514th Review: Glamorous, no. Different, yes. Challenging, certainly.

Rating: 7/10 (27 October 2012)

After 50 years of Bond many will want Skyfall to be a cookie cutter movie of bikinis and smart weapons, quick quips, and fast cards and faster cars. And that is fun. But it is not Skyfall.
In a confusing world, where cyberspace decides the fate we see Bond is a living in a grey world where good and bad are no longer absolutes - the villain (Bardem) is again much darker than any before and is a surprisingly complex character. Bond is shown deliberately not on top of his game - this is a film about the borderlines, the shadows, and reality of the spy game - well, to a certain extent, after all it is Bond, and there are a number of set scenes with motorbikes and trains that are as good as anything in any Bond film.
At 2.5 hours this is easily the longest Bond film to date - and it is also a character study - perhaps we don't really want to know Bond - we want him to be a superhero and fun and not human. Here he is human and the effort shows.