Not to be confused with my previous review of the similarly named Deadfall, this is the new 007 film, which we saw late on opening night here in San Francisco.
There, that's got the positive side of this over and done with.
Skyfall is a huge disappointment. Not just a huge disappointment over earlier Bond movies, but a huge letdown in terms of how much I wanted to enjoy this, how much I expected to enjoy it.
The plot - as in all Bond films - is irrelevant. An arch-villain steals or builds a dangerous weapon, threatens M, or one of Bond's Babes, or the whole world with it, and Bond saves the day. The Quantum of Dr No with a Golden Gun.
The style and content are critical. And Skyfall's style and content are sub-Bourne to say the best. Aside from the first fifteen minutes, which featured the obligatory action tour through a Turkish bazaar, and a clever motorcycle chase across the rooftops, the film featured no other action aside from various shootings and explosions.
There were no supercar antics. There were cheers from our audience when Bond cracked open the doors of his garage to reveal the 1963 Aston Martin DB5 made famous by the inimitable Sean Connery. Daniel Craig uses the car to escape the ludicrous Javier Bardem, taking M to the supposed safety of his family seat in Scotland. It's a good job the trip didn't require a high-speed race, as the DB5 is only a 4 liter, sub-300 bhp antique, capable of just beating the average family sedan at the traffic lights.
And what's all the hogwash about Javier Bardem being a perfect villain. Rather than being a Blofeld, he just blows.
There was nothing new about this iteration of Her Majesty's allegedly top agent. Now, one doesn't necessarily expect an all-new Bond. The series calls for a delicate balance between staying true to the tradition, while keeping it fresh and exciting.
However, Skyfall does neither.
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