I am PLEASED to say that Agent James Bond, 007 is BACK armed with his license to thrill! After the rather lackluster performance of Quantum of Solace, Skyfall was a much needed breath of vitality to the 50 year franchise. YES, indeed in 1962, Dr. No was released as the first Bond movie. I will not detail the plot of the newest installment; however, I will touch on some of the things that made this a return to form.
- Old Friends: Chief among them was Q. Albeit a a very young Q but I see great things coming in future movies. Hopefully, a return to the repartee between the Quartermaster and Bond from days of old. A few other surprises along the way that I will save.
- M: Dame Judi sure breathes life into what was always a cardboard cutout. Instead of the stereotypical head of MI6 who presents 007 with his latest assignment, she has become a much more dynamic and interesting character. Skyfall is as much an M-centered movie as it is Bond.
- BIG ACTION SEQUENCES: These seem to have been missing in the last two movies. Trains, motorcycles, helicopters and other myriad pieces add to the FUN of the film. I would really enjoy another good snow ski extravaganza.
- Supporting Cast: I cannot remember a Bond film having such a cast of well-known performers. Ralph Fiennes (without his make up as Voldemort … ok so he has been in other movies) and Javier Bardem (who plays ANOTHER memorable villain).
- Daniel Craig: Maybe the third time was the charm. Mr. Craig has finally lightened up a bit from the stoic, seriousness of Casino Royale and QoS. You can almost see him winking at the camera. Thank goodness, as he has signed on for at least two more turns.
I am hard-pressed to find anything I did not like about Skyfall. Even Adele’s theme song was reminiscent of the best of them. The previous theme was another less than memorable aspect. Perhaps the gun barrel OPENING the show would be nice instead of closing it?
I may have to attempt to see this sooner than later. I’ve heard several good things about Skyfall – your blog included. Even Fr. Robert Barron on his wordonfire.com webpage has an interesting video discussing the movie. See you for Thanksgiving!
Much improved over Quantum of Solace. In fact, I remember very little of it other than it was basically a Bond in Revenge mode. UGZh! See you Turkey Day!
I will have to check out Fr. Barron’s blog! Funny thing.. After I got back from the movie Saturday night, I was told that Jeff would have gone had I gone to a later showing. This was right after he got back from another week in the hospital… CRAZY! I said he needed to be home with the kids.
VERY interesting take! I may have to check it out again to get all of the religious connections beyond the obvious. If anyone else is interested check out Fr. Barron’s blog at wordonfire.org. Be warned… MANY SPOILERs throughout. Very cool info on Fleming and on the inspiration behind the Bond character.
I was glad to see you made a post, even if it seemed like a foreign language to me since I’ve never seen a Bond film. Don’t worry, I don’t feel deprived… 😉
I’m happy you enjoyed the latest installment of the franchise – nothing like being a fan of something only to watch pop culture ruin it.
By the way, took the kids to see Wreck It Ralph which was thoroughly enjoyable for the entire family; I highly recommend it!! It’s especially fun for kids of the 80s who played video games… (ahem D if you are still reading tangents…)
That sounds like a great one for Christmas break! And thanks for the non-Bond fan comment!
I know it’s far too late for anyone to read this, but for a long time I had tangents open in one of my browser tabs. Since no one regularly posts anymore (myself included) and because of the depressing abundance of spam blog posts, I decided to just close it and check in every once in awhile. Guess it has been awhile…
I have not yet seen WiR or 007:Sf. I am happy to wait for our library to get Sf next year, and it looks like I am going to wait for WiR as well. Surely it will be gone from the theaters next Saturday (could have but didn’t check for it yesterday) and I won’t pay full price to see any movie any evening unless going with friends. I didn’t want to go last weekend because I was not about to go near any shopping areas.