'Skyfall' Review

'Skyfall' Review
      I never used to be a James Bond fan, the first I ever ‘Casino Royale’ when I was 7 and I liked it, not loved it. The ‘Now Playing – The Movie Review Podcast’ (which I really recommend if you’re a fan of classy and professional reviews) made me start watching them to keep up with their reviews, I started watching ‘Dr. No’ and I nearly dropped it there because the plot was so poor but I continued and found one of the best films ever, ‘From Russia With Love’. And now I have been obsessively watching back to back in anticipation for ‘Skyfall’ and loved (nearly) every minuet of it! I stopped my self from watching any trailers, clips, shots, reviews or plot summaries of the film so I can go into it completely fresh. Since I have seen it I have watched the trailers and some of the TV spots to see how it was advertised and I am warning you the TV spots (the 30 second adverts that are in the brakes on television) do spoil one of the coolest reveal in the film so keep away from them! But as you know my reviews are completely spoiler free so enjoy as I finally get into the film analysis.
      ‘Skyfall’ is basically a revenge story, someone from M’s (Judi Dench) past has come back to make her pay for her Sins and it is up to Bond (Daniel Craig) to find out who is antagonist is and why he has a vendetta against the ageing head of MI6. I would tell you more but then I would be heading into spoiler area, and trust me the film is full of twists, turns and shocks.
       The film is very artistically made with some very beautiful shots and some awesome colour use, smashing directing by Sam Mendes. Along with the arty feel is and atmosphere and metaphors that are very subtly put across. The mood of the film was very dark and gritty, so much that you genuinely feel scared about the characters safety and worried for their lives. In 1995s Goldeneye M says this about James Bond “I think you're a sexist, misogynist dinosaur. A relic of the Cold War” stating that Bond is a thing of the past, and this is repeated in this movie but in a completely different way. In an age where the economy of a country can be brought down via a laptop is there any need for a man with a gun? And a man who is getting old and weak! This film has true emotion and had me chocking up at the end. The script is gorgeously written, the baddy in this film - Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) has real power and a disturbing creepy nature that harkens back to Heath Ledger's Joker.
       The music, written by Thomas Newman, passed me by at some points by at others really created a good feeling and Adele’s song was used really well and had a brilliant video for the opening credits. The action was amazing as usual, that’s a given from a Bond film, talking about ‘a given from a Bond film’ its time to go on the clichés/quirks of the Bond films. In most James Bond films there is an extreme amount of globe trotting but in ‘Skyfall’ we go to Turkey and Shanghai and Macau but they never take center stage, rather most of film is set in the UK and that is where the best parts of the film takes place. At first you see some Bond girls but they are quickly dismissed by the leading lady of the show, M. As you can see ‘Skyfall is changing the genre but still keeping its original roots, the series is evolving to newer and more powerful heights.
       I wish I could sing the praises of ‘Skyfall’ from the rooftops by calling it a flawless ten out of ten but I cant because there are some plot holes that are never resolved. Granted there were plot hole in ‘The Dark Knight’ and I still gave it a ten out of ten but when watching ‘The Dark Knight’ you do not get troubled by the plot holes, but in ‘Skyfall’ the take away from the over all experience.
       The acting is sublime and the ending is pure perfection, the wonderful throwbacks to older bond films were done effectively but subtly and the audience were reacting with laughter, gasps and even some tears the whole way though. Finally we have a James Bond film that has an emotional punch and a natural script that moves us. 9.5 out of 10