Skyfall: 007

[Variety of Cells]

Keep in mind Sam Mendes directed, it was written by John Logan, and shot by Roger Deakins.

Yeah, I might have to see this just cause Deakins shot it.

[GordonZola]

I loved Casino Royale - best Bond ever - but the clumsy plotting and "unfollowability" of Quantum put me right off.

This BETTER be good.

[lassieface]

I loved Casino Royale - best Bond ever - but the clumsy plotting and "unfollowability" of Quantum put me right off.

This BETTER be good.

Quantum was a real mixed bag for me. It had some very cool sequences, but yeah, it was all over the place in the plot department. I actually loved the whole sequence at the opera the most I think.

[Starman!]

I still haven't seen Quantum. So I guess I haven't seen all of the Bond movies!

[BBQ Platypus]

Just got back from a midnight screening.

Thank God.  Not only is it a massive improvement over Quantum, it's absolutely deserving of the praise it's been getting.  I'm not going to get into where it ranks all time, but Bond films don't get much better than this.

I'll begin by pointing out the three most obvious things.  First, Roger Deakins.  Remember how Quantum of Solace looked like ass?  Not the case here - every shot looks fantastic, both the setpieces and otherwise.  I was particularly impressed by the LCD silhouette sequence in Shanghai and the casino scene in Macau.  Regardless of whether one thinks this is the best Bond film of all time, it is undeniably the best-looking Bond film of all time.  If this doesn't earn Oscar nominations for editing and cinematography it will be a travesty.  (Credit also goes to Sam Mendes, of course - I had no idea he could handle action this well).  Second, Daniel Craig.  We all know how good he can be, but he gives what might be his best turn yet in the role.  He gets to do badass Bond things, but there's also a personal element to this story that allows him to do more than that.  Finally, Javier Bardem (once again sporting weird-ass hair) is such a commanding presence as Silva that, after not appearing in the first hour of the film, he has the audience by the balls within his first minute on screen.  He's also surprisingly funny in the role.

There are a lot of old elements brought back whilst others are alluded to in a semi-winking manner.  F'rinstance, as you know from the trailer, Q returns in this movie.  He gives Bond two devices from the department.  In true Bond fashion, both of them are used exactly once.  Yes, even the gun.  In fairness, it did get eaten by a komodo dragon.  The DB5 from Goldfinger also turns up, a moment that inspired cheers from the audience I attended the film with.

Also worth noting, this film is officially the last appearance of Judi Dench as M after nearly twenty years in the role.  And it's a great sendoff - the film is basically about her relationship with Bond (and Silva as well).  She's really good in it, too - I'll miss her in these films.  Still, as far as replacements go, you could certainly do worse than Ralph Fiennes.

It has a couple of the non-problem problems that don't typically bother me in action movies.  Silva's plan is at least two more steps more elaborate than necessary, but then, you can say the same of Heath Ledger's Joker.  So if you have a problem with that sort of thing...yeah, that stuff is in here.  Then again, the movie begins with Bond surviving after being shot in the chest twice, falling hundreds of feet into a river and down a waterfall.  Frankly, your disbelief should already be pretty well suspended by that point.

All in all, it has great performances, splendid cinematography, exciting action, and a unique yet still quintessentially Bondian flair to it.  You can't ask for much else out of an entry in this franchise.

[Acidemic]

Sorry it was the suck.  Tepid at best.

The opener was 25% as thrilling as Casino Royale and had completely no payoff
Opening song sucked
No Bond girl
Q was boring
The Moneypenny revelation fell flat
No gadgets, gambling, or games of death.
The villain was weakness.  After he got a knife in the spine he just turns around and rolls his eyes?  The audience laughed at that in my theater.  Was he even taking it seriously?
M dies...weak.
The ending was clearly written for Sean Connery but instead it was Albert Finney so it didn't work.

Ok it had a few good things:
The settings were pretty.
The only thing to get an applause in the theater...the old car.
It was an excuse to eat movie popcorn.

[Variety of Cells]

Was given exactly what I expected and I was fine with that.  Saw it in IMAX and it looked great.  Had fun.

I don't really care about this, but I just thought it was kind of funny that Bond strangles someone to death while they are both under water.  People asphyxiate rather quickly as it is in movies, but this just made it even sillier if you take a second to think about it.

[eegah]

I don't really care about this, but I just thought it was kind of funny that Bond strangles someone to death while they are both under water.  People asphyxiate rather quickly as it is in movies, but this just made it even sillier if you take a second to think about it.

I caught that too. Made me laugh (at the movie).

[Relaxing Dragon]

I don't really care about this, but I just thought it was kind of funny that Bond strangles someone to death while they are both under water.  People asphyxiate rather quickly as it is in movies, but this just made it even sillier if you take a second to think about it.

I caught that too. Made me laugh (at the movie).

I was too busy still grinning at the running neck snap to care. Plus I'm a sucker for water-under-ice situations, regardless of what actually goes on.

[eegah]

I'm a sucker for water-under-ice situations, regardless of what actually goes on.

You must love this song, then:

Spoiler

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Was given exactly what I expected and I was fine with that.  Saw it in IMAX and it looked great.  Had fun.

I don't really care about this, but I just thought it was kind of funny that Bond strangles someone to death while they are both under water.  People asphyxiate rather quickly as it is in movies, but this just made it even sillier if you take a second to think about it.

I wasn't bothered by that, if you strangle someone hard enough it cuts off the blood flow to the brain, so they pass out much faster than the 4 or so minutes it takes if you can't breath.

My only complaint was that is was a bit too long.  The ending could have been trimmed by at least 10 minutes.  Maybe even trim about 15 minutes from the entire second half.

[ManUnderMask]

I loved how it felt like a Bond film, instead of James Borne. I had a dopey smile on my face the entire time.

Every time I think of it I get that same warm and fuzzy feeling I got when Spider-Man started trash talking in The Amazing Spider-Man.

[wurwolf]

We saw this a couple of nights ago. Enjoyable movie -- all of the Bond elements were there and even

the Astin Martin appeared, although that part kind of felt forced to me.

APGIL told me that there was a rumor floating around* that Idris Elba is being considered for the next Bond. I would LOVE to see that. Elba is smooth and classy as fuck. He would be fantastic as James Bond.



* The rumor was started by Elba himself, whoops.

[Relaxing Dragon]

I keep seeing that rumor pop up, despite it not making any sort of sense. It's way too early for them to be looking into potential nest Bonds, since Craig's still locked in for two more movies (and likely open to the possibility of a few more). More likely is Elba as a supporting role, or, god willing, a villain.