Skyfall - what I liked and what I didn't (spoilers)

It's new yet it's old.

Clever, eh?

Erica Ambler wrote:

The combined age of the stars of Skyfall is about 400. If you check the credits, Skyfall even employed a zimmer frame consultant.

And yet it will obliterate both CR and QoS at the box office. It would appear as if the teens are showing up as well.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Disagree there, Commander. I can't see teenagers finding much that appeals in Skyfall. Whereas QoS should've come with a game controller.

But didn't teens make up considerable numbers attending Skyfall? Doubt those record-breaking numbers were from middle age men.

Mrs Aural Sects wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

Disagree there, Commander. I can't see teenagers finding much that appeals in Skyfall. Whereas QoS should've come with a game controller.

But didn't teens make up considerable numbers attending Skyfall? Doubt those record-breaking numbers were from middle age men.

Actually, the difference might be that for this one, both the kids and the old farts show up. ;)

Oppers is somewhere between a kid and an old fart. A bathtub fart perhaps.

I thought you'd put me in the old fart camp. With me failing the pencil test and all. ;)

QOS didn't pander to teens, it pandered to pretentious leftist filmmakers.

Well, the editor was a hyperactive teenager.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Oppers is somewhere between a kid and an old fart. A bathtub fart perhaps.

Guess that makes me a queefer....

Always good to have a soundtrack.

I supposed SF is aimed for adults but like the early Bond films lots of teens really dug it anyway. That sounds very reassuring.

Where to start.... I won't try to quantify whether it is the best ever. I thought it was a good film.

THE HITS
The film is really at its best with Silva on screen. Mendes and Bardem deliver on everything they promised with this villain: he's fascinating and repulsive. The big reveal about his deformity was, I thought, something Ian would be proud of, and it also makes the character somewhat sympathetic. I was expecting something, but I didn't know what it was going to be.

Having said all that, Silva needs a bit more screen time. I guess it's best to leave the audience wanting more rather than overstay your welcome, but the third-act dips just slightly when Silva is not on the screen.

Sam Mendes direction was fantastic. There were some truly tense and tragic moments; probably a first for a Bond film, where the outcome is usually guaranteed.

Berenice Marlohe was surprisingly good in this film. Would liked to have seen more from her. Considering this was her first English film, she seemed to own the role.

In fact, there were no bad performances at all.

Q was expertly played by Whishaw. I approve of this casting.

THE MISSES
I would say I have minor issues with the film. There were no major problems, but simply different choices I would have made:

Naomie Harris as Moneypenny did a capable job, but ultimately it seemed like a pointless set-up for establishing her character, and it seemed like they tried to include her in more scenes than she needed to be: was her presence in Macau really necessary? Were audiences even asking for a Moneypenny-backstory? And I will again complain about her casting; why? Based upon what they did with the character, a lot of actresses could have played that role that were a lot closer to the established look of the actress than Harris. It just feels like politically correct casting, almost as if they had to include a minority actress in order to atone for making Silva gay.

The presence of Barbara Broccoli is all over the way the female leads are portrayed. We have a 78-year old female M as THE LEAD BOND GIRL in this story. It's not enough to give Bond his orders; her presence in the story must be made to be critical to moving it forward, which apparently includes M putting explosives together and firing a gun. She must be made to be shown as bad-ass as Bond could be. Same for Moneypenny.

And yet, I can't say M's over-inclusion wasn't entertaining. I guess I expected it because it felt like this had been building up over the past few films. But I also think it's clear that we aren't likely to get a typical Bond Girl in Craig's next two films, and we're not likely to have a Bond Girl in 007's arms, on a boat, at the end of the film moaning "Oh James" as we fade to credits. Craig's Bond Girls must be more "realistic".

Action sequences in this film were nothing spectacular. Granted, you were actually able to follow the action this time, but simply not being QOS isn't good enough. I would suggest that the scenes were probably more realistic and integral to the plot than in films past, but part of Bond is also about the spectacle, which has been toned down for this film.

Locations....clearly everyone involved took a hit financially on QOS, because the location work on this movie is mostly relegated to locations in London. Istanbul got a nice cameo, but Scotland was underused.

The "personal" aspect of the storyline has been done to death now. I know it's sort of pointless to complain about a Bond movie being repetitive, but honestly, a good bit of this movie simply steals from GE and TWINE: you've got the former MI6 agent with the deforming (GE), you've got Bond getting passed through his physicals even though he failed them (Dr. Warmflash giving Bond a clean bill of health), you've got MI6 coming under attack just like in TWINE, and you've got M at the center of the attack. If a casual fan walked in off the street, and their knowledge of Bond extended no further than CASINO ROYALE, this might seem exciting and fresh. But any long term Bond fans knows all this and has seen it before.

Still, I found the movie entertaining. I laughed in all the right places. The audience really loved Silva. Maybe they can bring Silva back.

Also, I'm hoping for a directors cut on blu-ray. Felt like there may be some additional scenes that were cut; hopefully some more scenes of Silva, maybe some more backstory on Bond's ancestral home (that subplot felt...unfinished. I sensed that there was going to be some big secret about M's connection to the death of Bond's parents, but there wasn't....or I missed it).

Quote :

was her presence in Macau really necessary?

Exposition on Mallory's background (foreshadows his prowess in the gunfight at the enquiry) and some comic relief.

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

If a casual fan walked in off the street, and their knowledge of Bond extended no further than CASINO ROYALE, this might seem exciting and fresh. But any long term Bond fans knows all this and has seen it before.

Exactly. And I'm not sure that SKYFALL even does any of it any better than Eon has done it before.

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

I sensed that there was going to be some big secret about M's connection to the death of Bond's parents, but there wasn't....or I missed it).

Indeed.

Loomis wrote:

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

I sensed that there was going to be some big secret about M's connection to the death of Bond's parents, but there wasn't....or I missed it).

Indeed.

Thank God they never went down the road.

Largo's Shark wrote:

Loomis wrote:

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

I sensed that there was going to be some big secret about M's connection to the death of Bond's parents, but there wasn't....or I missed it).

Indeed.

Thank God they never went down the road.

Yeah, I was worried about that some months back. Then I saw the track title "Mother" and went, "Oh f***."

Loomis wrote:

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

If a casual fan walked in off the street, and their knowledge of Bond extended no further than CASINO ROYALE, this might seem exciting and fresh. But any long term Bond fans knows all this and has seen it before.

Exactly. And I'm not sure that SKYFALL even does any of it any better than Eon has done it before.

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

I sensed that there was going to be some big secret about M's connection to the death of Bond's parents, but there wasn't....or I missed it).

Indeed.

But in a sense this is really M's film, not Bond's. 007 isn't the target of Silva, nor is London as a whole. He only wants M. In much the same way that LTK and TLD suffered from having a villain with low ambition, so does SKYFALL. So Bond's backstory gets shoe-horned into the film, though I don't really get the grand significance of it. In this respect, SF is the lesser for having it be M's film. Bond is almost a spectator in his own film series, as he and the Bond Girls get sidelined in order to make the movie about M and Judi Dench.

I guess the nude girls and silhouettes of the titles are truly a thing of the past. I guess Babs wants little-to-no skin to be shown unless it's Craig's. The titles, while nice, show too much of Bond and not enough women (or any).

There were quite a few women in SKYFALL's title sequence. More than in CASINO ROYALE, anyway.

Largo's Shark wrote:

There were quite a few women in SKYFALL's title sequence. More than in CASINO ROYALE, anyway.

I counted two that weren't CGI, and they were wearing clothes. Need I say more?

Forgot to mention this in my initial review: Thomas Newman's score was excellent.

Also liked the sense of mystery and intrigue Mendes brought, particularly the build-up to the fight between Patrice and Bond; sort of like Hitchcock, almost. Also liked Severine a lot. Definitely brought the mystery and enigma as she said she would. The scenes in the Macau casino were very stylish and weird; loved the Komodo dragon bit; they looked almost real. Fleming would approve.

I liked the sense of danger throughout the entire film.

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

Forgot to mention this in my initial review: Thomas Newman's score was excellent.

You have it?

Largo's Shark wrote:

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

Forgot to mention this in my initial review: Thomas Newman's score was excellent.

You have it?

Have what? If by "it" you mean my review, I basically laid out my main review in this thread. Didn't think it was necessary, or wanted, to start up an entirely new thread with my review. Plus the computer is getting a bit dodgy, so I'm essentially bullet-pointing my thoughts in hopes that I won't lose my work or my thoughts if it crashes.. Looks like I'm going to need a new computer soon.

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

Largo's Shark wrote:

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

Forgot to mention this in my initial review: Thomas Newman's score was excellent.

You have it?

Have what? If by "it" you mean my review, I basically laid out my main review in this thread. Didn't think it was necessary, or wanted, to start up an entirely new thread with my review. Plus the computer is getting a bit dodgy, so I'm essentially bullet-pointing my thoughts in hopes that I won't lose my work or my thoughts if it crashes.. Looks like I'm going to need a new computer soon.

I meant the soundtrack.