Real middle of the pack Bond.

Rating: 6/10 (18 November 2012)

When I saw all the hype from "pro critics", I went into IMDb to see what the general audience members were saying. While the film currently rates a 7.8 (which ranks it as the 2nd best Bond on IMDb tied with Goldfinger and only beaten by Casino Royale... rubbish), this does not reflect what people have written about it. I've read tons of 1 star reviews claiming it to be the worst Bond ever made. Then there are the Craig era knob slobbers who pop up to state how it's the best Bond ever (usually saying that it's as good or better than the bar they have set which is Casino Royale... however, anybody over 30 knows that there are over 20 fantastic other series entries to measure it against if compare/contrast reviewing is your bag). I can easily say that SKYFALL is neither the best nor worst James Bond entry. I'd put it in the lower middle of the canon. The Good: An overly choreographed, drawn out, and over hyped video game like opening extended chase scene morphs into one of the most colorful title sequences in the entire series, which set to Adele's extremely well sung title theme song makes it the highlight of the film. The Aston Martin is back (although, for no logical reason other than nostalgia; it ain't exactly the vehicle of choice for the moors of Scotland). The phrase, "Bond, James Bond" is back and so are a couple of welcome one liners (although Craig is nowhere near as adept at saying them as, well, any of the other Bonds). The villain's kept woman is a very sexy Bond girl. The villain's island was a nice change of pace locale. A male M returns! Maybe we'll see some of the good old M vs Bond one ups again instead of the feminist mother complex trash we've been subjected to since the 90s. The Bad: CGI Komodo dragons? Pathetic! A potentially suspenseful moment where Bond hangs from a bar beneath a moving elevator was totally blown by having Craig simply pop off with no difficulty; the "how's he gonna get out of this one" suspense question was answered like a Z grade serial cliffhanger cheat. There were only two Bond girls, one of which turns out to be Moneypenny (in yet another blatantly PC affirmative action pandering bit of horrible token casting) and the other was a sex slave who Bond takes advantage of despite her tragic history and then lets her die with no remorse as if she were a mosquito. The chases all seemed like forward movement video games with no sense of "where am I" and "what do I do next" decision making. The villain's overblown plans were ridiculously unnecessary and implausible. The best was that this brilliant genius of a villain planned and plotted for years and was foiled by a fire extinguisher. Bond dies at the beginning which was obviously going to be explained but NOOOOO. He just pops up drinking a Heinekin with some hooker in a seedy hotel room with no explanation. M and an old geezer use flashlights outdoors while sneaking away from baddies? Really dumb move by all involved in making that scene. Way too much psycho babble drama. Nobody gives a rat's backside about non Fleming, newly fabricated reasons for why this modern day Bond impersonator acts the way he does (it's because the producers are fools and Craig's proving himself to be a one note stone faced actor). There were no stand out action/escape set pieces that will remain etched in your brain years from now other than maybe those lame CGI Komodos or a Home Alone "defend the castle" style bit of twaddle. I mean, right after the heroes stop a phase one attack, they're ammo's been spent and a phase 2 helicopter armed with missiles destroys everything they just worked so hard to defend. It was a joke of a defense plan! And that's the climactic highlight to an action film that contains an awful lot of non-action. Oh, and the backlash Q casting was abominable. A young mop hair hipster Q with cosmetic only glasses and a complete dislike of gadgets? WTF! Way to whiz on one of the most beloved characters of the franchise, Ms. Broccoli. Overall: a so-so Bond, not a "best" Bond (there are WAAAAY too many other great contenders to choose from that blow this one out of the ice filled waters) and not a "worst" Bond (that honor goes easily to Quantum). Still, with the ending resembling classic Bond (Moneypenny, M's office, and a gruff male M), there's still possible (maybe?) hope for better, more "classis" style Bond films to come in the future. The producers really need to learn to embrace what made Bond what it is instead of fighting against that formula to square peg it into today's action junk genre that focuses more on "feelings" and pouting looks instead of quick thinking reactive action and cleverness. Witty and well executed action/escape set pieces and stunts that make you squirm in anticipation and excitement at "how on Earth can he escape that!" was what made Bond appealing in the first place, that and the fact that they were spy movies that felt like authentic pulp spy movies. Bond was and should be a classy, suave, womanizing gentleman again instead of a hulking, sulking, "whoa is me, mommy" sensitive jock. The Craig era started off great with Casino Royale (in HUGE part thanks to Fleming's story), but he's (sky)fallen so quickly that I can't wait for a new actor to play Bond. I've never said that about any of the other actors and wanted all of them to continue making more Bonds.