“I don’t have a clean shot… I’m aiming at Bond,” exclaims Moneypenny. “Take the bloody shot!” demands M, just seconds before agent Moneypenny unceremoniously takes out her partner. As Dench’s M, with a look of complete bereavement, stares out across the London skyline, her prized asset plunging into the Bosporus river in Istanbul, wounded, and ultimately presumed dead. Motionless,James Bond’s body is met by the dulcet, velvety tones of Adele’s powerfully angelic voice, as her raspy rendition of the Bond song “Skyfall” hits spine-tingling ranges as 007 plummets into the abyss — “This is the end… hold your breath, and count to ten.”
Of course, the audience sits safely in the knowledge that this is far from the end, and only the very beginning of a compelling Bond epic. Daniel Craig’s shredded, cold-blooded, and brilliantly mysterious debut inCasino Royale, was followed up with a frankly, uninspiring showing in the flop that wasQuantum of Solace. Yet, withSkyfall,the eagerly-anticipated 50th-anniversary edition of Ian Fleming’s on-screen birth-child, came a renewed hope, with Academy Award-winningdirector Sam Mendesat the directorial helm, and the Grammy Award-winning Adele plugged in at the recording studio.
Ten years on from its cinematic release,Skyfalltranslates as well, if not better, than it did in 2012. For it has subsequently gone down as an all-time Bond classic; the 23rd issue of the famed franchise packs in historic sentiment, while simultaneously remolding 007 into this modern man. It has since been bandied around thatSkyfallis debatablyCraig’s best performancein the black tux, and one of the best Bond films of all time. Here’s why.
Skyfall Has the Ultimate Bond Villain
Bond villains have always played a vital part in any golden-age Bond film, they must possess the correct level of menace that neither undermines their ability as the villain nor presents them as an unthreatening caricature. Many have tried, many have failed, yet those that have withstood the test of time are the ones which managed to pose a genuinely intimidating, unpredictable, and calculated threat to the protagonist; for how can one kill a man who is immortal?
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Yet, inSkyfall, this foreseeable narrative is reimagined. Bond is usually this impregnable, impenetrable, and bulletproof man, more Robocop than human. In Mendes’ version of James Bond, we are presented with a hero creaking at the hinges, breaking at the seams. A sense of realism is restored — a man who has typically danced with the devil, and escaped relatively unscathed, is finally paying the price both physically and mentally. Bond is vulnerable.
Adding insult to his many injuries, the Etonian spy is faced with his most conniving opponent to date, Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem). Silva’s a former double-O who’s gunning for both Bond and the movie’s matriarch, M. With his cunning smile, incalculable demeanor, and fearless approach that make him a hellish customer for everyone at MI6. Bardem’s performance is simply mesmeric, a devious lone wolf with a score to settle.
In the scene when he and Bond appear face-to-face for the first time, as Silva takes the long walk from the door to a tied-up Bond while they verbally joust, the tension is palpable, and it’s one of few times during Bond’s illustrious history that you may question, is this Craig’s film or Bardem’s? Bardem’s portrayal of this bordering-on homoerotic nihilist is just as emphatic every time one watchesSkyfall,while there is always an inevitability surrounding the fate of any given villain, you just can’t fathom the demise of a man with such artful brilliance.
Bringing the 20th Century into the 21st
Skyfallingeniously integrates the new with the old, the tradition of sentiment with the irrepressible march of modernism. Prior to the franchise being launched into the 21st century, there were calls for the film’s themes to undergo a restructure, a process of modernization, whereby the misogyny, questionable xenophobia, and archaic views of the titular role (and the Fleming novels) would be updated to fit the liberality and equality of the current worldview. EvenCraig had nothing nice to sayabout the old Bond.
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Yet, while the implementation of these changes comes into fruition inSkyfall,the sentimentality and traditionalism of the books are never too far away, with iconographic nods to times past — from the1965 Aston Martin DB5 that Bondwhisks off to Scotland and the Walther PPK that the now openly gay Q (Ben Whishaw) gifts to Bond at the National Art Gallery, to the reference to “outdated” exploding ‘pens’ and the subtle play on the “hall of mirrors” opening sequence from Roger Moore’sThe Man with the Golden Gun.
Skyfallisa movie that respects the past, but strides on into the future. Dame Judi Dench’s M takes center-stage throughout the film,an unprecedented first that the franchise is concerned with someone as much as it is with Bond himself, with that someone being an empowered woman who calls the shots and instigates the most high-level operations at Britain’s top intelligence service.
Craig, Daniel Craig…
Bond is perhaps the prime example of a stiff-upper-lipped Brit. A man who embodies stoicism, is emotionally detached, mentally and physically resilient, and unbending in the face of evil. A so-called “proper” man that drinks whiskey, and martinis, treats women as disposable commodities, drives fast cars, and has this cold-hearted trigger-happiness. Traditionally, he’s comprised all the traits that made masculinity toxic.
Craig’s portrayal of Bondhas been reinvigorating; while on the face of it, he still maintains this steely resolve and valorous exterior, underneath the bravado is a vulnerability, a fragility that had never been seen until Daniel Craig. His Bond is a violent brute, but his brutishness is counteracted by a caring, loving nature, and these qualities are at the forefront inSkyfall.His flaws are stripped and laid bare, his physical capabilities as a competent spy are questioned, and his psychological state is scrutinized, a man with an alcohol and substance problem who isn’t deemed fit for public service.
However incapable his character may be, this is Craig’s defining performance as the British spy, arguably the most diverse Bond portrayal ever, as he switches effortlessly from the smooth-talking 007 to the wisecracking hostage and the dutiful adoptive son of M. It’s almost definitely the best Bond film with Craig, and quite arguably one of the best Bond movies of all time.
