Skyfall (2012)

When the James Bond series was ingeniously rebooted in 2006 with Casino Royale, it was the result of producers (and series “showrunners,” if you will) Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli looking around the pop culture landscape and recognizing that their franchise—inherited from Albert R. Broccoli after his death—was losing relevance very quickly. Die Another Day was an obvious stab at making Bond as “modern” as possible, but that was rightly rejected by just about everyone. All around them they could see franchises with flawed protagonists that were just as interesting as the stories they were in, and meanwhile their main character was CGI surfing and taking fencing lessons with Madonna. The old Bond formula didn’t work any more, and when they brought Daniel Craig on board they decided to completely overhaul the series and the character. The basics of the original Bond were still there, but for the first time in decades the franchise was taking its protagonist seriously as a complicated and seriously messed up human being.

Casino Royale set the table for a new James Bond of unparalleled depth. The follow-up, Quantum of Solace, was a thrown-together mess that failed to live up to the promise of its predecessor. It should have been the Dark Knight to Casino Royale’s Batman Begins, but instead it was a disheartening and considerable step backwards. Just as we saw after Die Another Day, Wilson and Broccoli heard the message loud and clear. They announced the 23rd would be directed by Sam Mendes, shot by Roger Deakins, and have roles for Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney and more. As if to apologize for the slightness of Quantum, they made it clear from the outset that with their next installment they’d be shooting for the moon. The result is Skyfall, and I’m proud to report that it is a Bond nerd’s dream.

Skyfall begins with a stellar chase scene that starts in the streets of Turkey and winds up on top of a train in the middle of nowhere. The meaning of this chase? There is a hard drive that contains the names of undercover agents all over the world, and it has fallen into the wrong hands. Needless to say, things start to go bad. As a response to this chaos, the powers that be—including government man Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes)—want to force M (Judi Dench) out of her position has head of MI6. The hard drive eventually winds up in the hands of Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), an ex-agent turned terrorist who is seeking revenge against M and the agency. He is one of those villains that is always one step ahead of the good guys, and there’s nothing you can think of that he hasn’t already thought of first.

As you can tell, there’s nothing particularly revelatory about the plot here. Really, Skyfall follows a lot of the same beats that we’ve seen time and time again in both Bond films and other spy/action films. The difference is that here, it’s executed beautifully, and in a way that actually enhances Bond as a character. We spend a lot of time learning about who he is outside of his job as well as in it, and (without going into spoiler territory) there are some welcome detours in which we learn a little bit more about his troubled past. This includes a cornucopia of Bond in-jokes and references to the older films, and somehow they’re able to throw these in without getting too cute about it. There’s plenty of 007 fan service in Skyfall—in fact, it’s mostly that—but the viewing experience shouldn’t be hampered much at all if you don't know everything there is to know about this universe.

In many ways, Skyfall is the fusion of old-school 007 and new-school 007 that many fans have been waiting for. It’s not just a new Bond film; it’s darn close to being a James Bond thesis paper. Over the course of 143 minutes, it carefully examines just about every aspect of the James Bond formula and how it might be best executed in its new, modern form. Casino Royale certainly showed there’s room for the character to grow and thrive in the new millennium, but Quantum of Solace was reason to fear for the series’ immediate future. (Also, MGM going under might have stung a bit.) Skyfall is a film in which James Bond the character and James Bond the franchise do some serious soul-searching, and try to determine the best course of action going forward. How much does Bond need to change? Can he still change? Or is it time for him to leave it all behind?

Luckily, Skyfall is able to not only create a great modern Bond film, but also lay a fine foundation for the series going forward. After the film ends, the franchise feels like it’s on the firmest creative ground it’s seen since possibly the Connery days. The film also brings back some classic Bond characters in new and exciting ways, but to get into too much detail would veer into spoiler territory. I do feel comfortable in saying that Q finally returns, but he is no longer an old, cranky man. Rather, he is played by the young Ben Whishaw, and any complaints you may have about that choice vanish within seconds of him delivering his first line of dialogue. Skyfall takes a lot of gambles with the formula that the series has spent 50 years creating, and all of them pay off.

It doesn’t hurt at all that the film is absolutely beautiful to look at, which is no surprise coming from Roger Deakins. Mendes also directs the crap out of the movie, and it's clear this is not just a for-hire job for him. He's clearly engaged with the material in ways that other Bond directors (*cough*Marc Forster*cough*) might not have, and his action direction is far more graceful than I expected. Combine that with his ability to bring out the best in his performers, and you've got a dream director for this type of movie. Craig has been great as Bond since the beginning, even though Quantum of Solace didn’t give him a lot of acting to do, and this film finally gives him the opportunity to dig deeper into the character now that he’s an established spy. Skyfall is not a continuation of the origin story seen in Casino Royale and Quantum. Here, Craig’s Bond is a well-established spy when the movie begins, and he spends much of the story worrying about being too old rather than too young and reckless. It’s amazing how much can change in six years.

There’s also the matter of Bardem, who is predictably one of the creepiest (and funniest) Bond villains you’re ever going to see. Again, his type is not wholly unfamiliar when painted in broad strokes. Heck, his character basically has the same motivation as Sean Bean in GoldenEye. But of course, it’s not just about the character type but what you do with the character type, and he turns into a fascinating mirror for not just the Bond character but also the Bond series. There are reflective surfaces all over the place in Skyfall, and that’s not just Mendes and Deakins being artsy for the sake of being artsy. This movie is all about self-evaluation and recognizing how you really fit in to the larger scheme of things. That it’s surrounded by such an awesome action movie is just a bonus.

In my middle school to high school years, I was obsessed with James Bond. I’m still a huge fan. I have seen all 22 films multiple times, and I will see Skyfall multiple times. For a James Bond geek like me, this movie is pure bliss. I anticipate that the non-geek public will still love it for a lot of the right reasons, but those of us that have fully immersed ourselves in this world will likely appreciate it on a whole other level. Normally in reviews I try to explain why you may or may not want to see a movie and what pleasures may lie within. With Skyfall, it’s hard to talk about why I loved this movie without getting personal about it. This is darn close to the Bond movie I tell myself I would make if someone would just give me $150 million, Daniel Craig and a camera. As I was watching this movie, it took every ounce of my being to not squeal in delight every five minutes. I felt like someone had went into my brain, discovered my idea for a perfect Bond movie, extracted it and wrote a screenplay. In fact, I may pursue legal action.

I now understand why so many of the comic book obsessives were over the moon when The Avengers came out. To me, it was just a pretty awesome summer blockbuster. To them, it was something special. This is how I feel about Skyfall. To most people, it will just be an unusually well-made spy movie. For me, this is the Bond movie I’ve wanted to see for a long, long time, and no one can take that away from me. Is this movie really as good as the grade I’m giving it below? Almost certainly not. But I can tell you this grade perfectly encapsulates my experience watching it. The James Bond series has had many, many opportunities to call it quits over the last several decades. Somehow, they keep finding ways to make it work. Whether or not Skyfall is the best Bond movie of all time is an almost irrelevant discussion. It’s less a typical Bond movie than a thrilling journey through the places Bond has been, where he is right now, and the places he has the potential to go. There’s always a lot of uncertainty in the world of 007, and this is not the first time the world’s most famous spy has had to either adapt or die. The funny thing is, he hasn't died yet. If Skyfall is any indication, that day is still a long way off.

Grade: A

(Yes, I know. Read above.)