Skyfall Review

Just got back from the theater where I saw the latest Bond film.

As you might know, I’m a serious Bond junkie. I’ll make this review spoiler-free and just talk about the style points on this installment.

First up, this is a big recommend. Now I’ll start by saying the Daniel Craig Casino Royal is my #1 favorite Bond film. Its gritty, dark, and Bond is not a suave “Gentleman Spy” as in the previous films, but the Brutal and Brutish assassin who depends more on his wile and strength vs. Charm and gadgets embraced by Hollywood. I think this Bond is more true to Flemming than anything else. I will also say the following film Quantum of Solace was the WORST Bond film ever made, even eclipsing The World is Not Enough in its horribleness.

Skyfall is not the best, but its damn good and worth your time.

So for style points. Again Bond is brutal and gritty, getting injured in his battles, getting dirty and disevaled, and showing that he is indeed a human. Tough, and smart, but still human. Love it.

Also the main theme is right up there with many of the classics:

Also Awesome.

Javier Bardem is one of the better Bond Villains. He’s larger-than-life, without being comical like some Bond villains managed to be.

I wasn’t a huge fan that a Bond film set in a modern setting would still have him dragging along the Walther PPK, sorry that was the covert/concealed carry gun of my Father’s generation. Today’s Bond would be carrying a double-stack gun, especially after all the firefights he gets his ass in. Also the hammer on the Walther was often back when it should be down, only gunnies will be annoyed by that, but I’m a gunnie, and that annoyed me!

Product placement was a bit over the top in this one. OK I can see the Jaguar, Audi, and Aston Martin cars, and the McCallen Scotch, but Volkswagon and Heineken Beer? Distracting!

Now there were a lot of cool looks at human issues like mortality, and Bond spend much of the first act drunk, disheveled, unshaven, and popping pills. Still you can portray 007 as an alcoholic and a pill junkie, but his iconic chain-smoking from the early films and books are too politically incorrect? Fuck you PC Police!

Yeah it was a good one! Go see it!

This entry was posted in Movies. Bookmark the permalink.

5 Responses to Skyfall Review

  1. UncleJesse says:

    I find the product placement in Bond films so obvious that it’s just another part of the entertainment, like “I wonder how much Ford spent to get that 5 second shot of him driving the Focus from the airport in Casino Royale.” Plus it’s been happening from the very beginning of the films, so it’s not like they’re selling out more.

  2. bluesun says:

    Looking forward to it. Woulda gone Friday, if it weren’t for this horrid cough that I’ve got.

    Oh, and it may just be that the 90’s bonds were my bonds, but I’ll take any Pierce Brosnan over any Roger Moore, up to and including The World is not Enough.

    • Weerd Beard says:

      Well to be fair Moore was just a 007 Farce. Still some of the films were rather well constructed despite a horrible lead. (I’m a huge fan of View to a Kill, and The Man With the Golden Gun, only because Christophers Walken and Lee are AMAZING, and the stories are kinda neat…but think Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men, or Rain Man. Great films that happen to have a bullshit actor at the helm)

      Brosnan was a good Bond, but it didn’t save the suck and fail of The World is Not Enough, nor did Craig’s great Bond save the suckage of Quantum of Solace.

  3. Cargosquid says:

    So, is he better than the early Sean Connery before the gadgets?

    • Weerd Beard says:

      That’s a hard one to debate. I mean I think Craig as Bond feels the most authentic and grabs me emotionally a LOT more (I mean he’s attempting to strangle a bad guy on top of a train with a bullet in his chest, covered in blood, sweat, and dirt!) But Connery pre-Goldfinger was doing a similar thing, only Hollywood in the 60s just didn’t have the stomach for such gritty violence, so I don’t fault him for that.

      So yeah, they’re the same Bond but in a different era. Same goes for Pierce Brosnan vs. the post-Goldfinger Connery. I see THOSE Bonds as the same Bond from a Different Era. Hell you could even argue that Timothy Dalton is also the gritty Bond, but in the 80s. And Rodger Moore is just abject crap, and Lazenby is just a failed attempt to replace Connery for cheap.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *