My Passion, To You...

I know that I have said that film is my main interest and haven't yet posted anything on film.

So in the spirit of Awards season, I'd like to share a film review I did of Skyfall some weeks ago.

My passion, to you.

Skyfall

 

Plot: MI6 comes under attack after a hard drive containing alist of all NATO operatives undercover in terrorist organisations is stolen andused against M. Bond returns from a near death experience in poor condition setto track down the hard drive no matter what the cost.

Although this film is without a doubt one of, if not thebest Bond film yet, I knew after watching it that I would find it extremelydifficult to put it in words. 2012 marking the 50^th anniversary ofthe James Bond films, originally penned in novels and short stories by IanFlemming, marks a year for change. Throughout this film I found some usualconventions of what every other Bond film usually has, twisted in with arefreshing new narrative and revolutionary techniques used by Oscar winningdirector Sam Mendes on conveying characters, plot lines and the general themeof the renowned 007 films. So please forgive me if you think that I’m jumpingfrom classic to modern throughout this review, but when/if you watch the film,you’ll understand!

 In classic Bondstyle, director Sam Mendes gives the audience a fragment of the storyline andcuts to the opening sequence credits. Mendes opens with 007, played by DanielCraig, mid-mission, shooting and chasing enemies through a foreign country onall and every type of vehicle, with a fierce woman at hand, no doubt. Thusdelivering all of the compulsory fundamentals of a standard James Bond openingsequence. This will leave audiences expecting what they think will come next inthe narrative. They will be wrong.

When James Bond returns to MI6 in poor shape, he becomes relatableto the audience, in which in my personal opinion no Bond has done before. Craigand Mendes pull this off impressively, bringing 007 into the 21^stcentury leaving an emotive audience relating to the character. Similar to otherrecent superhero movies, the narrative surrounds James Bond as an orphan anddelves into his childhood without losing the reality of the film. With the 50^thBond anniversary, we were expecting something different and things to be shakenup and this film definitely did just that. Stripping it down to the bone, Ifelt this film had one up on a few of the 2012 blockbusters. Skyfall signalscurrent problems in society, for example data theft and hacking which left thefilm feeling all the more relevant and even honest.  It depicted a man,struggling psychologically and physically set to take on a realistic villainSilva, played by Javier Bardem. Silva is an eerie, Hannibal Lecter-esquevillain, with bright blonde hair and a Spanish accent to contrast it, he ticksall the boxes for a brilliant Bond villain with a lot more to him than meetsthe eye, without giving too much away!

In the nature ofswitching things up, from the trailer it appears there are two Bond girls, BéréniceMarlohe and Naomie Harris.It becomes quite clear early on that Mendes skilfully crafts M’s character intobecoming the centred Bond girl right the way through.  Focussing on her life more in depth ratherthan just her career, we get a more personal view of M, played by Judi Denchnevertheless still keeping her powerful and fiery manner.

Another technique used in this film, which sets Skyfallapart from most other 007 movies is that the film was predominantly set inBritish locations. This brought the James Bond franchise back to the frontlineof British cinema. In line with this, the film had British wit coursingthroughout, which I thought it had lost after the 007 character had become morecamp and comical after Roger Moore’s adaptation compared to the original suaveSean Connery.

The film also paid homage to almost every other Bond film rightthrough to the end, with references to the famous ejecting car seat in theAston Martin DB5 from ‘Goldfinger’, similar locations to ‘From Russia withLove’ and also marks the return of title designer Daniel Kleinman who did theopening titles and gun barrel sequences from ‘GoldenEye’ and ‘Casino Royale’,in which both are very recognisable in the Bond franchise. Although extremelyfamiliar to other 007 films, on the other hand Skyfall doesn’t have some of theconventional Bond elements, for example this film has a non-Ian Flemming title,doesn’t say the famous line ‘shaken, not stirred’ and doesn’t have theextremely famous gun barrel sequence, not at the beginning anyway.

Taking everything into consideration, Skyfall is everythinga 21^st century audience could want from a Bond film. Finding theperfect line between extravagance and authenticity, audiences will relate tothis film and the character yet still be thrilled and on edge enough for thefilm to do its job and entertain. With a great cast and brilliant director SamMendes and cinematographer Roger Deakins, this 007 film may be the only JamesBond film out of the 23 in all to have a chance at winning Best Picture. Watch this space!

Carys Wright

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