007 Debriefings: Skyfall

The James Bond Franchise is not only one of the longest running film franchises in existence, it’s also one of most money making.

For over 60 years and 25 films, the films have followed James Bond engaging in spy craft (and other activities) in the name of England by defeating all sorts of villains up to different types of plots and schemes.

But what missions are worth taking if you aren’t a film psycho like me who is deciding to watch ALL 25 OF THEM?

Onward to the next film, We Will Stand Tall:

Mission #23: Skyfall

007: James Bond played by Daniel Craig – Skyfall takes the Bond that was created in Casino Royale and blends it into the Bond that has been in many other films.

Confident, sharp, humorous and charming at times: if the Bond you watched Craig play in the last two films were not to your liking because he wasn’t playing “Bond”, this feels like the writers made him more retrofitted into that part of the role.

Well, not entirely.

The film portrays Bond as beaten, broken and someone who has seen better days. Which is kind of surprising since…this is Craig’s third movie and he doesn’t look old.

Alas, the film has you believe he is by showing him wince in certain scenes and not be clean shaven through the first act.

The film does do a good job of keeping with the thematic question of “Does Bond still have it?” He’s often getting bested, beaten and in danger but he ends up winning by veteran savvy and grit.

It actually shows a nice evolution of the character…but it’s not deep in the slightest. It’s enough to show slightly more depth from the last two movies, but it isn’t close to revelatory as Casino Royale.

But I will say that Craig plays the character confidently and well in the usual trappings that are needed to make old school fans happy.

Villain: Raoul Silva played by Javier Bardem – Bombastic, charming but ruthless: Silva is a scene stealing, loud and calculated villain that is the best character in this film.

And this role could have gone so damn wrong: the character kind of reminded me of Max Zorin in A View To A Kill in some aspects.

Think about it: Zorin is loud, obnoxious, brilliant, deadly and is played by an incredible actor. He chews the scenery and steals the movie in every minute he’s in.

But two things prevent this from being a Zorin disaster: Bardem’s performance and the writing giving some great character work.

Bardem has the right amount of charm and cunning to make Silva feel believable as well as someone you want to keep watching.

And the character work is an interesting aspect. Silva himself is someone you don’t get to know very well, but he has one important element that makes him unique: he’s the retribution of M’s terrible leadership.

It’s really interesting how Skyfall uses Raoul to show just how bad M has been as the leader of MI6, which is something you may notice as far back as The World is Not Enough.

By utilizing M as a character and pointing out her mistakes in the past, it makes Silva that much more interesting…and sympathetic in a very weird way.

And Bardem plays him to perfection. One of the best villains in the series.

Bond Girl: N/A – Unless it’s M, there really isn’t a Bond Girl in this film, which is a first in the series.

Spy Action: Skyfall is essentially the return of the extravagantly expensive, bombastic action scenes.

And the scenes are not only well executed, they are beautiful to watch.

Some of the stunts are incredibly well done: jumping on trains, sliding off of escalators, hanging on elevator shafts are all great to watch and exciting.

But man, some of the scenes are absolutely gorgeous. Specifically two scenes: the casino and the fight in the glass office building. Just gorgeous with great color and set design.

And then the final action sequences in Scotland are well thought out and entertaining.

When it comes to action, it’s the best of the Craig Bonds.

Theme Song/Opening Credits: “Skyfall”, written by Adele and Paul Epworth, performed by Adele – To be honest, I was already an Adele fan before this movie, so of course I’m going to like the song.

It actually fits with the somber nature of the film and how it sings about the loyalty of those who will stand with the country that’s under attack.

The opening credits are also not bad, but not very memorable in all honesty.

Conclusion: Skyfall is the second best of the Craig-era Bonds.

With that said, Skyfall does some things incredibly well and one thing not so much.

Skyfall is essentially a throwback to the old Bond formula. It has a lot of elements and call backs from previous Bonds that are easily remembered if you just so happened to see every single one, one at a time for several months (but who would be that nutty to do that?).

It brings back the bombastic, visual spectacle of action sequences that many have come to expect from a Bond film and it marries that with Craig’s Bond to make it feel like it fits.

Finally, the villain is excellent in Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva. He has the right mix of scenery chewing and charisma to make his character a treat to watch.

The only issue in the film is that it doesn’t bring much more depth to Bond…at all.

No, literally, all you get is the question of “is he too banged up to do the job?”

That said, it’s a great time based on Bardem and the pure visual spectacle of the action sequences.

Status: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED