Sunday, November 11, 2012

Movie review - Skyfall


HEILIGE SCHEISSE PEOPLE  - GO WATCH THIS!!!

But that's not really suitable as review so here goes. Also, I'm aware this hasn't opened yet in Aus so I'll try not to spoil. 

Kicking off in Instanbul, British Agent James Bond (Daniel Craig) and fellow agent Eve (Naomie Harris) are on the trail of a mercenary, Patrice (Ola Rapace), who has stolen a hard drive with the names of all the undercover NATO agents embedded in terrorist organisations, and killed a few British agents while he's at it. While Bond and Patrice are fighting on top of a train, M (Judi Dench) makes the call that Eve should attempt to snipe Patric...but she misses, and Bond is instead shot and assumed dead. But as M's actions with regards to the loss of the drive are reviewed, her past calls as the section chief in Hong Kong comes back to haunt her in the form of the real villain, Silva (Javier Bardem). 

Plot-wise, Skyfall isn't as coherent as Casino Royale, and in fact the lost identity drive is largely forgotten later, but it's not as far-fetched or ridiculous as some other movies I could name (*cough Moonraker, Die Another Day cough cough*). But I did find it an edge of the seat thriller as you wonder how Bond, who really isn't at his best (he was shot), is going to catch a villain who knows all his tricks and seems to be one step ahead. In this film, we see the characters moving beyond what we know of them towards their (so far) unknown pasts that have had effects on their current actions, something hinted at in the last few Craig Bond films and fully seen here. 
And on that note, I felt that the interactions between Craig and Dench gave a sense of the relationship between Bond and M - the way they have challenged, antagonised, but ultimately respected each other's talents and the hard calls they've had to make in the course of their careers. By the same token, Bardem steals the scenes he's in, being both quite scary (and funny) in that his aim is not ideological but personal - shit gets crazy when stuff gets personal. In addition, the movie is shot absolutely beautifully. After the movie ended, Riccardito asked me if Shanghai really does look all sparkly (as far as I know, yes!), and all the London scenes made me want to go back to Runds!

Also, Daniel Craig is a beast of a man. A. Beast. Thank you, Tom Ford, for the wardrobe! But one thing I really didn't like - I don't know who Berenice Marlohe is and she's a total hottie...but I really hated her fingernails in this film. Distracting and ugly. 

But you know, I'm just going to say that there was almost no way that I'd not enjoy this movie so feel free to take this review with a grain of salt. But imo, it was a well acted, great looking, exciting action thriller that I thoroughly enjoyed and know that I would watch again. Or as Ele said when the movie was finished; despite it being quite a late session, she didn't fall asleep! 
9/10.
 (Image 1, Image 2, Image 3 sources)

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