The latest James Bond film seemed the perfect opportunity for us to try out a new feature on the site. As a collective we will be going to cultural/lifestyle events, so that you have a balanced opinion we will then each individually give you our thoughts. This is our review of Skyfall. More opinions will be added over the course of the next few days. Enjoy.
Angus Niven
Skyfall, Skyfall, Skyfall. Am I right?
Yes I am
End of review? I wish, frankly that’s all I feel is necessary. If you have seen it you understand, Skyfall is sublime. Skyfall constructs and deconstructs and then recoonstruc again some of cinemas best known but under defined characters. M, Bond and Q are the headlines of course, but there are some other surprises tucked in there also.
The development of 50 year old characters aside Skyfall is the epitome of British action cinema. The second unit direction is flawless, fast paced ludicrously beautiful sequences are scattered amongst the luscious development arcs.
Shanghai and the Highlands play host to my two favorite action sequences. No qualifications, they are two of my favorite action sequences ever full bloody stop.
Now obviously I have avoided spoilers, I have rewatching the advert it is clear I can talk about two things I enjoyed (without spoiling the film).
1) Q. It’s no secret that q is back, back and younger than ever. There is a good deal of complaints regarding his hipster glasses and youth. Well those moaning myrtles can shut it. The youth of Q is a pretty accurate representation of GCHQ’s current batch of Boffins. Barely 2 weeks ago William Hague was at Bletchely Park to begin the recruiting drive for the Foreign Offices team who are “a little bit naughty”. Taking on the best and brightest naughty folk within the cyber community is the only way for modern security to keep up. Q is vital in any future iterations of Bond whether you like it or not a convincing spy thriller will require some key tapping cyber warfare. Q cracks wise, wears cardigans and designs algorithms personally I would prefer to have him at the keyboard than James (or a square).
2) Ralph Fiennes finery. Tom Ford has once again been called upon to transform Skyfall into the greatest cinematic showcase of Sartorial elegance since Giorgio Armani’s turn In “The Untouchables”. Of course Bonds Dinner attire in Macau is the highlight and his figure hugging daywear is ludicrously revealing (which apparently is popular with some people). I however felt it was Fiennes slightly retro assortment
of suits where the costume department were really showing off. Drawing on everything from double berated waistcoats and his ever present braces Fiennes creates the most ludicrously well tailored public servant since Anthony Eden.
So go and see Skyfall because somehow, 50 years and a few thousand martinis on James can still pull an honest to god classic out of the bag (and seduce you with it).
Elyse Jamieson
I had high hopes for Skyfall; so high that I actually got out of bed on an incredibly cold evening and travelled all the way across Edinburgh to go and see it on its day of release. Thankfully, it did not disappoint. As ever, Daniel Craig is a superb Bond – the perfect image of a spy, cool yet considered – but the central focus shifts a little towards M, wonderfully played as ever by Dame Judi Dench. It was great to see a strong female character with such a prominent role in a blockbuster movie. The same applies to a lesser extent to Eve (Naomie Harris) and Sévérine (Bérénice Marlohe), although her story is not given the attention it really deserves.
It is also nice to see Bond’s creators acknowledging that nowadays, threats to the state are likely to be of a technological nature rather than an all-guns-blazing kind of affair. Of course, there are still a few (major) explosions, but the gadgets utilised by Q (Ben Whishaw) and the main thrust of the plot, a stolen hard drive, seem to give the film a greater relevance while still providing an indulgent escape from reality.
Skyfall is also a beautifully shot film, especially when its protagonists pay a visit to the heathery hills of Glen Coe. With a solid, if basic, storyline and a fantastic cast to back it up, this Bond is certainly one to get on board with.
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