Seeing that this film is absolutely gorgeous, I'll just list down the 10 best things I found in this movie!
10. Theme - the theme of revenge, resurrection, betrayal and much more gets delved in this new movie which also acts as the obligatory film for the 50th anniversary for the James Bond franchise.
9. Exotic Locales - the James Bond movies have always mystified me for bring viewers to exotic locales and cool looking places. This is of course the same thing with Skyfall. We get to visit Macau, Hong Kong, Scotland and England for this outing with the final battle happening in Scotland. The locale that really stood out for me in Skyfall would have to be Hong Kong. This Hong Kong is very different from the one that we used to know. It's more of a neon light kind of Hong Kong which is pretty nice visually. It's the same Hong Kong that we get to see in "Sleeping Dogs".
8. Tone Shift - Unlike "Casino Royale" and "Quantum of Solace" where it's a more lighter, more secret agent-y in approach, Skyfall is super serious. It's got tons of great action scenes which brings into light a completely different James Bond. There's a lot of other great character moments which shifts the momentum from 007 to M to the movie's main baddie Silva played to perfection by Javier Bardem.
7. Judi Dench - Dame Judi Dench was pretty awesome in this new movie. I managed to sit through Quantum of Solace and in my opinion she was great here in Skyfall. She's a lot tougher, more dramatic and definitely proves why she's the head of MI6. I'm really supposed to write just plain ole Judi Dench but she totally earned my respect and thus she is really worth being called "Dame".
Currently I'm not in the liberty to discuss what happens because this is a spoiler free review but I can tell you guys that she's got a meatier role in this one as opposed to the other James Bond x Daniel Craig films. Trust me on that one.
6. Cinematography - there's a lot of great cinematography moments here in Skyfall. You'll feel the grit and dirt of Morocco (or was it Africa) where there's this grand chase between Bond and his target and involves a crane, motorcycles and trains together with guns, bullets and homages to classic train fights.
So far my favorite in Skyfall would have to be the scenes that were done in Hong Kong (see number 9). Again its colorful, classy and very unique. I'm not a full movie expert but I have to say that this was rather fresh and it's not even placed in the middle part of the film. Honestly you have to see the film to get what I'm talking about.
5. Adele's Skyfall - Adele together with the people who represent James Bond definitely clicked. The Grammy winning diva shows that she's got the lungs for this song. Plus I got to hand it to the guys who did the opening card for the film, it's pretty impressive. The other great thing about this is that all the little bits within the opening arc makes an appearance within the film such as that hunting knife, those Walther PPKs that sinks underwater. Even the red themes which make an appearance, taunting M and the rest of MI6.
I do miss the starting card with the iconic Bond-walking-then-fires-his-walther-ppk-at-the-audience bit. But I guess its just me.
4. Q - the new Q (Quartermaster) is actor Ben Whishaw who is a departure from the traditional Q that we've all grown up with (the elder gentleman with a lab gown and comes up with outlandish stuff that 007 uses in his field mission). The old weapon supplier role takes a back seat for a more net savvy and more computer wiz version. It's a nice farewell to the Q of old and a great howdy to this younger version. Also is it just me or is the new Q resembling a younger Cillian Murphy.
3. Daniel Craig - Mr. Craig's Bond is once again the man of few words version. He's the strong, silent type who can easily kill a man and still look stylish while doing so. His role here as a reluctant hero returning to civilization after being away for so long is nice. It's also a good break from the bloodthirsty Bond that we used to know from the two other films. Craig's also got this 'tortured soul' bit in the first act of the movie which is quite interesting to note.
Skyfall also marks an important shift for the reel life of James Bond (as pointed out by my friend Jori) as he transitions from being the gung-ho, often bloodied and very gruff Agent Bond. We are now seeing glimpses of Bond becoming the Bond that we know; the suave, stylish secret agent working for the Queen and the Empire. This is also a transitioning from the Bond who's dead serious to someone who knows how to charm even the most cunning of women; case in point Bérénice Marlohe's Severin.
2. Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva
Bardem's Silva was amusing, scary and creepy all at the same time. From the moment we see him in that island with his big entrance and taunting Bond we'll know that there's something more about this man. And as the story progresses we find out more about what he is, what's his motivation and what's his endgame.
I admit I wasn't really pleased with the decision of casting Bardem in the first place but I seriously take it back after seeing what he's done. The dude is totally psychotic and relentless and is filled with so many schemes.
There's one scene in Skyfall that made me draw comparisons between this James Bond flick to that of Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises" which is interesting because they're both agents for MI6 and at one point or another becomes M's favorite agent. Going back to that comparison, it's got something to do with breaking out. I implore you to catch the movie to get what I'm saying and you'll probably go "Ahhhhhh".
1. Continuity
Yes, my final entry as to why you should watch Skyfall has something to do with continuity. There are a couple of returning characters from the classic Sean Connery films. There's that fabulous old Aston Martin DB5 which has ejector seats and submachine guns.
There's also a scene in the picture where Bond and Severin talk about the mysterious leader of operations and we clearly see the bartender shake martini then pouring it into Bond's glass. It's a pretty clever allusion to that dialogue that Bond says years later about his martini being "shaken not stirred".
I won't spoil to much but I can say that there's going to be a change of guard in this new feature film.
Overall, Skyfall is an incredible film. It's riveting and very personal not just for 007 but also for the rest of his supporting cast.
Skyfall opens October 31 distributed locally by Columbia Pictures Philippines.
VERDICT: 10/10
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