Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Film review: Skyfall

SKYFALL - Official Trailer 23 Nov 2012
The Melbourne Leader
by Nik Stavrou
Daniel Craig as James Bond in a scene from Skyfall.
Daniel Craig as James Bond in a scene from Skyfall.
WITH some reviews from overseas labelling the latest James Bond outing as the greatest ever, my already high expectations for Skyfall were joyously elevated higher.
Daniel Craig had already thrilled me twice in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace and if he did it a third time it would prove beyond a doubt he was no fluke.
In Skyfall Craig is fantastic yet again, but the film overall is far from the mantle of “best ever”.
Is it bad? Absolutely not!
I wasn’t disappointed at all but I did not enjoy it as much as I have others – Craig’s own Casino Royal surpasses Skyfall in favouritism.
In this latest instalment, Bond has to retrieve a stolen hard drive that contains a list of names of NATO agents embedded in terrorist organisations across the world.
After he initially fails and is presumed dead, it is revealed that the theft is part of a bigger attack on MI6 boss M (Judi Dench) and Bond is forced to return and protect her.
We discover the villain is a former MI6 operative and cyberterrorist named Raoul Silvia (Jarvier Bardem) who feels betrayed by M.
Bond and Silvia share many similar qualities and the two try to outwit each other as they fight over the life of the woman who has played a significant role in their lives.

Amazing stunts and chases are prominent, the Bond girls (this time Naomie Harris and Bérénice Lim Marlohe) are stunning as always and the film is masterfully shot.
The return to the franchise of Q – the character who gives Bond his gadgets – is most welcome and superbly acted by Ben Whishaw.
The scenes between Bond and Q were some of my favourite.
Bardem’s scenes with both Craig and Dench were similarly great and you could tell the Spanish Oscar-winner had fun with this role.
A lot of the classic Bond humour is written into Skyfall which easily makes it the funniest of the Craig era.
It is a character-driven, plot heavy film which despite its strengths left me feeling like something was missing.
The conclusion though left me uber-excited for what comes next.

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