All in All Bond is back

Rating: 10/10 (7 March 2013)

Skyfall - a bond movie that explores the psyche of bond further, with a villain whom we can see as a definite nemesis to bond. Characters being introduced to the re booted franchise and the movie finishing in the confines of the offices of Universal Exports which viewers have almost forgotten as the front for most of bonds operations.
More than a bond flick it is more about M. Her stewardship of MI 6, belief on her best man. M's past which keeps asking her to "think on her sins" and the relationship between M and bond which has often been referred to as that of a parent and an erring child.
Sticking to canon the movie does start with a chase which starts on foot gets a 4 wheel drive car followed by a bike chase on the roof tops of Istanbul's grand bazaar before culminating on a trains roof top but not before Bond gets shot and an obituary duly written.
An un named villain comes out of the shadows with a vendetta against M. After an unsuccessful bid on bombing MI6 and compromising the identity of NATO agents when the going gets tough and M is faced with an inquiry enters a resurrected bond who is living a silent life on some island. Its here we see the not often seen human side of Bond. His rigors and tests to get back onto the field. After a face off with Mallory the chief of intelligence bond travels to Shanghai.
After a stakeout, chase, fight sequence with an image of a beautiful yet deadly jellyfish acting as a silhouette to the action, a visit to a casino and an interesting conversation happens with the Bond girl of this movie which delves not just on bond getting the girl but also touching on fears and death. we see bonds (read M's nemesis) emerge and the movie takes a new momentum.
In the ruins of an abandoned island bond faces Silva who has his vendetta against M and MI6. Bond using the gadgets given by Q branch summons the cavalry and apprehends the guy. Fans are used to cutting edge gadgetry in bond movies but here its just a simple radio that he uses.
The scene then shifts to London where the past that is haunting M is revealed. Silva was an MI6 operative who went beyond his brief hacking the Chinese and M was forced to hand him over to the Chinese during the hand over of Hong Kong in return for 6 of her agents. Silva bears the imprisonment and after years of planning begins his revenge on M and MI6 which goes beyond the obvious.
As M heads out to face the board of inquiry Silva escapes leading bond through the London's underground tube. Through rush hour traffic, surviving a bomb Bond with help from a young Q realizes silva's plan and reaches the inquiry venue.
At the inquiry M speaks on the relevance of human intelligence. How technology is overshadowing our lives and how agents putting lives on the line no longer matters finishes by quoting Ullysses by Tennyson. Silva enters and tries to take out M. Bond intervenes at the nick of the moment and goes a step ahead of everyone and takes M with him saying "we are going back in time, where we have the advantage"
They reach skyfall the house where James bond was born and grew up not just from being a child but to the detached man that he is. There bond is left with just a few rounds in his walther ppk, a hunting rifle and a few sticks of dynamite. The wait for the arrival of Silva puts M and Bond into a conversation where he remarks that the obituary was appalling. The final showdown takes place hurting M fatally but bond manages to take silva out not with a gun or bullets but with a hunting knife.
The movie speaks loads of the human and fallible side of this hero which shows him as a child who faced tragedy at an early age making him the man he is, the agent who improvises and stands firm on his determination to protect M and the never say die attitude that the character actually stood for before getting lost in the gadgets of Q branch and the dropping necklines of his various Bond girls.
Daniel Craig looks jagged and fight worn but this perfectly fits the mood of the movie and shows Bond not just as the super spy but as the human that he is. If Casino Royale showed how bond was betrayed by Vesper this movie shows his more human side.
The quotes from Tennyson do keep ringing after the movie and shows how things may change and hurt yet being unyielding Bond moves on. If this movie were to be a trilogy it has very clearly set the ground for further movies and re introduced bond to the present generation. The sad part was to see Judi Dench leave the franchise but guess it had to happen, the franchise however gets Money penny back into the story. To sum it up yes the Sky did fall onto bond in this story but our man did make it through.