By Joshua Knopp/special assignments editor
Photo courtesy Columbia Pictures
Skyfall is, at once, a transitional film for the James Bond series, an in-depth examination of Bond himself, a celebration of 50 years of Bond and a fine action-thriller in its own right.
That said, it may still disappoint.
The film begins with Bond (Daniel Craig) seemingly killed in a friendly fire incident. After taking the opportunity to retire and resume his impressive alcohol habit, Bond returns to action when MI6 is attacked by a powerful cyberterrorist (Javier Bardem) who bears a grudge toward M (Judi Dench).
The film satisfies deeply. Craig and Dench are always good, and Bardem electrifies the screen with madness, sadism and homoeroticism. He creates a character at once sympathetic and very alien.
The chase scenes push the envelope further, becoming both more absurd and more real. Action is faster and intensified. The film draws on nostalgia while at the same time pushing the story forward.
The script and direction are incredibly organic. From the high-tech of Bardem’s character hacking into MI6 with a computer he isn’t even in the same room with to the low-tech of Bond holding ground with a break-action shotgun, it all fits together.
However, one has to wonder — are we ever going to get an emotionally stable performance out of Craig?
In Casino Royale, Bond dealt with his natural violence alcoholism. Then, in Quantum of Solace, Bond dealt with love lost, which manifested in a borderline-sociopathic killing streak and alcohol issues. Now, in Skyfall, Bond deals with traumatic injuries and betrayal, which manifest once more through brutal violence and alcohol abuse.
Craig has made the character sympathetic, but that’s primarily because he looks sad when he’s drunk. And he’s drunk a lot. Eventually, might Bond turn into that one guy who keeps talking about how he’s solved all his problems because he never actually does?
The movie hints at a more traditional, stable Bond movie in 2014 (John Logan is writing for it and another sequel for 2015), but so did Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. After seven years of watching the character grow, here’s hoping audiences get to see a Daniel Craig Bond that actually does come into his own.
