I said I would write a review of Skyfall, so I shall. Firstly, thanks to Elly Morris for taking me in for freesies. I did enjoy the movie, though there are things that bother me about it.
Good:
It ticks all the Bond boxes. I know that it was the 50th anniversary of Bond recently, and this film definitely tips its hat to Bond fans everywhere. There are references to previous Q gadgets like the exploding pen, Bond uses a Walther PPK with DNA responding grip like DAlton did in a previous film, there's the Bond car (Aston Martin DB5 - don't worry, I looked it up) which turns up for the last getaway, there's a massive Final Battle duel where Bond is left without a gun and must McGuyver his way to success etc etc.
It was directed by Sam Mendes. This is the same chap who did Road to Perdition, Revolutionary Road and American Beauty, so when I say this film is pretty, I mean, PRETTY. This is a director who knows about cinematography and lighting, in more ways than the typical Hollywood director. There's a gritty fight in a room full of glass walls and doors, with both Bond and enemy silhoutted against neon signage and a neon jellyfish animation that moves across the background. The scenery is beautiful; the fight brutal and quick.
Javier Bardem is brilliant. He makes such a good bad guy because he's not the typical I-hate-everything-and-am-grumpy-all-of-the-time antagonist. He's happy, he's light-hearted, but he burns inside and wants everyone else to burn as well.
Bad:
Failed the Bechdel test pretty bloody quickly. Also, casual overtones of racism and sexism, anyone? Like the audience is supposed to think, "oh, it's okay, because it's a Bond film". Let me be clear: racism and sexism = never okay. And yet...we have Skyfall.
Bond girls: does anybody remember the rather terrible Xmen: Wolverine? And how all the characters in that film essentially existed to tell Hugh Jackman how to get from point A to point B? Well, that's what the women are like in this film (save M, but probably only coz she's old), except with sex. The sex in this is so casual, it's weird. Like if you were walking to work and you met a friend you saw on the street, so you stop and have a quick chat to them and then you keep walking to your original destination.
That's what the sex is like!
"Hey, we're both in the same room, and you're a man, and I'm a woman, let's do this thing . . . okay I'm going back to plot now." I kid you not.
"Hey field agent who shot me, howsit? I'm not dead after all." "Hey that's nice, sorry bout the whole shooting you thing" *an hour of movie passes* "hey field agent, when did you get to China?" "Just now, specifically to shave you."
"Hey field agent, you know what's erotic? Shaving."
Whaaaaat? And then she's just gone (after a visit to a gambling den, those gambling Chinese).
And at the end of the film, Bond actually asks her what her name is! You've been on two, maybe three missions with this woman and you never knew her name? How much time did you spend together? How many times do you introduce yourself?
Actually, some of the characters did exist simply to get Bond from point A to point B. "We need you over there now. Here's a passport." "Where am I going?" "To kill that guy that we introduced to the plot specifically so you'd have a reason to go over to China." Even Judi Dench, who should in theory be the best actor in this film, does nothing but whinge at Bond. I demand a strong female character!
As much as I love Javier Bardem, I must point out that the whole twisted, tortured camp guy trope gets old quickly. It's like watching a Disney movie. Like he's Jafar, but blonde and with a hatred of sticky toffees.
Also, it did the Return of the King thing, where you think it's going to end, or you think that this will be the last shoot-up - BUT WAIT - there's more! I had to go to the bathroom quite close to what I thought was the end of the film, and I was thinking, I'll just get my flatmate to tell me how he died, but I came back and he was STILL alive.
Bonus points for spotting some of the more obvious continuity errors. There were some cheesy uses of the Bond theme, as though we needed an aural cue to realise that he was doing something badass and impossible for anyone that isn't Bond. Also, I spent half the movie wondering where I knew Q from, and after IMDB-ing him, I'm still not sure.
Gods, don't see this. Because what it does well, well, it doesn't do much well. Also, if you want to beat substance addiction, just go to China. Unless you have a gambling addiction, in which case, well.
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