Skyfall is the twenty-third instalment in the James Bond
movie series. It begins with the opening chase where Bond and his female
accomplice, Eve, are trying to retrieve a data card which has information of
NATO officials who are working undercover in various terrorist organisations
across the world. If the information falls in the wrong hands, it can lead to
deaths of multiple officers and a waste of months of work conducted by
espionage organisations. Eventually it does fall into the wrong hands, someone
who is also infiltrating MI6’s security and able to breach their online
systems. Bond must chase down this new foe, who is suspected to be someone from
within the organisation, before he leaks the information on the NATO officers
and before he destroys MI6 and all the people working for it.
The movie tears through the polished exterior of James Bond
to reveal the man behind the spy as he takes on his latest foe, Raoul Silva, a
former operative of MI6 who was burned by M and goes rogue on his own
organisation. The film goes ‘old school’ bringing back Bond’s old Aston Martin
from previous films as well as digging into the person that is Bond. The final
showdown takes place in his ancestral home in Scotland which is in the marshes
of the place known as Skyfall, where the title from the film is derived. The
film reveals Bond’s lack of sentiment for his life prior to being recruited by
MI6 when he was an orphan living in a castle on a large estate. The film also
delves into his affection for M as not only his boss but also the closest
person he has had as a parental figure.
The performance put in by Javier Bardem as the antagonist is
both good and bad. He plays the role of a psychotic villain well but lacks when
it comes to portraying the passion and anger of the character. On the other
hand, Daniel Craig as James Bond is always a debatable topic since his portrayal
of the quintessential English gentleman spy isn’t always convincing. The most
consistent is Judi Dench in her portrayal of M as the head of the organisation
who is at the mercy of the skills of her best trained operative for her
defence.
The main problem with Skyfall is: it is not a Bond film.
Sure, it does have the protagonist of James Bond and other elements which are
required to make a Bond film; the MI6 agency, M, the vodka martinis which are
shaken not stirred, the self introduction of “Bond, James Bond” and the subordinate
characters like Q. But it lacks some of the key components like the numerous
gadgets and the persistent presence of a Bond girl. There are women in the film
who are shown as Bond’s love interests, but their presence is a mere in-and-out
sequence, just like Bond’s romances with them. There is no continuous female
lead apart from M. The film also lacks for a good script. The script is simple
and transparent with Bond realising his enemy, chasing him down and having a
confrontation in the end. Apart from a literal stab in the back, there isn’t
much going for the script with a poor showdown at the end and just 2-3 action
sequences in total.
It is a different take on what is normally looked at as
being James Bond. Skyfall is about the man behind the suits with multiple
insinuations of James Bond becoming old and being past his prime. It also
celebrates the 50 years of James Bond in films with the return of his old car
and the visit to his ancestral home in Scotland. It also looks at how the
character has developed and the world around him has changed with mentions of
technology taking over from international espionage and the change of
characters which this film has witnessed and which future James Bond films will
witness.
Skyfall is not a typical James Bond film. More or less, it
is just another action flick. But the excitement of watching James Bond take
the screen once again is not easily lived down.
No comments:
Post a Comment