My history with the James Bond franchise is a weird one. I am a 90s child, so “my” Bond was Pierce Brosnan. To this day, GoldenEye (1995) is my favourite Bond film because that also happens to be the very first Bond movie I have ever seen. When I realised I love movies and started my journey to watch as many movies as possible, naturally, I went back and watched most of Sean Connery’s Bond films. And for some reason, I never finished that journey, meaning I had many unwatched Bond movies left until recently. Fast forward to mid-2023, I finally started my physical movie collection, so when the 50th anniversary BluRay box set of all the Bond films until Spectre (2015) was on sale, I grabbed it and started my proper Bond rewatch from the first movie.
I won’t be writing any reviews for any other ones (unless this one does super well, I guess… after all, Never Say Never Again, right?), but I thought I would include my brief history with this unique franchise that spawns six decades now and counting. Because today, I have finally watched the last Bond movie I had yet to watch, Skyfall. Yes, I didn’t watch it when it came out back in 2012 because even then, I knew I had to “fix” my Bond history and get all of them watched before that. The fact I have seen Spectre and No Time to Die (2021, my review here) despite not having seen Skyfall (nor Quantum of Solace (2008) for that matter, but the less said about that one, the better), I will contribute to social pressure as each time I went to see it with someone who wanted to watch that movie. 😉 Anyway, my feelings about Skyfall are as complex as they are about this entire franchise, and that is why I decided to write about this Bond film that has been escaping me since 2012.
The thing about coming “late to the party” regarding such a big franchise as this one is that you are about to hear many opinions about all the films from hardcore fans. You know how each of these movies is generally received, so even though I never looked up any reviews for Skyfall, I knew this movie is considered by many to be the peak of the 007 franchise. Where the old meets the new, some bold choices are made, and yes, I can’t disagree with any of it.
This film might be the most stunning James Bond film ever. However, having Roger Deakins behind the camera should be considered cheating. This guy is one of (if not THE) best there is, and if he decided to shoot a porn one day, it would probably still get a nomination for Best Cinematography. On a serious note, Deakins understands everything, mainly shadows and darkness. If you aren’t new around here, you know I “like” to complain about how dark movies have gotten and how hard it is to enjoy/follow some action sequences in many newer movies. Skyfall has one sequence like that, set in Shanghai, but how that entire scene was shot and lit, where we see silhouettes fighting, not only did it look gorgeous, but I could still tell who was Bond and who was the bad guy… That is what many movies fail to “copy”. You can have an action scene (or any scene) set in the dark, but you must think of the audience and let us see, play with the composition, and give us something we can latch onto.
One thing I can now appreciate about Bond films is how there isn’t any “pure” Bond film, maybe for the first one or two. For the most part, Bond movies simply mirror what was popular at that time of release. That is why we’ve had Bond everywhere, from exotic locations to space. But it goes beyond the locations and trends the filmmaking obviously changes too, and Skyfall can’t deny the Nolan effect. I didn’t even have to read any trivia on IMDb to know with absolute certainty that mainly The Dark Knight (2008) was a huge influence on this movie. Everything from the more realistic action, the villain, and the way, especially the Shanghai/London scenes were shot, were very reminiscing of The Dark Knight. There is nothing wrong about that; I will definitely not be holding that against Skyfall because it only adds to the enjoyment and brings James Bond to the 21st-century world of more grounded action, where it doesn’t have to be cut up like a certain Bond film before this one (again, looking at you, Quantum of Solace).
I also appreciated how this movie blends the old with the new. On top of the technical things I have mentioned already, we have a new Moneypenny (Naomie Harris is great in this role, especially in the later movies), and a new Q (Paddington himself, Ben Whishaw) whilst delving into Bond’s history. The film shows and acknowledges Bond’s Scottish roots; we have a few cheeky lines about gadgets, exploding pens and how that’s no longer a thing, and there might even be a classic Bond car full of gadgets making its re-appearance. But neither of these things felt out of place; everything that happens in this movie makes sense, and unlike some other Bond films that tried this very thing, Skyfall succeeded.
I can see some of you getting confused. I mentioned above that my thoughts about this film are complex, but I am showering Skyfall with compliments only. Well, here’s the thing. If I rate this movie with my brain alone, it’s a simple 5/5. But if I let my gut/heart into it, there was something that never let me be fully in the movie. That is what I meant by the complexity of this franchise, as I can often forgive many things as long as the “adventure” is great. And this adventure, this story was superb, along with the performances, the song, the credits… But I never felt like this movie ever let me in fully. I can’t put it into words what that “it” was, but I feel like every cinephile must know this feeling. You watch a movie that’s technically brilliant, and you enjoy yourself, but you are never 100% immersed in the film for some reason. That’s what happened to me with Skyfall.
If I were nitpicky, I could blame it on the convoluted nature of Javier Bardem‘s (Silva) plan. But even that didn’t bother me at that moment, same as his performance, although it was so obviously Joker from The Dark Knight, he might as well be wearing a name tag saying “Not Joker”. Maybe I have to rewatch it at least once more to fully appreciate it because there is a sliver of something that won’t let me rate this movie with 5/5. It doesn’t happen that often, but when it does, I will always go with my gut. So I will do that in this instance too, however, it bears repeating that Skyfall is an excellent addition to the Bond franchise. It will be fascinating to see when I do another rewatch of all the Bond films in some years and whether my view of this movie changes.
Overall, Skyfall is a near-excellent movie that I can’t fault from the technical side. From the beautiful cinematography to great sound design and awesome Bond song to all the performances, it is as good in adapting to the 2010s way of shooting and telling stories like this one while honouring the history of this unique franchise. It is only my gut feeling stopping me from giving it the “ultimate” rating; however, I will strongly recommend Skyfall to any Bond fan. I can actually see even people who aren’t into Bond loving this movie, as, in a way, the James Bond element doesn’t matter here as much.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
Until next time,
Luke