The trailer of the latest James Bond movie showed Daniel
Craig taking a dive from a moving train (hence the name Skyfall) after being
shot at by one of his own and then resurrecting himself to save the day once
again. So as long as we are talking about resurrection, let us see whether
Skyfall has resurrected the famed 007 series in the Daniel Craig era after the
not-so-spellbinding Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.
The movie starts off on the same lines as the trailer with a
high-speed chase which involves cars, bikes, trains - the usual suspects. But then Bond is shot
by his partner-in-mission (Naomi Harris) by mistake as she misses her target – a thief, all
this in an attempt to retrieve a hard drive which contains all the identities
of secret agents embedded in terrorist organisations.
But Bond comes back when he comes to know that MI6 is under
attack and that M’s life is in danger. But Bond is not in his best shape,
thanks to the near-death experience due to which everyone assumed he is dead.
Finding out who is after M’s life and how a worn-out Bond snuffs out this threat forms the rest of the story.
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| Javier Bardem in Skyfall |
James Bond movies
typically involve high-tech gadgets, awe-inspiring cars and last but not the
least sexy Bond girls. But Skyfall scores low on all these things. They are all
there, but without the adjectives. Where Skyfall does score high is in the
essence of the movie itself - the attention given to the story, the characters
and most importantly the villain – all of them missing in the last two movies with
the exception of the beautiful characterisation of Vesper in Casino Royale.
Daniel Craig can thank Javier Bardem for sharing the burden
of carrying the movie because seriously, when I think of Quantum of Solace; the
only face that comes to my mind is Daniel Craig’s. Bardem has absolutely nailed his character in
the movie. Watch out for the scene where he seduces Daniel Craig and says ‘They
haven’t taught you about this in training, did they?’
Coming to Daniel Craig himself, he has delivered a composed performance and after Skyfall, he can deservedly claim the mantle of 007 which many felt he could not after Pierce Brosnan. Judi Dench as M features much more prominently in Skyfall than the previous editions and the rapport between her and Daniel Craig is a delight to watch.
On the whole, Skyfall has a good story and has good performances to complement
it with action sequences that may not give you an adrenaline rush, but will
definitely keep you entertained. It may not be a must-watch, but it is
definitely worth a watch.
