Movie Review : Skyfall

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I went with very high expectations, but alas, Skyfall (IMAX version) isn’t all that. I have seen better Bond movies. Apparently everyone else and his uncle thought otherwise, because there was a huge line of people snaking it’s way across the AMC corridors just to get into the theatre. And that after buying the tickets! The ticket attendant on the way in informed us that it had been that way for all the Skyfall shows, when we gasped at the line.

Getting down to brass tacks though, this Bond film’s story is like any other – with a villain to nab and challenges galore. Someone has gotten hold of a file which lists all the undercover NATO agents embedded in terrorist cells worldwide, and plans to use it to out the agents and destroy MI6 and it’s steely-eyed boss M (Dame Judy Dench). Bond and Eve Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) are on the job in Istanbul – that’s how the movie opens, with motorcycle chases through narrow bazaars and on tiled rooftops. The chase is over before the opening credits start up, and there is little else to match it in the film.

The villain here is Silva (Javier Bardem) maniacal in a soft-spoken, wheedling, borderline-gay avatar. He has an axe to grind with M, and Bond must protect her, along with being the macho super-sleuth that he is. In Skyfall though, Bond is a little weaker, falling to his death, failing physical exams and very off par when it comes down to marksmanship. Apart from a “personal” gun (works only with his fingerprints) Bond has little else in the way of snazzy gadgets. There is also no Bond heroine. Minor roles (and flirtations) are awarded to Moneypenney and Severine (Berenice Marlohe) but M is the major female character in this film.

The second half of the film didn’t seem like a Bond film at all; too much talk and too little action. The focus is on M, her decisions – wise or not, her come-uppance, and the threat to her life. Skyfall sets the tone of future Bond films to come; it is like the changing of the guards. M is in hot water about her performance, and is requested to retire, Eve Moneypenny takes over as M’s secretary and a new, younger Q (Ben Whishaw) is introduced. Moneypenny who’s M’s secretary in the Ian Fleming novels starts off as a field agent in Skyfall. Later she is demoted to secretary (some demotion that!) – which I found a tad ridiculous.

A good first half and a decent second makes this a watchable film. It is not quite the explosive thriller I was expecting; in the next Bond venture, I hope Craig gets to flex more than just his vocal cords.