Skyfall

 Skyfall

Director: Sam Mendes  
Written By: Neil Purvis, Robert Wade, John Logan
Photography: Roger Deakins 
Starring: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem 
Year: 2012
Country: UK, USA 


Let me start by saying that this is a spoiler free review, however, if you want to go into Bond Number 23 completely fresh, stop reading now. But come back later, ok?

 The James Bond movie franchise reaches it's 50th anniversary this years, going from when Dr. No was realised back in 1962. Although, Skyfall wasn't intended to be an anniversary special, the original release date was 2010, but due to financial troubles at MGM, production was held back for a couple of years. 

 Since '62 we've had a Scottish Bond, an Australian Bond, a How the Hell Does He Do That Thing With His Eyebrow Bond, a Time Lord Bond and a Former Thief Turned Private Detective Bond. Now we have Daniel Craig playing the agent with the licence to kill. Skyfall is Craig's third outing as Bond, after Casino Royale  (which was really good) and Quantum of Solace (which sucked). Craig is the Bond who everyone wants to say is the best Bond, but feel it's too early to say. The emotional, sentimental Bond which was started by Lazenby and expanded by Dalton is perfected by Daniel Craig.

 It's hard to talk about the plot of Skyfall without divulging a plethora of spoilers, big and small. But what Skyfall is about, on a non-superficial level, is the co-existence of new and old. Bond and M are dinosaurs in an MI6 and a world that's changing at a speed they can't keep up with.             

 Skyfall is a Bond first, never before has bond had an Oscar winning director at the helm. Sam Mendes, who's directed American Beauty, Road to Perdition and Revolutionary Road among others gave Skyfall his  love, care and attention. Mendes creates something that is both pensive and stylish, but for all intents and purposes, a Bond film.    

 Not to worry if you're more a fan of corny jokes, sex and expensive set pieces, Skyfall has more than enough of all of those.   

 The real star of Skyfall is cinematographer, Roger Deakins, who has been the DP on nearly all the Coen Brothers' movies post Barton Fink. I long thought Deakins to one of the greatest living cinematographers, now Skyfall has confirmed it. Through stunning lighting and composition Deakins creates something where every frame is a money-shot. Deakins has been nominated for an Oscar nine times but never won, hopefully this time.

 Skyfall's other Oscar possibility lies in Judi Dench reprising her role as Head of MI6, M. Skyfall takes a longer look at the character of M than any Bond film has in the past, in a way the film is more about M than it is about Bond. The legendary thespian isn't someone you expect to surprise you, you go in with high expectations in the first place, but Dench goes above and beyond with this one. And hey, if she can win an Oscar for 5 minutes of screen time in Shakespeare in Love, I don't see why she can't win one for this.    

 The Villain, Silva is played by Spanish actor, Javier Bardem. Although it's not a bad performance, quite good in fact, I would rank it as his worst. Bardem is post famous for his murderous role in the Coens' No Country For Old Men. I find his best performances lie in films in his native language, Spanish and Mexican films like Biutiful and The Sea Inside. 

 It's also nice to see Q get a bigger role than usual, because we all know he's the best character. Ben Whishaw is the new Q, I'm not sure about the whole geek-chic thing, but he's a very good actor. 

 The film is not without fault, I could have done with learning about Bond's childhood, the third act feels more Home Alone than James Bond and the film is overflowing with overt product placement. There's also the confusing bearing of whether it's a sequel, prequel or reboot. At the beginning of Casino Royale it implies that we're seeing Bond from the very beginning of his double-o career, yet Skyfall keeps making light of Bond being old and referencing past films. 

 As an intelligent, well made blockbuster Skyfall gives The Dark Knight Rises an run for it's money. Go watch it, it'll probably be the best film to play in ever theatre this year. 

Biutiful

Biutiful

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu.
Written By: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Armando Bo & Nicolás Giacobone.
Photography: Rodrigo Prieto.
Starring: Javier Bardem & Maricel Alvarez.
Year: 2010
Country: Spain, Mexico.

 

Biutiful is one of those odd movies that somehow creates something so sublime from subjects so harrowing. 

 Uxbal is the centre of the movie, A father of two fighting for custody with their bipolar mother. He's entangled in illegal immigration and cheap labour... and he's dying from cancer.

 He can also make contacts with the dead from being half dead, or... something. I'm not sure, the film has a lot of sub-plots that aren't really delved into. 

  Uxbal is played by the infallible Javier Bardem who was awarded with best actor at the Cannes Film Awards for this role. And you can completely understand that from his first line of dialogue. If Javier Bardem isn't a name you know despite winning an Oscar for  No Country For Old Men, he soon will be, as he's playing the villain in upcoming Sam Mendes directed James Bond flick, Skyfall. And no, he wasn't in Watchmen, that was Jeffrey Dean Morgan.  

  The director is also something of a big name. Most famously for his début film, Amores Perros and then following them up with films like 21 Grams and Babel. This is the first of his movies I've seen and I'm eager to check out his others now. I'm also going to check out some John Cassavetes, who was apparently was a big influence on the film stylistically. Although I know off a lot of his films; Shadows, A Woman Under The Influence and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, Cassavetes is someone I'm familiar with only as an actor.

 I was surprised by how cold and dark this film felt. I'm used to Spanish films having lots of bright colours and flare. This certainly ain't no Almodóvar film. Even The Skin I Live In had an OCD cleanness to it and this just feels gritty. Which isn't a criticism, obviously this style matches the narrative  

 There are two scenes in the movie; the first being a scene where Javier Bardem is walking across a bridge and one of those political campaign vans drives past with speakers on top. It really reminded me of 'The safety zone will be eliminated' scene from Paris, Texas. It does it again where, it almost recreates the scene where Henry Dean Stanton and Hunter Carson are walking on opposite sides of the road. I don't know if they were deliberate or not, but Paris, Texas is my favourite movie  of all time, and anything that reminds me of it gets extra brownie points. It's like how a Star Wars reference can make any film better. 

The film does have faults though. It's quite long, at two and twenty-one minutes, and you wil feel the drag towards the end. It has sub-plots that don't go anywhere. Javier Bardem's character is the only one how really gets any attention. I really would to have liked to have known  some more about his kids, or his ex-wife. 

Score: 3.5/5