Skyfall (2012)

Directed By - Sam Mendes

Starring - Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris

The Craig-Era has always been about redefining Bond, about making him seem more human. It started with Casino Royale where the vulnerability of Bond was exposed, Quantum of Solace was never meant to be anything but a mere continuation. With Skyfall, Oscar Winning Director Sam Mendes takes the new-era, 'ressurected' Bond to another level. Some good and some sadly not too great.

Unlike other bond films, Skyfall has sensitivity. At the start of the film, we are met with the all too familiar Opening action sequence only this time it ends differently, Bond is on the wrong side of the gun. Presumed dead, Bond goes into retrospective about his career on an island. His 'peaceful' life comes to stop when a maniac Silva(Bardem) becomes hell bent on destroying MI6 in general and M (Dench) in particular. Bond returns and is met with a very different enemy. A Joker-type megalomaniac who was once a respected agent till M chose to trade for 6 other british agents. The subsequent torture turned him into a monster. How bond fights him forms the rest of the story.

Skyfall is permeated with nostalgia (its 50 years of 007 btw!). Right from fight sequences to the way with the ladies, Bond goes back to basics and surprisingly that is a high point of the film. A particular favourite is the climatic sequence where Bond sets up booby traps for Silva with the bare essentials( hunting rifles, small effect dynamites) in his ancestral home. The film has a huge Batman hangover in terms of characterisations. Whether its the backstory of Bond involving dead parents, or the way Bardem plays Silva which borders on mirroring Ledger's iconic performance. The film also has the feel of the directors earlier film 'Road to Perdition' in terms of the relationship between M and Bond. She is weak towards him, he looks up to her like the mother he never had. Whats great, is that Mendes tries to deal with Bond in his own style - by adding the human touch, the emotional angle. The film is beautifully shot and the action sequences are crisp and fresh.

Where Skyfall really fails is the pacing. Mendes lingers on unneccesarily making the roughly 130 minute film feel like an eternity. Also, what also does not help is the lack of thrills. Agreed, that every scene does not need to be a slick action one, but the urgency generally felt in Bond film is lost. While the film tries to be nostalgic in terms of the characters (MoneyPenny, Q) and the treatment (which is much like the old film) it forgets the thrill part of it- which basically sums up James Bond.

Mendes plays with your mind and produces characters who strictly fall in the grey region and have an internal  psychological fight which they cant seem to win. 

Apart from that it has all the usual Bond Trappings - Seductive Women, Cool Gadgets and the to-die for Aston Martin.

Whats also good is that the film is dealt with humour and warmth - notice the scene where Bond gets pissed about his wrecked Aston Martin or where Silva tries to seduce Bond, while he coolly plays along. 

All in All, Skyfall is a good film coming from the hands of a very respected director. But all throughout the film you feel something missing and once you come out, you realise its not the kind of Bond film you will download and keep.If this treatment continues (and i am sure it will get better) Bond could be evolved into something much more sophisticated and unexpected.Somethings i did not like, but ther is no doubt Skyfall is an absolute winner.

rating - 8.8/10