Skyfall Review – Bond Falls Back to Earth in this Massively Over Hyped Disappointment

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Skyfall was the most disappointing film I’ve seen for a long time. And it was made worse because this film has been hyped to the rafters by marketers and reviewers alike.

MI6 is in a crisis. A crucial disk containing the identities of all NATOs undercover agents has been stolen and know one knows why. It’s Bond’s job to get it back.

The biggest problem I have with this film is the terrible plot. It lacks any semblance of realism and meanders horribly all over the place. Nothing makes sense.

Bond completely lacks the sharp cool edge he had in Casino Royale and takes on an almost comic role. He lacks any sense of style and its not helped that Craig has unfortunately aged badly in the past six years.

The bond villain, Silva played by Javier Bardem, was utterly ridiculous and unbelievable, his character and his motives made almost no sense. Some of the acting was poor. Bond girl Severine (Berenice Marlohe), overacts one scene with the most bizarre facial expressions, spouting the cringe worthy line, ‘You’ve never known fear like this, not like him’.

The movie is partly saved by the strong performance of Judi Dench (M) who shines at times. She has some great dialogue with Bond. However I felt her character felt too vulnerable, although others may like this.

Product placements appear throughout the film. It gets particularly bad at one point in the first chase scene. The camera focuses on a CAT digger, cuts to Bonds OMEGA watch, cuts to a Landrover, cuts to CAT digger destroying Volkswagen ‘New Beetle’ cars. All whilst Bonds female colleague says, ‘He’s past the New Beetles’ or something to that effect. I don’t usually mind product placement but this was just ridiculous and there are many many examples throughout the film.

Without wanting to give too much  away, the film does improve slightly in the final few scenes. The idea behind the end point is a good one on the 50th anniversary. Unfortunately the way Bond gets there makes no sense and it feels horribly forced.

This is a massive step back from the gritty realism of the brilliant ‘Casino Royale’. People who say this is the best Bond ever should have their head examined. It is at best marginally better than the disastrous ‘Quantum of Solace’. Give it a miss.

3/10

 

 

 

3 thoughts on “Skyfall Review – Bond Falls Back to Earth in this Massively Over Hyped Disappointment

  1. I couldn’t agree more but 3/10 is maybe a little harsh. I thought it was visually impressive in many ways but then lacked in so many areas. I never believed he was in danger even when he was shot, I didn’t feel any of the emotions and the plot did meander with no real intent or sense of impending doom.  I felt like it had been cobbled together, didn’t feel cohesive and borrowed from too many movies, mainly Mission Impossible (the list of agents going missing) and Home Alone (end action scene).  I actually liked Silva I thought the character was great and fitted the “Bond world” but didn’t have enough real intent about him.  The character was creepy and well acted but didn’t land the heavy weight punch I was looking for.

  2. spot on. a very very disappointing movie. was missing pierce brosnan. u are right a lot of these reviewers need to have their heads examined. apart from the terrible or “no plot” at all, this obsession with realism and turning Bond into a gritty character with complex emotions is spoiling the magic of these movies.

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