Express Review of Skyfall

[carl stromberg]

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/352 ... fall-12A-/

JAMES BOND is celebrating 50 years on the big screen, but the world’s ­favourite secret agent seems to be running out of puff.

More than any other Bond movie Skyfall makes a great play of Bond’s advancing years, as Daniel Craig’s occasionally rather gaunt looking 007 exudes a feeling of exhaustion and ­ennui with his job.

Hot encounters with glamorous ­ladies? Here it looks as though 007 hardly has the stamina, enjoying only one brief clinch in a shower with ­Berenice Marlohe’s lovely Severine.

Haunted by a colleague’s death, bruised by a gaffe in the field in which a chip containing the details of every undercover Nato operative slips into enemy hands and winded by ­evidence that to M (Judi Dench) he is a mere disposable asset, Bond is feeling ­uncertain of his place in the world.

It doesn’t help that espionage is “a young man’s game”, in the words of Ralph Fiennes’s Mallory, a sinewy Government intelligence boss.

Bond is a blunt instrument from the past whereas today’s spies are youthful techno-nerds fighting cyber-wars from a desk in MI6 HQ. What purpose then 007? This is the ­question at the heart of Skyfall and it allows for much more psychological probing of the character than usual, as well as a good degree of humour.

There’s some lovely sparring ­between Bond and the new Q, played superbly by Ben Wishaw as a proud egg-head who thinks Bond is yesterday’s man. “Age is no guarantee of experience,” he snaps at 007 who ­replies quick-as-a-flash, “Youth is no guarantee of innovation”.

James Bond and M, who takes the rap for “the greatest intelligence breach in modern British history”, are under pressure as never before in Skyfall, cranked up by a ­flamboyant villain from both of their pasts, Javier Bardem’s blond-mopped Raoul ­Silva. A cyber-genius, he can seemingly cause explosions and manipulate stock markets at the touch of a ­button. His main motivation, ­however, is to destroy M.

The emphasis on personal dramas and intrigues results in some terrific exchanges, enhanced by perhaps the strongest cast ever assembled for a Bond movie. Yet it detracts from the film’s purpose as an ­action-thriller, gradually sapping ­momentum and suspense from the storyline.

Skyfall is probably the talkiest Bond movie yet and there is the sense that to secure his top-notch cast Mendes felt obliged to indulge them with lengthy speeches.

It starts with a thrilling bang and a spectacular pre-title sequence in ­Istanbul (one of the top five openings for a Bond film) but gradually ­reduces to a small scale, low-key, seriously misjudged climax in an isolated Scottish house where little is at stake.

The desire for emotional intensity is undermined by some ill-judged quips and rather preposterous oldie action as Dench and Albert Finney’s ageing family gamekeeper let rip with grenades and firearms.

Skyfall is still a vast improvement on Quantum Of Solace, but it’s no ­Casino Royale.

[Capt. Sir Dominic Flandry]

[Mazer Rackham]

He does look the part of a old man so thats a fair cop.

Vast improvement of Quark is me mooning the Queen, the bar is not set that high. Not as good a s CR WTF? It's not the gold standard, it's mediocre action movie with a over hyped story. So if it is not better than CR it's a dog.

[The Sweeney]

He does look the part of a old man so thats a fair cop.

Vast improvement of Quark is me mooning the Queen, the bar is not set that high. Not as good a s CR WTF? It's not the gold standard, it's mediocre action movie with a over hyped story. So if it is not better than CR it's a dog.

That's why I don't think this review does the anti-Craig stance any favours, mainly because it holds Craig's first film in such high regard. Had this review slated the film, and said it was no TSWLM or GE, and slated all Craig Bond films, then it would probably hold more weight with its argument here.

As it stands, this does seem to me a reviewer trying to grab a headline by going against the tide.