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Sunday, May 5, 2024
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HOLLYWOOD SKYFALL
EDITOR'S PICK
`Skyfall`
falls below expectation
Rating: **
Agent 007 James Bond on the 50th anniversary of it`s franchise portrays lost
youth, acceptance of middle-age and even death.
"Skyfall" starts off very much in the mould of an action film - basic
plot of chasing bad guys with an abundance of crash, bang pyrotechnics, car
chases, motorbike chase on roof tops, explosions, hanging from buildings and
etc.
Half way through I thought this was going into my top three Bond films list, but
suddenly all the plot potential goes out of the window and I could think of
three Sean Conneries, three Roger Moores and even a Timothy Dalton above it in
the list.
The first scene establishes the premise of the mission - James Bond (Daniel
Craig), an MI6 agent, trying to retrieve a computer disk that contains the
secret identities of embedded NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation)
agents. In the process, while fighting the baddies on the rooftop of a train,
Agent 007 is shot. He falls into a waterfall and is assumed dead.
Strangely he survives the fall.
Meanwhile, his superior M (Judi Dench), the head of MI6, writes his obituary.
But then Bond returns to London when he realises that his nation is in danger.
After failing in his fitness test, he is "declared fit for active
service" and is put back on the case.
Craig as Bond is believable sans his sex appeal. There is warmth in his
demeanour and banter. Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan`s script
constantly reminds us that Bond`s physical prowess is on the wane, but his
verbal sparring, both with M and new foe Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), a former
agent turned vengeful computer hacker, is nimbler than ever.
Bardem`s performance as a flamboyant pansy villian makes him the oddest Bond
villian ever.
Despite master technicians at work behind and in front of the camera, one is
left feeling disappointed. I can only guess it was because they tried to do too
much.
Cinematographer Roger Deakins beautifully captures the world`s most exotic
corners - Istanbul, Shanghai, Macau, London and Scotland. But the pace of the
shots canned by Mendes and Deakins, does not augur for an action film. It ends
up almost like a noir film.
However, one-liners are pretty snappy and offer a chuckle once in a while.
"Skyfall" is not a perfectly structured film. It starts off at a fast
pace and by the end it drags.
The last sequence is unbelievable and hence makes this film strangely
ineffectual.
In SKYFALL, Bond’s loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.
