Skyfall

I have always had a sort of "ehhh" reaction to James Bond. I enjoy the movies for what they are, but to be completely honest, every Bond movie looks like the last Bond movie. I am not a Bond fanatic. I will never argue who the best Bond is, and when Bond is a category on Jeopardy, I never do well. They all run together and they leave no real impression on me. Also, I think I am different from most people who are Bond fans because I prefer this new more intense Bond. When Pierce Brosnon drove an invisible car as Bond, I thought it was time to put the character to bed, and they did, sort of. Bond got reimagined, taken back to the beginning with Daniel Craig as a more serious, more weathered looking Bond. That caught my attention. Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace were more Jason Bourne than James Bond and I preferred that. However, I cannot recall a single thing in Quantum of Solace in this moment. Skyfall has pedigree though. Sam Mendes in the director's chair is always going to grab my attention. Reviews called it the best Bond. Others said it married the ridiculous of early Bond with the grittiness of recent Bond. My best friend, who is not easy to please in action movies, raved. I was pumped.

Bond, James Bond (Craig) is in the middle of a case when the film opens. This case eventually takes him on a rooftop chase, but not on foot, no on motorcycles! The chase eventually ends up on a train and after some seriously intense fighting and great editing, Bond is shot and presumed dead. However, Bond is never dead. Enjoying vacation by banging a super hot chick and engaging in a drinking game involving a scorpion, it looks like Bond has found peace. However, like the Godfather, he keeps getting pulled back in! When he realizes someone may be targeting his boss, M (Dame Judi Dench), Bond goes back to work. After passing a series of tests, Bond is deemed ready to go back to work and he is quickly on the trail of Silva(Javier Bardem) who has a personal vendetta against M. Silva was once an agent of MI6, like Bond, but after a case went awry, he became vengeful. Silva does not believe in weapons though, he believes in technology. He can clear an island using just a computer. He can hack anything at any time. He is always one step ahead, as villains often are. In order for Bond to get the upper hand he has to face his personal demons and face who he really is.

Skyfall has everything you want a Bond film to have. Hot girls, awkward sex scenes, great fight scenes and a sexy car. it goes over the top, but is also gritty and reality based. Craig makes the perfect Bond. I know that is a controversial opinion, but his stoicism makes Bond fallible. He actually looks like he is in trouble when things looks bad. He does not take things in stride and know he is going to win like every other Bond. Craig's Bond is human. He suffers real pain, both physical and emotional. His Bond is quick witted and great with ladies, but he also wears his damage in his eyes and I think that is key for me with a character in so much danger. I want to see the stakes in his face. I want it to register that death is possible. Bond is human, and normally he is treated as a super hero. I think that is why I respond so well to the new Bond movies, it makes Bond relatable. Craig wears the suit very well, he is believable as a womanizer, and he is belivable as a kick ass spy, but his face is tired. He wears the weariness of a spy so incredibly well.

Javier Bardem is no slouch in the villain department. Our introduction to him is the stuff of legendary villains. He is theatrical, menacing, slimy and unbelievably damaged. The crackling homoerotic nature of Bond and Silva's first meeting is jarring in any setting but in a testosterone fest like Bond it is shockingly disconcerting. Bardem and Craig play that first scene like a gay chess match, neither character budging an inch, wondering who will flinch first. It really is the scene that sticks with you when the movie is over, in my opinion. Bond is so full of manly driven desires, to see Bardem flamboyantly unbutton Bond's shirt and make homoerotic quips while Bond deadpans "who says this is my first time?" is unsettliingly comical. Bardem has made a menacing villain before and won an Oscar for it, but here he is going to over the top and he succeeds at every turn. He never loses the comic touch you always want a Bond villain to have, but like Craig's Bond, he grounds his emotions in reality. His vengeance, while not noble, is almost understandable. He is not out for world domination. He just wants payback. Who cannot relate to payback, even if his is on a grand scale?

Skyfall includes some great action set pieces as well. The roof top motorcycle chase ( it is like the screenwriter watched Bourne and thought, this is cool, but motorcycles would make it awesome) sets the stage, and leads to a great top of train fist fight, but we also get an incredibly intense gun fight in a public place that looks as at home in a heist film like Heat as it does in a Bond film. It is very in your face. My only problem with the movie is in the climax. It is a great action set piece, set in a gorgeous castle with explosions, bullets, a car being demolished and a helicopter crash, but it plays a lot like Home Alone. Without very many weapons, Bond, M and another guy set traps, create weapons from household materials and rig doors, Ala Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone. Once the climax gets going, I was able to push that aside and just enjoy it, but as the set up was going on, I was giggling a little bit in thinking of Bond and Kevin McCallister teaming up.

With Mendes' steady confident hand, Roger Deakins' always solid cinematography (especially in the final 35 minutes), Thomas Newman's gorgeous score and solid performances, Skyfall is definitely the best Bond movie I have ever seen. It is memorable, action packed, has personal stakes, and finally puts Bond in a context I can grasp. Often times we see movies that fill in back story for characters we do not want (Darth Vader, Michael Myers for example), but giving Bond just a bit of back story helps raise the stakes of the film and make it all the better. It sets up the story of the Bond we have known for decades, while giving us a sliver of the humanity found deep inside.

Final Grade: A-

Oh, Adele's title song is gorgeous.