Sometimes old things work best...

Rating: 5/10 (5 November 2012)

As they say in the movie, sometimes old things work best. The makers of this film should have heeded their own advice and stuck to the good old Bond recipe (mainly action with a touch of English class). Instead they tried to flesh out characters that were never really designed to be profound in the first place, and to give them existential qualms. The result is better than the last Batman movie, where the same thing was attempted, but is still seriously flawed. It's not a real Bond movie anymore, but it does not do a good enough job with the characters and plot to make it into the group of intellectually stimulating movies...
__Main pros__:

The general theme of aging and obsolescence in a quickly evolving world is very consistently developed throughout the movie - first and foremost by Craig's interpretation of an aging, depressed Bond, but also through the choice of locations (Battleship island, the old Scottish manor), the allusions to previous Bond movies (Goldfinger, Goldeneye), the replacement of Q by a smart but inexperienced youngster, the absence of gadgets, the depressing, stereotypical English rain... This consistency gives a nice atmosphere to the movie that makes it enjoyable to watch even through its slow parts.

The photography is great, and so are the locations (Battleship Island!), though they feel somewhat underused.

The directing is also very good. The first 10 minutes are classic Bond material, and are followed by a very nice opening sequence despite the rather weak Adele song - at that point I had high hopes for the movie. The final fight is also well executed.

Great acting by Javier Bardem, despite the weirdness of his character.

We get rid of Dench! But Fiennes is wasted on M - he would make a much better Bond than Craig IMO.

A touch of humor - this is an essential element of the Bond recipe and was sorely lacking in the last few installments.

__Main cons__:

The plot is weak, even by Bond standards! The oh-so-important list of undercover agents is forgotten halfway through the movie. The villain's motives are not believable. Bond's plan of luring Silva and his goons to Skyfall knowing that he will have to face them with a few antique rifles and an old Scottish housekeeper makes no sense whatsoever.

The movie is at least 30 minutes too long. The middle part lacks action and feels drawn out.

Many elements seem arbitrary and out of place: Silva's homosexual innuendo to which Bond replies that it might not be his first time (and actually sounds serious too! Bond, the epitome of heterosexuality who has been screwing the most beautiful girls for 50 years!), the underused, underdeveloped Bond girl who just has the time for a quick shower before dying after 10 minutes of airtime, the subway crash scene...

The hacking scenes. Make them believable for heaven's sake! Especially since they are a replacement for Q's gadgets in previous movies...

All in all, the movie does not live up to the hype - exactly like the last Batman. Oh, and also like Prometheus. I'm starting to see a trend here...