Why turn a good Bond into a mediocre Batman?

Rating: 6/10 (23 December 2012)

There is no denying Skyfall tries really hard to take Bond back to its roots. The problem is it lacks the talent that made the Bonds of old possible. The problems start with the title song which sounds like a mash up of previous forgettable Bond songs, with Adele singing at times embarrassingly off-key. Daniel Craig looks like he is really really tired of the character. It doesn't look just like Bond being tired of being Bond, it actually looks like Daniel Craig is tired of being Bond. He is simply going through the motions. He is not alone, by the way. Judy Dench looks like she can't wait to get it over with. I appreciate she is having difficulty acting with failing eyesight (there is a very nice pun about it in the movie), but it's still no excuse. Naomi Harris is just terrible and is simply miscast. I don't understand all the fuss about Javier Bardem's performance either. His first meeting with Bond is poorly scripted and fails to deliver to the potential it holds. From that point on it just gets worse. Lastly, why turn Bond into Batman? Family castle, a butler (kind of), the car (a nice blast from the past but also a Batman touch) and so on, and of course - the scene which was part of the trailer, with Bond looking over London from a rooftop. Bottom line - it was kind of fun, but doesn't live up to the hype. 6/10