Skyfall - Grading & Discussion

[Skywalker]

Just an excellent movie. I really enjoyed everything about it. I won't say it's my favorite of Craig's films yet, it needs a bit more time to sink in, but I'd say it's easily better than Quantum of Solace (which IMO wasn't "bad" so much as aggressively mediocre). I loved all the little gags and callbacks to the history of James Bond. I also enjoyed Ben Whishaw's Q, but I'm not familiar with The IT Crowd so I didn't recognize any of the similarities others have mentioned.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who was half-expecting Kincade to be played by Sean Connery. To be honest, I wish that had happened. I can understand why Mendes decided not to go in that direction, but I think it would have been neat.

 

[DarthPipes]

Great film! Now THIS is James Bond. Quantum of Suckatude decided to suck all the joy out of the Bond franchise and turned into into a generic, Jason Bourne rip-off. This movie was a lot of fun and felt like Bond.

Craig is back strong here after a disappointing performance in QoS. I agree it's too early for the "Bond is past his prime" storyline but I think it worked great here and that he really pulled it off. Judi Dench was great...she never gives a bad performance. Sometimes distinguished actors are cast in these kind of roles and never really given much of a chance to shine (think Maggie Smith in the Harry Potter film). But thankfully, the recent Bond films have decided to make her a much bigger part. Her interaction with Daniel Craig is one of the highlights of this film.

I do agree M didn't have much of a leg to stand on when it came to defending her record.

Javier Bardem stole the show and was a great villain. That opening scene had everything laughing, especially Bond's "How do you know this isn't my first time?" Definitely inspired by the Joker but that was fine with me. The funny thing is, he's basically accomplishes his ultimate goal. Bond's victory here is a pyrrhic one at best.

I enjoyed the rest of the cast. Finnes, Q, and Eve are going to make great additions to the future movies.

I greatly enjoyed the closer look this film had at Bond's early life, something that the films have largely ignored. It makes sense in a way, seeing as this film stays mostly at home in Britian. I liked that too.

Tremendous action scenes in the style of previous Bond films and the opening credit scene was fantastically done. If I had any problem with the film, I felt it was very slow-paced at times, particularly when Bond was first in Hong Kong.

Looking forward to more.

 

[Agent Richard07]

I think Casino Royale is my favorite of the Craig films, but Skyfall does have a few elements that are stronger, like Q, Moneypenny, M (both of them) and the villain.

 

[davejames]

Definitely one of the better Bonds, although I'd still rank Casino higher. After the fantastic opening, I thought it took a little too long before the action picked up again. And despite the brilliant direction, it didn't feel like there was anything terribly unique or original going on in the story.

But WOW did this movie look good. And some of the sequences (like the shooting contest on the island, or the attack on the parliament building) were some of the most suspenseful I've ever seen in a Bond movie.

 

[Warped9]

I never thought the film slowed down. It had a good balance of action and "talking" sequences.

 

[DarthPipes]

Having not scene any of the old Bond films save for Goldfinger and some of the more recent ones, is this the first Bond film to take place MOSTLY in England and the British Isles?

 

[Starkers]

I never thought the film slowed down. It had a good balance of action and "talking" sequences.

Yeah, it's way better paced than Casino Royale...

 

[CaptJimboJones]

Having not scene any of the old Bond films save for Goldfinger and some of the more recent ones, is this the first Bond film to take place MOSTLY in England and the British Isles?

Pretty much. Although interestingly the original novel "Moonraker" takes place entirely in England - the only one of Fleming's novels to do so. (And it's also one of the best Bond novels, IMO.)

 

[Warped9]

I never thought the film slowed down. It had a good balance of action and "talking" sequences.

Yeah, it's way better paced than Casino Royale...

No, I also thought Casino Royale was well paced.

I'm not one who needs a film to be nonstop action. I probably wouldn't like it if it was.

 

[DarthPipes]

Having not scene any of the old Bond films save for Goldfinger and some of the more recent ones, is this the first Bond film to take place MOSTLY in England and the British Isles?

Pretty much. Although interestingly the original novel "Moonraker" takes place entirely in England - the only one of Fleming's novels to do so. (And it's also one of the best Bond novels, IMO.)

I thought it was jarring (not in a bad way) to see Bond in the British subway system (I believe they call them tubes). Even Q cracks "Like you'd even know."

 

[Ghost Bones]

It was ok. At least Daniel Craig acted like James Bond for the first time, even if he looks more like a weathered Easter Island statue than ever. A right bit of fanwank when it turned into Home Alone. I don't care about someone M used to know, and I certainly didn't want to see the house James Bond grew up in, complete with old yokel who hasn't moved on. Could have done with being half an hour shorter. And really, if MI6 hadn't been so stupid as to use a magic electronic cell rather than standard lock and key, the whole thing could have been avoided. I liked the bits in whatever oriental city it was, with the neon skyscrapers and the sniper and that. The villain was alright, though I wasn't so keen on Bond's "What makes you think I haven't been given the rough nasty up the brown badge before?" Beyond that it was lots of silly dialogue and spot the reference (stepping up on the CGI monitor lizard like the crocodiles in Live and Let Die was a particular eye-roller). Got some good bits though and worth seeing once. Certainly streets ahead of Question of Sport.

 

[CaptainCanada]

I liked the bits in whatever oriental city it was, with the neon skyscrapers and the sniper and that.

Shanghai. And, for future reference, "Oriental" as a term is regarded with disfavour these days, generally.

 

[Ghost Bones]

Alright then, I'll update my personal lexicon.

 

[Mister Fandango]

And, for future reference, "Oriental" as a term is regarded with disfavour these days, generally.

No more than the term "westerner" or even "Asian" is. Aside from those looking to find something to be offended by.

 

[CaptainCanada]

No more than the term "westerner" or even "Asian" is. Aside from those looking to find something to be offended by.

No, that's not correct. Even the Oxford English Dictionary notes that it is often considered offensive.

 

[Mister Fandango]

No, that's not correct. Even the Oxford English Dictionary notes that it is often considered offensive.

...by those looking for something to be offended by. It's rarely ever used offensively and is nowhere even remotely close to words such as nigger or faggot which are.

 

[sidious618]

It's not as bad as those words, but that doesn't mean it's still not frowned upon.

 

[CaptainCanada]

...by those looking for something to be offended by. It's rarely ever used offensively and is nowhere even remotely close to words such as nigger or faggot which are.

It doesn't have to be either one of the vilest slurs on record or totally harmless. It is still considered offensive. It's a term that is widely held to have a lot of negative political and historical baggage attached to it, and that's more than sufficient.

 

[Starkers]

Having not scene any of the old Bond films save for Goldfinger and some of the more recent ones, is this the first Bond film to take place MOSTLY in England and the British Isles?

Pretty much. Although interestingly the original novel "Moonraker" takes place entirely in England - the only one of Fleming's novels to do so. (And it's also one of the best Bond novels, IMO.)

I thought it was jarring (not in a bad way) to see Bond in the British subway system (I believe they call them tubes). Even Q cracks "Like you'd even know."

Its called the Tube, or the Underground

I never thought the film slowed down. It had a good balance of action and "talking" sequences.

Yeah, it's way better paced than Casino Royale...

No, I also thought Casino Royale was well paced.

I'm not one who needs a film to be nonstop action. I probably wouldn't like it if it was.

I’m not talking about pacing in terms of action, I’ve seen plenty of boring action films and plenty of action free films that kept me gripped.

CR and Skyfall probably have about the same proportion of action to talking, but by the end of Casino Royale I was tiring, getting a little bored, didn’t have that problem with Skyfall. CR always feels a little bloated, Skyfall felt quite lean despite its similar running length.

 

[starburst]

Casino Royale had a good mix, its just the scenes in the Casino maybe dragged on a little but then thats the whole point of the film.

In Skyfall even what you would consider the bad parts on first thought are actually quite cleaver, like the Sniper taking out the guy in Shanghai, seems a bit off seeming one of the fellas in the room could have killed him! But then that was Silva giving Bond a way to find him its possible the assassins target was just some random bloke they were pretending to sell a painting to and was expendable.