Licence to Kill......... the audience!!!!

Rating: 2/10 (13 November 2012)

Skyfall did start on a promising note. Killing the Bond, the most brilliant spy ever created. The hook is strong. But then it doesn't justify for the rest of the movie. Mr Mendes just created the hook and forgot to weave a plot around it. One simply doesn't shoot a brilliant spy and forget to tell us the story!!! At one instance, the concept of a Ghost Spy ,proclaimed dead but still alive, was introduced. This was when Mallory asked "If you're dead why don't you stay dead". And then Mr Mendes thought otherwise. The movie makers seemed to have an ADHD problem. One hand they start with a great premise then lose the plot, again talk about Bond being a ghost spy and again lose the plot to dramatic vengeance-based epic saga almost 3 hours long. Audience could've have been provided with a fast-forward gadget straight to the end of the movie.
Gadgets are a necessity to tease the imagination of the viewer, to give the viewer an idea about the possibility of technology. This has been lost right from the start of Craig's Bond. Although, initially it looked refreshing, it was more like driving around in a Vintage Bentley in today's world of modern cars. It is unique and exotic. But then come-on, for how long can you enjoy the Bentley knowing the BMW Vision just released. In a way the Craig's bond was like that, he had amazing hand-to-hand fist combat techniques, no guns no gadgets, he even gets his balls smashed. However, you know he must use Gadgets they're the heart of any Bond movie. You sit in the theater expecting a magic to happen in Q's department, a far advanced magic than you see in Tony Stark's laboratory. If Q has this kind of a lab as shown in Skyfall then God help MI6, they deserve to be blown-out and bull-dozed.
Another most important element of Bond movies also got lost in this unforgivable mayhem. A Bond without Girls, "Ok Mr Mendes, now you're pushing the limits". A Bond girl is a significant entity in any Bond Movie, whether it is Ursula Andress or Eva Green, they have been so important to the Plot of the Movie that you just cannot think of a Bond in existence without the Girls. The girls give life to Bond, they take his life away, they make Bond who he is, his nature, his behavior, his thought-process everything gets manipulated by the Girls. It shows how vulnerable Bond is, at the same time how cunning and ruthless he is. All we get to see is a rescued Bond's post-coitus moments. And the fact he is helpless in saving the "so-called" Bond Girl in the movie, is purely tasteless!!! If anyone has to kill a Bond Girl it has to be Bond himself.....Craig was first stripped of Gadgets in Casino-Royale and now he is stripped of Girls...Why not then just for once, for real strip him of being the Bond itself!!!!!
M, the lovely Dame, the saving grace of what was a crucifying experience till now. Judi Dench, does what she does the best, at 77, one cannot think of anyone who can act the way she emoted the character of M, the No-Nonsense, ruthless, scheming, domineering boss. She proved that M means Business, M is head of MI6 for a reason. Her one scene where she says "To hell with dignity. I'll leave when the job's done" was the defining moment of the Character of M. Absolute ruthlessness and complete commitment to the work of saving the world. That reminds me, why didn't you see this in Bond? Well Mr Mendes has to answer that question.
Lastly, hey who is Bond?? Have you ever seen a Bond movie where he is not the main character? Welcome to Skyfall. I guess the director had a hilarious Irony in naming it Skyfall. It is indeed a Skyfall for Bond a fall from which he can never rise again. A fall which beats even Baumgartner's record. The movie has been about M, Moneypenny, new M, new Q and someone who has never been associated with Bond, Adele. You might be wondering why I didn't mention the "Gay" maniac. Well, he is the main reason why this movie fails miserably.
Personal vendetta to take-on M??? Oh for Crying out loud, Silva, you were an MI6 agent, someone who earns his living by betraying others you expect not to be terminated when you turn rogue??? Why take that frustration on M??? Maybe you didn't read the Job description before you applied for the position.
This movie doesn't work for the following major reasons:
1. Vengeance-based, dramatic potboiler when it is supposed to be a Spy thriller 2. No regular bond stuff like gadgets and girls 3. No focus on Bond at all. 4. Attempted accidental killing of the Bond not justified.... 5. Last but not the least, what happened to the hard disk???? Oh well it was lost for good like the rest of the plot....
It can be summarized that a Movie Franchise which had the elements of Politics, Espionage, Sex, Betrayal, Fast Chases, Breathtaking Action, Cutting Edge - Gadgets has been reduced to a Drama, Revenge, Bollywood-style potboiler.