A Bond film for the modern era.

Rating: 9/10 (1 March 2019)

A Bond film for the modern era. This film was highly entertaining and had magnificent set pieces like the "Home Alone"-esqe scene, opening scene and the chase scene in the London Underground. The opening scene was fast paced and intense with an awesome set piece of an Istanbul street, roof and train scene, escalating in danger throughout. It starts of tame as a simple car chase to a rooftop motorcycle chase and finally a fist fight on top of a moving train. This shows the audience what they are in for in this film. The London Underground scene is exciting and anticipating as the audience would be guessing where Silva is and how close Bond is. The "Home Alone"-esqe scene would be nostalgic to those who had watched the films and this was the director's (Sam Mendes) way of paying tribute to this timeless classic.
Where Skyfall comes on leaps and bounds from its predecessors is in its gay politics. Scriptwriters Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan are very daring in explicitly highlighting the sexual tension between Bond and his villain, Silva, played in a magnificently camp manner by Javier Bardem. The relationship is particularly unnerving and naughty, given Silva's repeated reference to the two of them as brothers to "mother" M, who he, naturally, wants to kill. This shows how Hollywood is maturing more as it is allowing for more sensitive issues to be raised whist still delivering high quality films. Bond's "What makes you think this is my first time?" leaves a lot of unanswered questions as we don't see all of Bond's escapades.
Various composers have placed their hat in the ring to try and surpass one another whilst including the iconic brass notes to signify the Bond theme. Skyfall is an excellent example of this as it starts as a minor chord which surprisingly transforms into the iconic theme. Instead of being a simple piece of music, this song turns into a collaborating element of the film and is treated as someone playing one last twist to a complex story, and is integrated to feel like a character.
A beautiful moment within Skyfall is where Bond is being carried by the river and it transitions from falling over a waterfall to the title card with Adele's 'Skyfall' theme playing over whilst Bond is sinking. This is especially beautiful as all you can see is Bond sinking which shows vulnerability and shows of gorgeous cinematography. This is also revisited after Silva's henchmen have blown up Bond's childhood home, which is also a magnificent spectacle in itself, and Bond is dragged down into the icy river by one of Silva's henchmen. This however, has Bond rising up to the occasion as he literally rises out of the river instead of sinking in defeat in the first scene. This shows how his character has evolved throughout the film and his arc has finished, for this film.
Once again Daniel Craig has proved why he is the best Bond for the modern era with an expertly crafted performance, in an already immersing spectacle of film. He is able to show both on and off mission Bond which are vastly different. On mission Bond is focused and hides emotions and ends up always getting the job done, eventually. Off mission Bond however mopes and is depressing. He is also a borderline alcoholic which could convey that what he does affects him so he drinks to cope with the pain. Javier Bardem was another stand out character in Skyfall as he was able to be a likeable villain, like Heath Ledger's Joker or Tom Hiddleston's Loki, and still be justified with his actions (like Syndrome from The Incredibles who was also shunned by his idol). This creates a unique feel for the villain as people are able to see that his motives aren't just the typical world domination, they're somewhat justifiable to the audience.
Overall Skyfall was an almost perfect film which deserves all the praise it has and will receive. This was not a disappointment as it was expertly crafted from the outstanding cast, to the director, writers and producers who worked on this film and they should feel proud of the achievements that this film has generated.