Overall Rating: A-
The trick to being a great agent, recites the legendary James Bond in this the 23rd original installment in his franchise, is being able to decide whether to take a shot or not. This is what separates him from the computers, and makes him irreplaceable by younger agents. Experience, which cannot be taught, is the true attribute that keeps the great ones above the rest long into their careers.
To defend this concept, look no further than SKYFALL. Not only does the aging 007 continue to dominate his adversaries, and even visibly Daniel Craig is fighting his own years and slowly proving himself among the great Bond actors, but old dogs were rocking their old tricks behind the camera as well. Then minds behind SKYFALL leave you wondering why you ever so much as questioned whether it would be a worthy installment in the Bond legacy.
From the top down, SKYFALL was the product of a number of seasoned veterans. Believe me, after all of that build up, the star studded brains still lives up to the anticipation. This list is headlines by the one and only Roger Deakins, director of photography. Deakins is a legend in the film community for his body of work behind the camera, and his talents were on full display in SKYFALL. He is the man behind much of the Cohen brothers’ films such as Barton Fink and best picture winner NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, and contemporary classics including THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, A BEAUTIFUL MIND, and DOUBT. Over his illustrious career, Deakins has garnered ten Academy Award nominations, with SKYFALL putting him into double digits this year. His touch is clearly visible. He has long championed forced perspective, and in this bond film this old trick works wonders. The aura of mystery that some of his unique angles creates seems to have been what the newest generation of Bond films has been missing. In an example of one of his signatures, Deakins implies perspective by panning with focus on a mysterious subject with other figures in between, leaving the feeling that we are having to peak through a crowd in order to achieve the view we desire, and even then it is never quite clear enough (think – the first time Mattie gets a glimpse of Rooster in TRUE GRIT). This signature technique lends its effects to many scenes where we first encounter potentially significant antagonists.
The next name on the list of Bond contributers was director Sam Mendes. Mendes does not have the volume of work on his resume that Deakins does, but in order to win respect from the film community more value is attributed to quality than quantity. Mendes’s six feature library is packed with quality. Three of his first five theatrical releases prior to SKYFALL were awards serious respect from the Academy, including his debut AMERICAN BEAUTY winning Mendes his lone best director statuette. At first glance, SKYFALL does not seem like it would be in this small ball beginner like Mendes, but after further examination, it is clear that this master of emotion, suspense, and visual wonder was made for Bond. Consider the nostalgic appreciation for Bond, with the ‘edge of your seat’ sense that not only the action but also the relationships provide. It becomes clear, which the producers must have considered in selecting Mendes to helm, that the man behind REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, JARHEAD, and ROAD TO PERDITION might be perfect to capture those three elements.
Lastly (well, not lastly but we simply do not have the time to discuss everyone involved in this project), comes the cast. Daniel Craig, in his third rendition as agent 007, is stunning. He, better than any Bond performer of the past, is able to channel the paradox of James Bond. This paradox is the tricky balance of the hard, rough, orphan who makes a living by removing himself from the public to make battle with the most ruthless enemies of civilization, and he is a figure of class and grandeur, who executes his every move with utter ease and suave, sporting the finest suits, drinking the finest scotch, and wooing the finest women. Bond, as Ian Fleming wrote him decades ago, is the ultimate man, and Craig seamlessly becomes this perfect, full circle, alpha. Compliment the aging but still sharp Craig with the aged, still appearing to be in ascension Dame Judi Dench. M in each of the new Bond film, Dench is hardly a newcomer. She won her lone Oscar fifteen years ago for SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE at age 64 and has only become more popular in the years since. Just this past year, Dench was a theatrical mainstay in a touchingly perfect type role as the lead in BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL, and also in her third turn in the Bond franchise. The third lead to appear in SKYFALL is the obligatory illustration of true evil, in this case protrayed by Javier Bardem. Like Craig and Dench, Bardem has been around the block as number of times himself, many of those strides with Deakins and the Cohen Brothers. As Silva in SKYFALL, Bardem is aloud to open his stride and channel his overacting nature to become the extreme, difficult to articulate, pinpoint characteristics of the villain. The three of these superstars along with the two timeless filmmakers above make up a crew of seasoned vets bringing to life a story that has been working in Hollywood longer than any of them even.
And who said that you cannot teach an old dog to operate on such a high level nowadays.
The plots of SKYFALL on the surface is obeying the template that Bond films have followed for fifty years, and is capable of attaining a human element that has not been seen by the franchise since its dawn. The most clever single moment in the dialogue comes fairly early in the picture, and works towards this point. Mallory, in criticism of M’s bias toward her long time partner 007, states that she is blinded by her sympathy, her nostalgia toward Bond, and is simply refusing to accept that his time may have come. This picture is a manifesto to its audience. It challenges us to admit that we may only truly love Bond for the history, the legacy of the franchise, while simultaneously delivering all the evidence necessary to prove that it is still near the top of its game. Such the gadgets have changed, and the evil plots seems very thinly crafted, but the gadgets are still eyepopping and the plot unmistakably evil. That is what makes Bond the ultimate espionage franchise. It is open to change in defense of something that stubbornly refuses to change, and is better for it.
Oh, last note. The opening credits sequence is one of a kind, and seems to capture both the nature of Bond as well as a growing trend in film to incorporate similar visuals. Any idea what the true theme of SKYFALL is at this point?
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