Review: Skyfall

Bond At His 'Goddam' Best

SKYFALL REVIEW BY PETER FRANKO

With the James Bond franchise sluggishly moseying along like Jabba the Hut at the Tour De France, due to  the quantum leap backwards that was Quantam of Solace, it was any man's guess how the newest installation Skyfall would turn out. Luckily, there was only good things to come, and this movie turned out to be an espionage epic of pure enjoyment.

Skyfall starts out how every good bond movie of the past decade does, with a badass chase scene. Bond is off retrieving some super-chip containing all of the code names of the affirmatives and exfiltration operations...  ah... it doesn't matter. What does matter is that a heart-pounding chase scene breaks out in the markets of Istanbul. With motorcycle racing and the ludicrously awesome stunts we love, this opening only gets better with the opening credits. These opening credits were stunning, mind-blowing, and within the first fifteen minutes, I knew my money had been well spent. If this segment doesn't bring your full attention to this movie like an industrial magnet, just get out of the theater now, and out of this plane of existence.

Daniel Craig, this time plays the perfectly frazzled and dystrophied Bond. Judi Dench returns as the ever so motherly and unforgiving 'M', and Javier Bardem shines as the psychopathic hacker-genius, Silva. Right of the bat you can tell that Silva is way out of Bond's league, after he blows up a chunk of MI6 headquarters with just a computer virus, and that Bond is going to seriously step up if he wants to have any chance at prevailing.

Much of the first half of the movie takes place in Shanghai. Every moment of this oriental expedition is complete and utter eye candy, and is some of the most jaw-droppingly delectable environments I've ever seen in a movie; period. Anyone can easily see that every shot took an immense amount of thought. Towering skyscrapers with bright LED jellyfishes swimming all over them, Coca-Cola commercials with beautiful women projected onto a 200 story office building, and Bond leisurely enjoying a Martini in a hotel of reflective glass with that all as a backdrop.... buy your tickets right now. This beauty doesn't cease either as we transition to a floating casino with a gorgeous orangey-golden glow to compliment orange-tinted Bond babe numero uno, Bérénice Marlohe. But more importantly, the casino has a kimono dragon pit.

The great thing about Skyfall is it distances itself from its overly gritty precursors by adding that element of humor we loved Connery for, and alluding to past Bond films adding a playful feel while retaining its looming, "Bond, you're fucked this time" vibe.

The ending of the movie goes for a last stand sort of approach, which did feel slightly cliche, but it was overruled by the immensely badass "led shower" badassery that ensues. Skyfall ended up being much more profound than its extreme action sequences, and proved to be the "Dark Knight", or "Empire Strikes Back" of the Daniel Craig Bond saga. 

It should also be noted that your undivided attention needs to be directed at the screen to keep a steady beat on the film. This is not a casual watch. Half way in I really needed to go to the bathroom, but I'd rather soil myself than miss a moment of the Shanghai color-orgy. That should also say something about how awesome this movie truly is.

Skyfall is better than any Craig Bond movie to date, and arguably the best Bond movie of all time. This is worth missing your daughter's violin recital for.