Bond is back. After a rather torturous hiatus of four years, the famous franchise is up on its feet and has hit the ground running with Skyfall. American Beauty director Sam Mendes has managed to breathe life into a series that many considered to be on a downward spiral, and though the original material of the Ian Fleming spy novels has dried up, the writers have managed to come up with an entertaining storyline that doesn’t stray too far from the films’ roots.
All the traditional Bond-isms are in the brew, but there’s also a recognizable consciousness of modernity—a formula which seems perfectly poised to springboard the Bond franchise in a new direction, leaving fans stirred instead of shaken.
With Skyfall, Daniel Craig has returned as the rugged 007 that we all know and have mixed feelings about, though it’s safe to say he does an excellent job of playing a pop culture icon 50 years in the making. His Bond is not so clean and rigid, a much more human character than the smooth-talking spy of generations past. Much more likely to make mistakes, he misses shots and gets out of breath. At least 45 minutes pass before he appears in a tuxedo. It’s easy to bemoan this development as a shift away from the beloved classic, but in reality it makes Bond a more credible hero; a willingness to show the spy’s weaknesses only adds to the film’s strengths.
But action junkies should not despair—excellent chases and visually dynamic fight scenes abound. One of the film’s most explosive action sequences occurs close to the film’s beginning, involving a motorcycle chase that ends with Bond falling off a bridge. How he comes back from this supposed death is the driving force of the plot, as he must learn to regain his old skills in the face of a changing MI6 and threats from a mysterious hacker.
Javier Bardem makes a decent villain, though his agenda—a quest for revenge against M (Judi Dench)—is a bit of a stretch. Meanwhile, the Bond girls are a bit of a disappointment, as they take a backseat role that doesn’t allow for much agency or dynamism. However, these are minor fallbacks in a film which otherwise consistently hits the target.
The intersection of new and old is a major part of what makes this particular installment so strong. Utterly aware of its legacy, Skyfall brings back a lot of the excitement of the older, Sean Connery-era films which has fallen by the wayside over the years. The return of Q in the form of an excellently cast Ben Whishaw was one of the most welcome reincarnations.
At the same time, the film makes a point of not taking itself too seriously. The exploding pens and ejecting car seats of films past become fodder for gentle teasing, and though Skyfall certainly has a foot in the past, there’s no sense of reverence here. This proves a big part of what makes Skyfall so likable.
The Bond series has been through many eras, mostly marked by the arrival of new actors to fill the honored role. Many diehard fans wax poetic about the era of Connery or even Pierce Brosnan, when the tuxedos were spotless and the villains had fluffy cats. Craig represents a shift toward more gritty action, and away from that clean template. And although that ended very poorly in 2008’s Quantum of Solace, Skyfall marks a triumphant return.
At one point, Bardem’s villain asks Craig’s Bond what his hobby is. “Resurrection” is his response, and this glorious Bond revival hardly allows for a counterargument.
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