Extraordinary yet flawed project

Rating: Null/10 (23 February 2013)

Like all James Bond films, Skyfall provides great music, great acting, great international settings, and great action sequences. After so many of these films, it is a challenge for any writer to come up with something new. In Skyfall, I think the greatest aspect of the writing is the way in which the writers deal with the issue of age. M is old. Bond is middle-aged, and a new generation of the British Secret Service has risen to management and field positions. The issue of age was dealt with in earlier films like Thunderball and Never Say Never, but not to the same extent. In Skyfall, Bond is almost killed at the outset, and he looks beaten and exhausted through the rest of the film. There is a beautiful woman in Skyfall, but the 45 year old Bond character is no longer the aggressive stud we knew in earlier films. He also is full of physical and mental imperfections. In short, the writers let Bond become a middle-aged human being. Skyfall is different than all other Bond films because it is more of a survival story about two aging characters in a dangerous and unforgiving world.
This should be the last Bond film, but there is too much money to be made from additional sequels. Without any explanation, Bond is "reborn" with the death of M and once again fully capable of being the great spy.