Skyfall, James Bond’s latest movie outing is a very good movie and a good Bond movie at that. It has received critical acclaim and several award nominations and wins. But it is not the best in the franchise. To adjudge Skyfall as a Bond movie, we must consider all the elements of a Bond movie and how Skyfall relates to all of them. The elements are:
1
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The Plot/Storyline
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5
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Q Gadgets and 007’s Car
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2
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The Villain
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6
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Chase Sequences
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3
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The Henchmen
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7
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The Theme song
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4
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The Bond girls
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The Plot/Storyline
The main plot of Skyfall is about a disgruntled and somewhat betrayed ‘double o’ former MI6 agent who is believed to be dead that comes back two decades later to exact revenge on the agency and more particularly, on M, the head of MI6. This main plot, as far its execution goes, is ordinary and is nothing too exciting. It is the sub-plot of the emotional and maternal bond between M and 007 that is far more interesting. This has in fact been building up with increasing intensity from Daniel Craig’s first outing as 007 in Casino Royale. She (M) sometimes treats 007 as someone she really cares about. There were hints of this in the first movie. A good example is when 007 tells her to stop pretending after she has the tracker implanted in his fore arm. It is however in the second movie, Quantum of Solace, that it becomes patently obvious especially at the beginning when they are about to begin questioning Mr. White and M asks Bond: When was the last time you slept?
This bond (no pun intended) was exploited to perfect excess in Skyfall. Their reunion after the bombing of MI6 is perhaps the best scene in the movie. When she asks him: Where the hell have you been?, it was as a friend asking another why he had left her all alone and not as a superior to a subordinate. It is worthy to note that she does not chastise him for breaking into her apartment despite the fact that she had asked him not to do so again in the first movie. Their light-hearted bickering in the Aston Martin also portrays them as friends and not as superior and subordinate.
There are other sub-plots as well. The leadership transition of MI6 from M to Gareth Mallory (played by Ralph Fiennes). We also get to see part of 007’s back story. It's not the main plot but all the sub-plots that make Skyfall a very good movie. Are there any Bond movies with better main plots than Skyfall? Certainly. Goldfinger and Casino Royale.
The Villain
The villain is a major aspect of any Bond movie and in this regard, Skyfall falls short. The villain, played by Javier Bardem is not memorable and is easily forgotten. So forgotten that I have to make an effort to remember his character’s name. He is nothing more than a brilliant wacko; not intelligent, just brilliant. His approach to the final showdown lacks calculation and finesse. Beyond his brilliant standoff at the inquiry, he had no concrete plan of how to reach his endgame. In the showdown at the Skyfall lodge, he is portrayed as a person who like to mindlessly blow things up. No offence to Bardem, the faults listed above are a weakness of the script of not of his acting prowess.
That being said, James Bond has encountered more formidable and memorable villains in the past. The best are Auric Goldfinger in Goldfinger, Mr. Big/ Dr. Kanaga in Live and Let Die, Elliot Carver in Tomorrow Never Dies, Le Chiffre in the official Casino Royale and Alec Trevelyan in GoldenEye.
The Henchmen
Over the years, the villain’s henchmen have become an iconic part of James Bond on the big screen. Skyfall also fails in this regard as there is no henchman. Patrice, played by Ola Rapace does not count as a true henchman for two reasons. First, he was a gun for hire and not in the fulltime employ of Silva and second, he was only in two scenes. The best of the henchmen are Tee Hee and Baron Samedi in Live and Let Die, Oddjob in Goldfinger and Harry Stamper and Dr. Kaufman in Tomorrow Never Dies.
The Bond girls
I am hesitant to write about this aspect. This is because Bond girls are cast and adjudged primarily for their beauty and then secondarily for their acting skills. And as this is not a beauty pageant, I find it ungentlemanly and unbecoming to openly and publicly discuss a woman’s beauty without reservation. But in the spirit of James Bond, I shall continue.
There have been many Bond girls. Naomie Watts as Eve Moneypenny truly wasn’t bad but the actress who played Severine, Berenice Marlohe, should not have been cast at all. Others worthy of a mention are Natalya Simonova in GoldenEye (played by Izabella Scorupco), Dr. Christmas Jones in The World Is Not Enough (played by Denise Richards) and of course, Pussy Galore in Goldfinger (played by Honor Blackman). I would include Elektra King of The World Is Not Enough (played by Sophie Marceau) but she does not strictly fit in with the established role of Bond girls. She is not a subordinate and therefore blurs the line between Bond girl and villain. Of all the Bond girls, Vesper Lynd (played by Eva Green) is the best of them all. The others mentioned above are good but the distance between her and the rest is like the distance of the moon from the earth. There it is. Good bye. The end.
Q Gadgets and 007’s Car
The first high-tech car for James Bond on the big screen was the Aston Martin DB5 in Goldfinger. Its armaments included a passenger ejector seat, tar spray, bullet proof shield and a GPS-like unit. Roger Moore’s amphibious Lotus Espirit is also of note. To me, the best 007 car has to be the BMW 750 in Tomorrow Never Dies.
The gadgets have also become part of James Bond history. The palm-activated gun in Skyfall was not exciting and served no purpose other than moving the plot along in the Komodo dragon scene.
Chase Sequences
Almost every Bond movie has a chase sequence; car, bike or foot. From Russia With Love had one, albeit weak by today’s standards. The chase sequence in Skyfall is very weak. The best car chase is the car park chase in Tomorrow Never Dies and the best foot chase is in the beginning of Casino Royale.
Theme Song
James Bond movies have all had them songs ever since the first movie, Dr. No. Skyfall’s eponymous theme song by Adele is good but is certainly not the best as many believe it to be. It is not even good enough to be among the best. The best in my opinion are: Shirley Bassey’s Goldfinger, Shirley Bassey’s Diamonds are Forever, Sheena Easton’s For Your Eyes Only, Tina Turner’s GoldenEye and Jack White & Alicia Key’s Another Way to Die and of course, the classic James Bond Theme by Monty Norman. In other words, Skyfall’s theme song is overrated and unduly praised.
From the foregoing, it is clear that Skyfall is not the best Bond movie ever. So which is it? Going by the various elements above (plot/storyline, villain, henchmen, Bond girls, gadgets, chase sequences and theme song), the best Bond movie would be Goldfinger. It has the best, most intelligent and most interesting villain, the most intriguing Bond girl (you don’t meet a woman named Pussy Galore every century), the second best car, an equally interesting henchman and one of the best theme songs.
But I’ll have to go with the official Casino Royale as the ultimate all-time best Bond movie. While Goldfinger has a simple but interesting major plot, good car, good henchman and Pussy Galore, Royale has a much better story with one major plot and at least two sub-plots viz: 007’s love story with Vesper Lynd and the relationship between him and M. Another reason why I think Casino Royale is the best is because it has the best Bond girl till date and not just by beauty but also by character. And as said ealier, it has an intense foot chase sequence.
Random thought: how would Emma Watson fare as a Bond girl?
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