Movie Review: "Skyfall"

"Skyfall": B+.  The James Bond franchise has had its hits and misses over the past fifty years. Most moviegoers of my vintage can probably name the first four Bond movies, Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger (in my estimation the gold standard for this genre) and Thunderball. All starred Sean Connery and all were well received. The latest Bond offerings have met with mixed reviews. What do we expect out of a Bond film? After much deliberation, I have come up with four characteristics. First, there has to be an unforgettable villain. If the villain has one or two memorable henchmen, that is even better. Second, 007 has to utter clever and witty words which we, the viewers, know we ourselves are incapable of creating on the spur of the moment. Third, most of those witticisms should be directed at a woman who has the exotic looks of a supermodel, unapproachable by mere mortal males. And fourth, we don't expect over-the-top special effects, but we are on the lookout for nifty gadgets which are so futuristic that even Navy Seal Team 6 does not have them at their disposal.

On all four counts Skyfall does well, although I am not in love with it to the point of putting it on a pedestal with 1964's Goldfinger. I will, however, rank it up there with 1963's From Russia With Love, which many film critics liked the best. As I thought about Skyfall over the last several days following my attendance, my admiration of it has grown. Sean Connery will always be Agent 007 in my heart and mind, but I have no complaint with Daniel Craig. What Craig may lack in the "suave and debonaire department" compared to Connery he makes up for with his athleticism and physique. He is a physical specimen, so natually director Sam Mendes manages to find a scene or two where Bond is shirtless. The main villain is Silva, played by an actor, Javier Bardem, who seems to do his best work as a bad guy with bad hair. (Check out Bardem's pageboy 'do in No Country For Old Men.) One look at Silva's blonde hair in Skyfall is enough to convince the viewer that Silva is a whack job. French actress Berenice Marlohe plays the requisite hot babe, Severine. That may not be as catchy a name as Pussy Galore (from Goldfinger), but it will suffice. Severine first appears as cold as they come, hardly being distracted by the assassination of a guy who's sitting directly across the desk from her in an office. Later, she is more vulnerable while in the company of Bond.

What I like best about Skyfall are the surprises that come along every so often. For example, the opening sequence involves a madcap motorbike chase over the rooftops and through the city streets of Istanbul. Bond is pursuing a hit man named Patrice (Swedish actor Ola Rapace) who has stolen a hard drive which contains the names of the secret agents used by NATO across the globe. It is imperative that 007 regain control of the drive before the covers of all those operatives is blown. Bond and his prey both end up duking it out on top of a box car attached to a train careening through the mountains at high speed. As soon as they start fighting, we know what's going to happen, because we've witnessed this fight scenario many times before in films. As the train approaches a tunnel, the bad guy (in this case, Patrice) is going to put his head up at precisely the wrong moment, smacking his cranium on the arch above the tunnel, whereupon he will meet his maker and the good guy will utter some clever line to bid him farewell. Only that's not what happens! Surprise!

Another surprise, which is revealed too late in the movie for me to elaborate here, involves Bond's boss, M, the veteran espionage agency director. Judi Dench, who like John Goodman makes every movie in which she appears better, is outstanding as M. Because the buck stops with her, M is responsible for the theft of the coveted hard drive containing the secret information. Some exposed agents have already been killed, and the blood is figuratively on her hands. Her superior, Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), advises her to quit before she suffers the shame of being fired. The defiant M refuses, stating that she must finish making things right before she is done. Will she be able to go out on her own terms? M is the most multi-dimensional character in the story, and in a surprising twist, we learn of an unfortunate history between her and Silva.

After the first act we think we know why the movie's title is Skyfall. Another reason comes into play in the final act. Regardless of how many reasons there may be, I do love the song Skyfall by Adele. There have been many songs over the fifty year span of Bond films which have become hits. For my taste, Shirley Bassey's title tune Goldfinger from 1964 and Carly Simon's Nobody Does It Better (from 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me) are the two best. As a big Adelefan I am not impartial, but I'm saying here that her Skyfall makes it a trifecta.