Skyfall-Breakaway Bond Film

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Sorry! It took me a long time in coming back, but then have not been able to watch too many films in the last two months, due to terrible travel schedule. But during my month stay in Europe I was able to watch a lot of Ray (Satyajit), about which I shall discuss in a separate forum.
The latest edition from the James Bond franchise is truly a breakaway film and Sam Mendes has done justice to the theme, film and the script. Infact, it might have taken a whole lot of guts from the owners of the James Bond franchise to be approving such an genre (actually it is a genre unto itself).
After Sean Connery, Daniel Craig has easily been the best thing to happen to James Bond. Sorry Pierce Brosnan! And he takes forward the legacy and how. To me Daniel Craig had arrived from the classic chase sequence shot stylishly in Madagascar for Casino Royale in the opening sequence of the film. That to me set the tone for a whole new theme of Bond films, which brought back the vintage Bond (read Sean Connery) back with more raw guts and physical appeal rather than the prior editions which relied all too heavily on machines.
Infact, in Skyfall, Q replaced by a younger version (Ben Whinshaw) sets the stage with the line that goes "no more do they rely on those gadgets of the past and instead hands Bond a pistol with a sensor attached". So much for the hype of the past franschise, I think somethings are best when kept simple.
Surprisingly this version does not even boasts of the usual dalliances of Bond with his girls and rather the whole thing was quite tame and even a vintage Bond film like Dr. No would be bold and beautiful. However, this does not at any point in time dissuade away from the film.
The film starts on an usual note of a chase for hard drive and later at the end of the chase, Bond gets accidentally shot (now presumed dead and his obituary written too). He later resurfaces when M and her team (MI6) is in trouble. It follows the path of chase, action, blood and finally Bond meeting his nemesis, another ex MI6, Raoul Silva (played brilliantly by Javier Bardem, do not miss his opening shot, where he atleast walks a good 500-750 metres from a long camera to a tight shot, all through delivering dialogues in his cool and composed manner, this has to be one of the best part of the movies). From then on it is a cat and mouse game and ending with the death of M (this one comes as a big surprise, even though from the start there was always the pressure on M to retire).
Skyfall is amongst one of the “stand out films” in the bond franchise and holds itself in a contemporary context, where times have changed, and audiences have too. The days of Facebook, reality television and limited attention span with a lesser shelf life for most things, Skyfall will hold ground for a long time.
For now- let me ask the classic question that M asks Bond even in her dying moments’ what took you so long Bond?

We await Sam for your next edition!     

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