Skyfall AJB reviews - SPOILERS! (Page 1 of 22)

Ok, looks like I'm first up.  SPOILER FREE.

I'm not going to be long winded, or go into the highs and the...well, highs, of the film, and disect everything.  Why?  Because it doesn't bloody matter.

6/5 - Exceptional.

Skyfall is where we start.

Yes it's Bond.  Classic Bond.  But not as we know it.  And yet very much as we do know it.

Out with the old, in with the new.  Or is that out with the new and in with the old?

This not making any sense?  You'll see. 

Last edited by Moonraker 5 (25th Oct 2012 22:26)

There is a spoiler free thread going...with a few reviews in it already...although I think you are right to hold the spoliers back for another day 

i'll give a full review when its out tonight, but i gotta agree about the soundtrack, except for one thing; it aint stuck in my head, in fact i hardly remember it. imo, there were way too many points where i was expecting the traditional bond tune to play (fiddling the cuffs on the train being one) and it just didnt happen.

arnold did a much better job imo. apart from that, the best bond film i've seen in years.

Just back from seeing Skyfall. I'm posting this here just in case I accidentally say
the wrong thing.
It's awesome. Best Bond film for years. Possibly the best villain ever. Wish it had
been about an hour longer! The opening sequence is breathtaking and the ending is
brilliant. I will certainly be going again ( and again ! ). A real treat. I think we can
forgive the Bond producers for QOS, they were just limbering up for Skyfall !

Right, now it's out, I'll give a bit more in depth review on skyfall.

This'll contain some spoilers, but no major ones as I personally believe it still spoils the surprise element.

Anyway, on with the show.

This is all from memory by the way, so bear with me, cos my memory is.... what's the word?..... erm.*

The show opens with a hazy view down a corridor, a figure walks into focus, eyes illuminated by a letterbox of light. PPK raises into shot, our man is back.

A racey PTS sets up the show and points out to us that pretty much everything is on the line, bond's reputation, Eve's marksman skills and a rather battered train. All doesn't go to plan. Agent down.

The film follows Bond's resurrection, M's past, Eve's present, and Mallory's future. Patrice is a formidable foe, Q is the perfect allie to Bond and Silva, well crap....

Silva is something we ain't ever seen before. Think 006 held a grudge? Thought Elliot Carver was a nutcase? Think Drax was cold? Silva is every villain you thought possible. He's perfect as a bad guy, but also brings other elements to the table. I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him, but also hated the way he treated people. A very very well played character.

So as you can assume, Silva's on a mission, he's out to hurt people and there's background and history to back up his actions. He's sadistic, but for an understandable reason.

We see Bond's roots and meet an old friend from his past. Plenty of fun ensues, culminating in one hell of a fireball.

Enough of the plot though.

Action - plenty of it. Gun fights, knives, fists and a rather cool old skool twist during a fight that I found great and fitted the classic ideal perfectly. Stromberg's fish? Pah!

Gadgets - yes, but not too many that Bond has to rely on them. It's good to see the toys back though.

Girls - phwoah!! Severine is gorgeous, I honestly thought her looks would well outweigh the talent, but nope, talented in all areas. A nicely played part, I just wish it had been a bit more involving for her.

Soundtrack - somewhat lacking for me if I'm honest. Whereas some of David Arnold's earlier offers had bond themes crammed in, but it's one extreme to another, SF's music has hardly any in there and there was more than one occasion where I was desperate to hear a twangy guitar or brass fanfare, but nope. Bit of a bummer. Won't stop me buying it when I've figured out which one to get.

Theme - brilliant. I wanna give adele a great big hug for producing a quality classy sound with a song that lyrically fits the bill excellently.

Gunbarrel - urgh. The sodding gunbarrel. It's where it is for a reason, it worked for me and there's no daft CGI bullet.

Summary then, skyfall brings us Craig at his best. A classic bond film that explores and explains Bond's past, shows us that the bond universe has characters that aren't untouchable or invulnerable and shows us quite firmly the way things are now travelling. In a single phrase I'd say it'd be 'a brave new world'. It's almost as if CR was close to the bull, QoS was a bit of a flyer that went astray and SF is the shot that's right down the line, bang on target.

I just can't wait for this to come out on DVD.

Words of advice;

Have a good pee before going into the cinema, get a db5 model if you haven't already, and buy a sodding bulldog before they sell out.

* crap, that's the word!

Brilliant! Just brilliant. No doubt about it - best Bond ever! 

Just returned from the cinema. Wow! It has sated my appetite! Everything was on point. The opening sequence with the opening two bars of the Bond theme as we see just DCs eyes - brilliant. The chase in the Grand Bazaar -fantastic. Adele's theme with the Maurice Binder-style titles - magnificent. Javier Bardem's entrance on the hour lifts the film even further, but for me, Albert Finney's performance was wonderful. Berenice Marlohe was stunning - her playing nervous was excellent. I have to agree that the final 5 minutes have now got me even more excited! I suppose Ralph Fiennes needs a new franchise now Harry Potter has ended! My only complaint is that the incidental music sounded a bit like that from a TV movie at times. But this is the only complaint I can make. 007 out of 007!

Seeing as I'm still a relative newbee to the forums I'm not going to be the first person to throw all the spoilers out there. I'll let some more established members do that first.

I have to say Moonraker 5 has summed it up perfectly. Sometimes it felt like I was watching an old Bond film. In fact it was very much a Connery/Moore/Brosnan era hybrid. However none of the film felt rehashed or outdated. It's a 21st century Bond for the fans of the older Bond films, something many of us have been crying out for for a very long time.

Daniel Craig is in really fine form and anyone looking for more humour in his performace will breathe a huge sigh of relief. However it is never over the top and unneccesary. His action sequences are still top notch and he really seems to have grown into the role. Personally I'm delighted he's signed on for another 2 films after seeing this performance.

The casting of Bardem as Silva was an absolute masterstroke. He comes across as a mixture of Alec Trevelyan, Scaramanga and Max Zorin with so many quirks and traits thrown in. He is by far the most complex villain Bond has faced yet!

I don't think there was one bad performance from anyone in the whole film. This was by far and away Judi Dench's finest performance as M, Kincade was instantly likeable and very funny, Mallory was played brilliantly by Fiennes and Naomi Harris was top notch as Eve. Despite my initial reservations about Ben Wishaw playing Q, I felt he was the perfect fit as a 'behind the scenes' sidekick for Bond.

I've never felt so many conflicting emotions at the end of a Bond film. I was nearly in tears at one point and then was nearly screaming like an excited fanboy the next minute. You'll see why 

All in all an excellent Bond film, definately in my top 5! Thank you Sam Mendes for a Bond film all fans can be proud of!

Just been to see it, so thought I would use it as an opportunity to come back on here to discuss.

I really enjoyed it. 

I would like to go back and see it again to refine my judgment maybe, as Bond premieres at the cinema always tend to impress me.  But, on first impressions, it was a great Bond film.  It had a very different feel to all other Bond films.  Firstly, it is rare for a Bond to be mostly set in the UK.  But, in this year of the London Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee, it was fitting.  There was no world domination/larceny plot with exploding oil rig/hotel finale.  A desolate house in the Scottish Highlands was it.  This film has a degree of characterisation that we haven't seen in any other Bond film and the film is really all about M. 

I went to see it with a friend and he didn't like it much.  He does like Bond, but he prefers the grittier Dalton Bonds.  He said the first two Daniel Craig films were grittier to him and this was one cheesy.  He made some points that I partly agree with.  Javier Bardem's character is not that believable.  There is no way this camp, effete man was once a British agent.  To have Naomie Harris as a field agent who decided to become a secretary as Moneypenny is pushing it.  I did like the homage to the old office at the end though, and it was great to see London in its rainy glory throughout the film.  I am no prude, but I liked the lack of sex in the film and the implied sexual scenes worked much better.  We all know what Bond is like with women, so we don't need to waste time seeing him in action, as it were.

I didn't see the ending coming at all I have to say.  I'd give it 8 out of 10 for now, but I might review that on second viewing. 

All in all, a thoroughly entertaining Friday evening.

Does anyone know why the gunbarrel is now at the end of the films?  Is there any reason for this?  Call me a traditionalist, but I like to hear the majestic Bond theme in all its glory at the start of the film.

I’m not very good a proper reviews.  Especially when I just want to write AMAZING over and over in caps lock.  So this is a rough rundown of what went through my head as I watched the film.  Remember I’ve only seen it once so I may have some stuff in the wrong order or missed some fantastic bits.

(HERE BE SPOILERS)

(adverts)

Jesus, does every product on Earth have a Bond tie in?

(trailers)

Les Miserable looks worthy but dull.  Jack Reacher looks awful.  The Hobbit looks awful.  Actually, all these films look terrible.

(the film)

The new MGM logo’s ridiculously over-animated. 

No gun barrel?  AGAIN?

Oh, so the missing hard drive is right here in the film?  Didn’t know that would happen.

This is building up nicely.

Liking Eve.  Good bit of banter with the wing mirrors.

A sadistic part of me wishes Bond had punched a bloke to get at that motorcycle.

Motorbikes on the rooftops is good.

Imagine one motorbike coming through the window, then, just when you’ve recovered, another one pops up.

That’s a fair amount of carnage on that bridge.  Did Eve cause all that?

Why doesn’t Patrice just run away, instead of standing around on the back of a train shooting at Bond?

Loving the carnage caused by the digger.

“I think it was a VW Beetle.”  Ha!  Though a part of me suspects VW paid an enormous amount of money for that line.

The cufflink adjustment?  Amazing.  Obviously.

This train fight is bringing back happy memories of Octopussy.  ”MISHKA!”

Stop gassing and fire the bloody gun, woman.

Ok, Danny Kleinman’s finally gone insane.

Will have to see if the text of M’s obituary is the same as in You Only Live Twice,  Would be nice if it was.

Is there any need for a London MI6 caption?  And shouldn’t it be MI6, London?

Dame Judi meets the Sex Pistols. 

I think the whole cinema just bounced in the air about twelve feet when MI6 exploded.

Is that the entire extent of that Greek girl’s part?  Wow.  Talk about bigging yourself up. She’ll be at an autograph festival in Milton Keynes within the month.

I wonder if that scorpion is real or CGI.

Is this meant to be in Turkey?  The music seems sort of African.

CNN.  Thank God it’s not Sky.

I wonder what happened to M’s nifty apartment from Casino Royale.  And Mr M, for that matter.

Dame Judi has such a potty mouth.

I’ve been past that ramp in Spitalfields!  I know where that is!

Well, they managed to build all this very quickly, didn’t they?  Can you fit the whole of MI6 in one room?

Eve is here for the transition?  Hmm.  Maybe she is going to be Moneypenny after all. 

Has anyone actually mentioned her name yet?

All this Tanner chatting to Bond while he works out is a bit homoerotic. 

Rory Kinnear has lost a bit of weight since Quantum of Solace.  I definitely would.  Though I would worry that halfway through sex with him the image of Roy Kinnear would enter my head and put me off my stride.

Alright Q is funny and clever.

No need to be rude about exploding pens.

Is there any need for a Shanghai caption?

That pool’s in Canary Wharf, you big cheats.

I love all this neon.

Didn’t expect the spring up onto the bottom of the lift.  Brilliant.

This must be the first stealth sequence in a room full of glass walls.

Severine!

This silhouetted fight is FANTASTIC.

Really wanted to shout “PYRAMIDS!” when Patrice fell off the building then.

Ah, an explanation for that 1 YouTube view.

More banter with Eve.  She’s very good at it.  Definitely Moneypenny.

I wonder if that barge has a seat on it.  I don’t think I’d be able to stand up in case I fell in the water, no matter how dramatic it looked.

Komodo Dragon’s a nice touch.

Ah, I just realised what the chip is for.  Makes sense now.

Euros?  Sticking with the Quantum of Solace idea that they’re better than dollars, are we?

Severine is gorgeous. 

And she can act.  I was worried she’d be the weak link but she’s great.

Best girlfriend in distress since Andrea Anders.

Like the raising of the glass to the men.

Assault with a deadly briefcase.

Do Komodo Dragons attack like that?  I thought they bit you and then waited for you to die of poison or something?

Maybe it’s not a Komodo Dragon. 

He’s just giving Eve all the money?  I hope she donates it to the Blue Cross (GOLDFINGER GAG).

If someone snuck up behind me in the shower, I doubt I’d be quite so calm.

This is very pretty.

Would people just clear off an island because the computer told them to?  Wouldn’t they, you know, check?  Send in men in hazmat suits or something?

Love Silva’s introduction.

Love Javier Bardem in general, actually.

LOL GAY.  Not a criticism.

“What makes you think it’s my first time?”  Clever avoidance of gay disgust issues there.

Oh dear.  Severine’s going to die, isn’t she?

Poor girl.  Though I did like the way Silva “won”.

Gadget saves the day!  Win!

Wait: so in the emergency rebuild of MI6, they also built this fancy glass wall that turns opaque at the push of a button, and a glass Hannibal Lecter prison?  I bet they prioritised that over some far more important things.  I bet there’s only one cubicle in the ladies’ loo.

Eww.  Gums.

How’s he going to get out of here?

No such place as Gainsborough Road tube station.

Ah, so that’s how he’s going to get out.

That’s not Temple.  That’s Charing Cross Jubilee Line.

This stuff with the Tube driver’s very good.  I like the additional humour in the film.  Craig’s so much more relaxed.

Ha! at the idea that you can just wander down the carriage of a rush hour Tube train.  Those buggers wouldn’t let you past for anything.

That’s not Embankment.  That’s Charing Cross Jubilee Line again.

It would have been funny if they’d left all those “please stand on the right” signs on the escalator as they slid down. “Ow.  Ow.  Ow.  Ow.”

That crashing Tube train gave me a flashback to when they dropped a tram on Coronation Street.

Is it sadistic of me that I would have preferred a train full of people to come smashing through?  That Silva killed a couple of hundred people because he’s just that evil?

Who are all these henchmen?  Where are they coming from?

“My late husband.”  Poor Mr M.

Hard to concentrate on a poem during a tense action sequence.

Raging gun battles would certainly liven up BBC Parliament.

Eve’s not going to turn out to be a baddie, is she?

Shooting the fire extinguishers.  Very FPS.

I like Silva just going off in a huff.

Poor Tanner.  How do you get a cab to a top secret hideout?

Nobody does sarcasm like Dame Judi.

Ejector seat button!  HA.  Though wait: that means this is the Aston Martin from Goldfinger, not the one he won in Casino Royale.  Which is the one that Q gave to Sean Connery, which hasn’t happened.  Or has it?  So where does Skyfall fit in the timeline?  Are Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace set before Dr No, and now Skyfall’s after Die Another Day?  QUESTIONS.

SCOTLAND in big letters across the map.  Alex Salmond will like that.

Ah, Skyfall’s a house.  I wonder if they came up with the Bondian title and then tried to find a way to shove it into the film.

I forgot Albert Finney was even in this.

It’s like the end of A Nightmare on Elm Street!  Will they just turn their back on Silva and he’ll disappear?

I WONDER IF THAT PRIEST HOLE WILL BE RELEVANT.

Kincaid telling Bond about his parents dying is a bit Alfred/Bruce Wayne.  Whither Aunt Charmian?

Loving the use of the Aston Martin’s guns.  LOVING IT.

Dame Judi’s firing a gun!  She’s not very good.

I love the way the action sequences just grow out of the film; it builds up to the violence, rather than it just being “here’s a car chase”.

When will people learn not to keep gas canisters in the house?

Now THAT is a decent explosion.  Bravo.

Is Silva going to drown under an icy lake?  That would be an interesting way for him to go.

Apparently random henchman is going to drown under an icy lake.  After being throttled with a leg.  That’s a bit weird.

Andrew Bond and Monique Delacroix Bond!!!

M’s going to die.  The only question is “how”.

Two heads, one bullet.  Actually tense.

Should have realised that hunting knife would turn up. 

Kincaid should have died.

Are those tears dripping off Bond’s nose, or icy drops of water?  He must be freezing.  And they’ve blown his car up.  How’s he going to get back to civilisation?

Standing on a rooftop looking moody.  Very Captain Jack Harkness.

It’s going to be that bulldog, isn’t it? 

He should have thrown it in the air and shot it.

She IS Moneypenny!  Damn you tabloids for ruining the surprise!  And Kate Westbrook’s going to be annoyed they didn’t make Jane canon.

PADDED DOOR!  PADDED DOOR TO M’S OFFICE!

M’S OFFICE!  IT’S ALL WOOD PANELS AGAIN!

NEW M!  AND THIS TIME, HE’S VOLDEMORT!

The gun barrel AT LAST.  Though it’s that shiny one from Quantum of Solace.  Where are those zig zaggy bits in the top left corner?

50th anniversary logo.  Awwwww.

That was bloody marvellous.  It was epic and intimate; it hit all the right notes; it was fun.  Uniformly brilliant performances.  And Daniel Craig is just amazing.  Bring on Bond 24.  Like, now.

Can I see it again please?