I say! His majesty’s old guard is back and that too with a bang. The longest running franchise in the history of cinema just got a major trophy film. Skyfall lives up to all the anticipation, excitement and promise. If Casino Royale changed the dynamics of Bond, Skyfall’s cemented them. This has all the trappings of a fancy spy thriller. It avoids all those gadgetry histrionics that were making Bond films seem rather juvenile. The film adds an artistic ethos to the man, his legacy and his story. Equal parts gritty and equal parts entertaining, Skyfall is one of the best Bond films ever.
By now the world knows Daniel Craig is less an Octopussy kind of Bond and more a Jason Bourne kind of spy. And it’s his grit and clay cold disposition that gets amplified in Skyfall. Bond’s assigned to a mission in Turkey where he’s tracking a list of international spies and their cover identities. Just like the recent trend of Bond films, the movie opens with a spectacular chase sequence across Istanbul.
Essentially this high-octane chase is the simplest part of the film. There on, like a snow ball rolling on a jagged and rocky slope, the film picks up tiny pieces of matter all of which compound to give you a final product that’s remarkably dark, unpleasant but very detailed. Bond and M share a vibrant new dynamic. New characters are introduced in newer, edgier avatars. And just like that a character in the film says, “Old dog, new tricks.”
There is a fantastic scene between Bond and his nemesis Silva (Javier Bardem) where Bond is asked of his hobby and he replies, “resurrection”. In so many ways this film is a resurrection of the franchise. It’s evolved from being massy and light-hearted to being artistically gritty. And credit goes to director Sam Mendes for unleashing the artist within. He works magic with silhouettes. He creates a canvas with the contrast of neon lights and darkness. Bond is portrayed with more shades than his usual chauvinist and reckless self. There’s a new Q, there’s a new Moneypenny. There’s a lot of change in the setting, the Bond story. And this evolution is exciting.
The film then is driven by two stellar performances. The protagonist and the antagonist. Javier Bardem’s Silva looks like he’s a throwback to Christopher Walken’s Zorin from A View To A Kill. But as his character pans out you see him as dark, sinister and troublesome as Joker from The Dark Knight. (Minus the exaggerated make-up of course.) Bardem really puts his back into this role and it shows. Look out for the scene where he reveals a graphic truth to M.
Then there’s Daniel Craig, a far cry from the suave and seldom hurried Bond of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. He’s edgy, brutish and always looking for a good hard knuckle contest. It’s this old school approach that the writers use to create conflict between Bond and Silva. Silva uses technology and computer hacks to orchestrate his war on MI6 whereas Bond prefers simpler hand guns and guerrilla tactics for advantage. Their climactic showdown in an old Scottish estate could easily be in a Sergio Leone film.
That’s that then. Sam Mendes’ Skyfall is a homage to all that was good about the previous 22 Bond films. The Aston Martin from Thunderball makes a return, so do cocky one-liners like, “that was a waste of perfectly good Scotch”. And what do we say about the fantastic opening credits of the film. A word of caution though, right at the end you might feel the melodrama kicking in more than it should, but that over-the-top highlight should be okay. After all, as Mr Bond would put it, it’s better shaken than stirred.
Source: Written By Rachit Gupta, www.filmfare.com
