to shoot M in a full court.
Overall, I still greatly enjoyed this film and how it delved into the past of James Bond. I was satisfied by the fact that the film lasts nearly two and a half hours, taking its time to engross the audience and let the scenes linger on. There was never a slow moment despite the fact that this film had less action scenes than its two predecessors, which had extensive chase and fight sequences. Sam Mendes’ direction was superb, and I eagerly await the next two films with Daniel Craig. Afterwards, who should be cast as the next Mr. Bond?
James Bond will return…
