Skyfall

I don't care what anybody says: James Bond is dumb. I've seen most of these movies and I've read a couple books, and all I get is that they're all the same. Bond gets sent off to fight a racial/cultural stereotype, he seduces a girl with a terrible namen, banters with Q, uses a carrot as a machine gun or something, kills the bad guy, quips, martini line somewhere in there, end. Lather, rinse, repeat, be sure to cut out Ian Fleming's virulent sexism, and you've got a franchise. A franchise that as far as I'm concerned, only gave us Sean Connery. I prefer spy fiction where the spies don't go around telling people they're spies; stuff like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. But as much as I don't like Bond, I liked Skyfall. More or less. After getting shot and taking a break, James Bond (Daniel Craig) returns to MI6, only to find that he is returning to a broken home, so to speak. A mysterious baddy has blown up the headquarters, revealed the identities of several undercover agents, and is targeting M (Judi Dench) for death. After meeting the new Q (Ben Whishaw), a very rusty 007 is thrown back into the field. Even though he still has his moves, Bond's loyalty to M is tested by deranged ex-MI6 agent Silva (Javier Bardem), who knows a lot of secrets about her. Now Bond must stop Silva, and wonder if he should've stayed dead. Even though Skyfall is definitely the best James Bond in a while and is arguably the best Daniel Craig Bond film, it honestly has one of the worst scripts of the year. Silva perfectly plans for events he couldn't have possibly predicted, there are no good henchmen, and they took out the martini line. Also, Javier Bardem is completely underused; they give him terrible dialogue that just tries to be a mixture of Chigurgh from No Country for Old Men and the Joker and fails at both. The product placement is ridiculous too; many shots focus on Bond's Rolex, there are comments about the awesomeness of popular car brands, and there are random scenes of MI6 agents sitting round and knocking back a couple bottles of Heineken. There's also a completely pointless Albert Finney cameo, the dumb decision to make Q a hipster, and too many jabs at old Bond tropes like gadgets and villain gimmicks. It's almost like Skyfall is ashamed of its heritage, and while I prefer realistic action films, the few 007's I like are real "Bond" movies. But there are some clever moments, the women are beautiful and only kind of objectified, and the action is pretty great. The martial arts are actually well done (watch Goldfinger or Tomorrow Never Dies and you'll understand what I mean here), the car chases are really fun, and Bond actually comes off as professional instead of a tuxedoed tornado of destruction. Really, this means a lot coming from me, because like I said I'm not a Bond fan and I usually don't like Daniel Craig either. So yeah, I liked Skyfall. I'd probably see it again with a couple friends, but I wouldn't casually turn it on and I definitely wouldn't buy it on DVD. Personally I'm more into the silly Bond films like Man With the Golden Gun and Live and Let Die; I never thought these needed a gritty reboot. Thankfully Skyfall isn't too ridiculous or too much of a Bourne ripoff, and it never gets boring. There's plenty of explosions and quips and babes to keep classic fans pleased, and enough hyperbolic dialogue for modern culture snobs. I was hoping for a nod to older films or maybe an appearance by Roger More or something, but we can't have it all. There could've been more "Bond-ness" in Skyfall, but whatever, it's fun I guess.