Skyfall

[Cat]

Has anybody seen this yet? I saw it two nights ago and it is still on my mind, lol.

[Ann_SS]

I saw it on IMAX and absolutely loved it. Daniel Craig is a great James Bond so intense, but still with a sense of humor. My only complaint is that his pants are too fitted and his pants a tad too short. LOL! I love Javier Bardem and think that he was a great Bond villian, very drool. I love the new Moneypenny. Maybe she and James could hook up in a later movie. I was sorry that M was killed off, but I know Judi Dench has been losing her eye sight so she is cutting back on her work. Ralph Fiennes is a great replacement.

[sheilaforever]

Sam Mendes' directing was FANTASTIC.

So was Adele's them song.

Liked the film A LOT. So did several of my friends. My parents hated it though - they thought it un-bond-ish...

[SFK]

I guess I shouldn't have come in here before seeing the movie!

[Cat]

I'm sorry, SFK. We didn't mean to spoil it for you. But do go see it regardless if you like Bond -- I don't think you will be disappointed and there is so much more going on in the film than just what you read on this thread.

I am still trying to sort out my feelings about the film. Disclaimer: I am a HUGE Bond fan, have been all my life since I was a kid, and for me the first 6 Bond film are untouchable. I still go back and forth on which one is my favourite -- Dr. No? From Russia with Love? I even love On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Best Roger Moore Bond film? The Spy Who Loved Me.

But with Skyfall, I was worried that Sam Mendes would make a Bond parody. There were a lot of articles leading up to Skyfall's release where Daniel Craig sounded a little grumpy about the Bond franchise as a whole and bringing Mendes (a big theatre and film director) in to make it more tolerable for him "as an actor." Then we had Bond producers like Barbara Broccoli talking about how they want to Jason Bourne-up the franchise. I like the Bourne films just fine but Bond has its own DNA and I didn't want them to destroy that just because Bourne might be flavor of the month with Broccoli's kids.

Thankfully, Mendes seems to be a Bond fan and I admire that he had the guts to throw out some of the Bond film rules to create a whole new 007 template. I loved that the film also chose to focus on Bond's relationship with M and the inner workings of MI6, though they did bash us over the head with the subtext that M = mother figure. Ralph Fiennes as Mallory was quite brilliant in a deliberately ambiguous role. I also liked that Mendes retained a lot of Britishness.

Javier Bardem was quite sensational as the villain (I love JB's busted face and will have a crush on him forever) and him coming onto Bond was hilarious.

I think I need to watch it again to decide if I love it more than Casino Royale. CR was more traditionally Bond and I think it may edge Skyfall in terms of heart, mainly because of Eva Green/Vesper.

LOL, you may have to bring that up with Tom Ford who custom-designs all of DC's suits. He likes a skin-tight, sleek cut. I noticed that Daniel Craig was a bit of a bubble butt (from exercise, not food obviously), and the Tom Ford suits really show that off. LOL at the short-pants comment. Short and skinny pants for guys are really in in Europe/the UK.

I didn't realize that Judi Dench is losing her eyesight and that is why she is cutting back on work.

[Ann_SS]

I really liked Casino Royale, but I think that I like Skyfall more. I think that Daniel Craig is the best actor to play Bond so his films have more emotional resonance.

I don't find Daniel Craig handsome in the traditional sense, but I find him sexy as hell and I love his blue blue eyes.

I am just not accustomed to that European style for men. Thanks for the explanation.

It is very sad. She has macular degeneration. She cannot read scripts herself. Someone has to read them to her. She also cannot recognize people's faces any more.

[sheilaforever]

Not kidding: first comments from one of my friends (female) "The movie was great but those suits sucked". Case in point. I often felt the measurement wasn't made on Daniel Craig's size,too - talking about the jackets mostly. Or is a tad too tight the Tom Ford style?

But back to the movie itself: Javier Bardem = marvellous. What a fantastic actor and villain. And that homoerotic scene, LMAO!!!

[sheilaforever]

Friends and family have been reading her her lines for this film 'cause she can't see anymore - she mentioned that his is very becoming for her as an actress as it is much more vivid. And the ultimate tidbit: Javier Bardem told the press that Judi Dench has the Bond Theme as her cellphone ring-tone - and he wasn't joking about it.

BTW; "M" has been called "mum" ever since the reboot so they just continued what they've started in Casino Royale.

[ChitHappens]

Saw this earlier today, and I REFUSE to believe M is dead. No way! No how!

Javier Bardem was magnificent!

Adele singing the theme? Brilliant! It would have been foolish to not reach out to one of the best voices in the industry today (especailly after she hijacked the Grammys). Great song!

Here's my problem:

Half way thru the movie, I lost the Bond feel. It seemed more like DC playing a character protecing a random character from a psychopath. I got the feeling they played the Bond music during the actions scenes to remind us that it was a Bond film.

Overall, fantastic movie!

[Sindacco]

For me it started to go downhill when we found out that it was part of Silva's plan to be captured. He basically just walked into a government building dressed as a policeman and started shooting. He could have done that without getting caught first. Javier Bardem was good in the role but I thought his revenge against M, which was the main story, was kind of uninteresting.

Another thing I didn't like was that Bond was portrayed as an old agent who's been doing this for a long time. Since Bond was rebooted with Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace was a direct sequel to it, that must mean Skyfall takes place many years after those two, I don't like that.

The best parts of the movie were the intro chase and fight in Istanbul, and the very end

It was a good set up for the next film, which I hope has a more classic Bond feel to it. And I would like for them to bring back Mr. White and Quantum so we can get a closure to that story.

[sheilaforever]

But have you looked at Daniel Craig? He has aged a lot in recent years. He's incomparable to Casino Royale now... He doesn't seem to be one of those man who age flawlessly. That, or he's a heavy smoker.

[Money]

I saw the movie today and while the action scenes were fantastic it didn't feel like a James Bond movie which was disappointing. Substitute the character for another and there was nothing to distinguish it from just another action flick. Even the women didn't feel like "Bond" women.

Things I love: Eve as MoneyPenny and the chemistry between her and Bond. The shaving scene was by far the sexiest. People are saying they had sex and it's clear to me they didn't.

The opening drowning sequence with Adele singing the soundtrack was absolutely superb.

Things I hated: Most of the one liners fell flat. The joke from Bond after Severine was killed was downright inappropriate. He was the one who promised her he would help her escape is she helped him yet he had zero reaction to her death and quipped it was a waste of good scotch. So uncharacteristically callous.

Bardem gave a good performance as Silva but he was just another sub par villain. Way too much talking when he had several opportunities to kill both Bond and M made him cartoonish. However I felt sympathy when he relayed his story in the cell and removed his mouth plate. *shudders*

It made zero sense that Bond would take M to Skyfall - an abandoned mansion - to have a shootout with a maniac without having the knowledge of proper reinforcements to assist.

M dying made even less sense and given the context of the plot, Bond failed his mission in protecting her and surprisingly it was never addressed. He quickly moves on as the movies ends two scenes later.

The movie devoted too much screen time to him being too old. One beat was suffice.

While Craig is sexy his haircut was too short and detracted from his looks.

Overall, I give it a B-