[11/11/2012]
WOW!! I just finished
watching this film. I can daresay that this is the best film I have seen
this year, surpassing “The Avengers” and “The Dark Knight Rises”.
The Hobbit film next month will have to be pretty good to challenge Skyfall, in
my opinion.
I cannot say a lot of the
story. Any mentioning of the plot could spoil it for you guys – a “Luke,
I am your Father” type spoiler.
All I can say is that this
has to be in the top 5 – or dare I say – in the top 3 Bond films of all
time. Yes, Sean Connery is THE Bond of all time, since he started
it. After watching Daniel Craig’s performance, if you don’t think that
Daniel is not at least very close second “greatest Bond”, then I think your
head needs to be examined. You really see a very realistic portrayal of
Bond from Daniel in this film than any other – even Casino Royale. There
is hardly any cliché in his performance anywhere.
If you expect to see is
“cookie cutter” Bond film with Skyfall, you will be disappointed. This is
a very atypical Bond film to observe. However the film does not alienate
you from the other Bond film greats. There are many references to the
older installments of Bond it this film, so you know that Daniel Craig is James
Bond. What I mean is that the story itself is atypical. You can’t
read it like any other film – Bond does this, M does that, villain plans this,
and so on. Let’s just say that it would be very hard to spoof this like
an Austin Powers film. There are scenes in this film where I see
references that to “The French Connection”, “The Dark Knight” and possibly any
Alfred Hitchcock film.
Judi Dench as M is as good as
ever and has a major part of the story.
Javier Bardem as the villain
Silva is at least the top 3 best Bond villains of all time. I did watch
“No Country for Old Men” and I can see why he is perfect as the villain.
He has a Joker-like feel to his method. You can find some vulnerability
and some sympathy for him in his character. He is not the typical Austin
Powers type villain. There are other characters which I will not mention
(don’t want to give away the plot) which are a great piece of casting.
This film is balanced quite
nicely in terms of tone. Yes, the Daniel Craig film version of Bond is
much realistic and darker. But this film has a lot of humor – similar
that to Goldfinger, but the humor is not forced. The story does it dark,
it gets tense, but it is also fun – a nice balance for a film.
What really blows me away is
the sheer beauty of the film. The film is very beautiful. It
reminds me of the great directors like Stanley Kubrick, Orson Welles, and
Alfred Hitchcock on how the film was shot. Action scenes in “Quantum of
Solace” was edited like an MTV “Fast and Furious” that it made my head
spin. This did not occur on Skyfall. There are many shots in
this film where you can take a snapshot, blow it up, and frame it in your
home. The use of color is wonderfully done. This movie should at
least win an Oscar for cinematography. Director Sam Mendes
(“American Beauty”, “Road to Perdition”, “Jarhead”) should at least get a
nomination for best Director for this film. He shot one heck of a film.
The soundtrack is
awesome. Like I mentioned in previous e-mails, Adele’s theme song of
“Skyfall” brings the soundtrack back to the John Barry – Sean Connery years of
a grand and operatic sound. Plus the soundtrack within the movie
does hearken back to the great Dr. No days. When you hear it, you will
know and grin for those hardcore Bond fans.
My only complaint of the film
would have to be title sequence special effects. The graphics was not as
good as before. But Adele’s song carries the title sequence, instead the
other way around in many other Bond films.
I will give you only one hint
on the film. The film tries to answer the question: Is James
Bond relevant in a post 9-11, technocrat society that we live now?
This is a must see film and a
must buy for all those Bond fans out there. I want to see this film again
and again and again.
BA BA BOOM BA BA
BOOM BA BA DA DA
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