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Saturday, November 10, 2012
MOVIE REVIEW
Skyfall (IMAX)
Austerity Measures: Old Dogs, With Older Tricks
Daniel Craig as James Bond 007 in Sam Mendes' film "Skyfall".
François
Duhamel/Sony Pictures, MGM
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
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Saturday, November 10,
2012
Bursting with energy, hair-raising stunts and strong acting, "Skyfall", directed
by Sam Mendes, easily enters the upper echelon of Bond films as a top-five
entry. "Skyfall" is as good as, if not slightly better than, the
arresting, more detailed "Casino Royale" (save for a slightly awkward though
gripping finale), but "Skyfall" is also deeper and more involving, with higher
stakes and a stronger emotional undercurrent that connects us to principal
characters we've known for fifty years on the big screen.
You know his name and game. James Bond however, in this 23rd film, is
getting a tad bit old and rusty, and "Skyfall" milks every bit of this to
palpable, almost parodying effect. You may think of Lee Majors running a
treadmill as "The Six Million Dollar Man" during one sequence as Bond (Daniel
Craig) rehabilitates after taking a big step backwards. Vulnerability is
at the heart of this thrilling, relentless film, with M (Judi Dench), who has
made a judgment call that drastically affects Bond and by extension Britain's
super spy agency MI6, with its agents in a counter-terrorism operation exposed.
M, the aging queen of the agent mission division, is swirling in a sea of doubt,
loyalty issues and mistrust by fellow MI6 operatives, and faces questions about
her ability to lead the OO agent operatives. The M and OO7 relationship
forms the fine heart of "Skyfall" and it is treated with the tenderness and
brusque tough love that makes it so affectionate and winning. Ms. Dench is
exceptional here playing a heroic and introspective M, her best work in the
Bond film series.
The bulk of this terrific film is defined by the tensions between today's
super-efficient technology and older, traditional ways of snuffing out threats
by terrorists. It's the sleekness vs. "the shadows". Mr. Mendes
directs scenes that showcase these two tensions separately and sometimes
together. The intertwining of both is shown in the simultaneous cool and
warmth of the Shanghai sequence, an attractive blend. Bond, M and new
operative Eve (Naomie Harris) are firm believers in fighting crime the
old-fashioned way, while rogue MI6 agent Silva (Javier Bardem), a flamboyant and
charismatic villain with many choice lines of dialogue and a score to settle,
believes in conservatism by utilizing the latest technology. "All this
running and jumping and shooting, it's so exhausting. You need to relax,
Mr. Bond," says Silva during a penultimate part of "Skyfall", a film that
demands multiple viewings particularly on IMAX, a format that captures this
film's excellent stunt work, international locales and expansive open spaces so
powerfully, thanks to the ever-outstanding Roger Deakins, with his stellar
cinematography. There's also wonderful production design by Dennis Gassner,
especially the MI6 operational center.
"Skyfall" is about holding on to old reliable gadgets in the wake of not only an
ever-upgrading technological age but a more multicultural, diverse Britain --
even as MI6 stoutly and resolutely tries to hold fast to the Britain of Winston
Churchill. While the symbolism of Mr. Churchill and British Bulldog
nationalistic pride that "Skyfall" revels in so sweetly is noble and nostalgic
-- a perfect way to celebrate 50 years of Bond -- the casting of Ms. Harris, the
talented black British actress, who is excellent as Eve, a campy, calculating
Mr. Bardem as a possibly bisexual MI6 persona non grata, and Ben Whishaw ("Cloud
Atlas"), perfect as a younger, androgynous Q, signal the shift in the social and
cultural climate of London and England overall since the nadir in 2008 of Marc
Forster's punchless
"Quantum Of
Solace". The new Q, in
priceless banter, astutely recognizes the financial realities of a Europe mired
in economic turmoil. He engages in a few austerity measures of his own
when arming Bond: one gun and a tracking signal. "This isn't Christmas, is
it?," Bond replies wryly.
Fighting terrorism with old-fashioned methods is arguably a bigger David for the
remote-control dispatch of Goliath destruction than any of the prior Goliaths
Bond has faced with villains like Jaws, (the towering Richard Kiel). Where
the weaponry villains used was dangerous but cartoonish in hindsight in past
Bond films, the technology and its methods in "Skyfall" are depicted as
villainous and often limiting; a hard drive with crucial information is never
retrieved. The technology is dangerous not solely because it is in the
wrong hands in many cases in "Skyfall" but because it is relatable to recent
terrorist attacks. When London Regional Transport Tube trains run afoul in
the London Underground in one scene many may instantly think of the London tube
attacks of 2005. Real terror in the belly of London. MI6 still has a
few shadows, and Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) is shot in several interesting ways
which signal strong suspense and set up great intrigue for the next Bond episode.
Mr. Mendes and screenwriters Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan shrewdly
pinpoint the pulse of a new Britain, mining the hallmark of
British iconic thoroughfares like the Tube system and highlights their strengths
and weak points, sometimes with great humor. The filmmakers, who shake and
stir the great Bond films of the past like a martini and distill their finer
elements into "Skyfall", take full inventory of Ian Fleming's superspy
character. Mr. Craig has now grown stronger and more impressive in playing
a human, susceptible and ailing Bond who feels but has less time to make love to
any women, let alone Bond girls (Bérénice Marlohe) and more time to royally kick
ass. He even engages in some homoerotic banter that provokes laughs.
Thankfully Bond can still run and jump, and dispatches of foes even more quickly
and efficiently in the old-fashioned ways, keeping with Bond tradition and
austerity at the same time. Yet old-fashioned ways have their
disadvantages.
Still, in "Skyfall" death is cheated, embraced and fully realized (emphasized by
the opening credit animated sequence and song by Adele), and age is made
poignant. Dame Judi Dench, who in real life is growing progressively blind
through the condition macular degeneration, is seen in a portrait shot looking
out of a window early on, and one of her eyes is visible. It's an
emotional moment accompanied by a nice cinematic touch, a moment, whether made
intentionally or otherwise by Mr. Mendes, that resonated for me on a goose-bump
scale. I instantly thought of Ms. Dench's current plight. On another
emotional scale Ms. Harris and Mr. Craig almost melt the screen in a couple of
sensual moments. Look at their eyes as they talk to each other. The
screen drips with innuendo.
The drab of London, and later, Scotland, with its countryside expanse,
ironically provides an intimacy and familiarity that brings us to the heart of
Bond's roots in an often effective though overlong climax. Mr. Mendes
knows how to grant characters entrances in "Skyfall", and he gives Silva a
couple of very good ones. Directors of Bond films rarely get the credit
they truly deserve but Mr. Mendes merits a lot of it here for keeping action
tight, taut (though sometimes theatrical) and the nerve centre of crisis
strictly in London, where tradition is literally and figuratively under attack.
For the most part Mr. Mendes makes "Skyfall" riveting, efficient and blunt,
using old tricks and augmenting them into the newer realities of fighting fire
with fire. When the finale of this enthralling, action-packed film arrives, both
sides of MI6 fight with old and new ways of score-settling. It's hard to
get rid of those old dogs. They won't go down without one bloody hell of a
fight.
Also with: Rory Kinnear, Ola Rapace, Albert Finney, Helen McCrory, Bill
Buckhurst.
"Skyfall" is rated PG-13 by the Motion
Picture Association Of America for intense violent sequences throughout, some
sexuality, language and smoking. The film's running time is two hours and
23 minutes.
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