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Comments
Have to agree on that score. I'm fond of SF and I'll happily watch QoS, although I'm ambivalent about it on the whole; it's a real disappointment.
While I think the production value of the Craig era has been a step up, I am constantly reminded of my feeling post CR, my excitement levels were sky high, but disappointingly the trajectory I envisaged hasn't quite panned out.
If you'd told me in 2006 that CR would still be the best of the Craig era in 2014, I'd have laughed. CR teed up the tenure and I expected it to continue, but somehow they haven't quite hit it out of the park. I really hope 24 can do it.
I think I'd be more optimistic with a new director, but I'm happy to see what we get.
As for SF - it's still a film I enjoy, quite a unique and memorable entry, but it's biggest problems lie in the schizophrenic direction from Mendes. If he'd cut the nostalgia and binned some of the pseudo-hacking nonsense it would be a lot better IMO.
QOS was a serious let-down given my naive hopes it might at least match the quality of CR, but the film has grown on me since. It's like olives: at first I couldn't stand the taste of them but now I'm happy to eat a few. :-)
SF is a beautifully shot, well acted film with a fascinating script. I say fascinating because it has these sinister undercurrents which I find intriguing yet I'm not quite sure I'm ready to accept it as a piece of flawless writing yet. It feels perforated: the overall story is good, though not as original as I think it could have been, but it has some holes. I wonder if these holes were deliberate (i.e. artistic arrogance) or clumsy: I don't know.
I haven't lost my faith in Mendes, however. I really think the man can make a decent film. We tend to overlook some of the evident flaws in for example the Hamilton, Gilbert or Glen Bonds, simply because we consider them the charming classics and because our nostalgia takes over pretty quickly. It's like having fun with sweet grandpa singing like a drunken sailor, while young Lucy is told to practice some more because of one false note.
SF is a character driven movie while older Bonds tended to care less about the characters and more about adventurous and exciting situations. Granted, there's a reason why people enjoy those less complex, more innocent Bond films so much. But the Craig era, as it is, seems to be defined by a heavy reliance on characters and audiences generally seem to swallow this stuff. It's almost a paradigm shift in our Bondian sensibilities. That's where Mendes comes in as an asset IMO. The man understands characters.
I'm still hoping for a Craig GF or TB but I doubt Sam Mendes will give us that. However, if he gives us an OHMSS for Craig, I'll throw myself at his feet and kiss them. ;-)
I think Mendes is more than competent. Skyfall fulfilled my wishes, complete opposite of your feelings, Getafix. Which happens often enough; people see the same thing and just have a different reaction.
Writer and director working together is crucial, yes. I don't mind the delay; it was not overly long and it showed that he was paying close attention to the script.
They need to bring the mechanics of the story up to scratch. Thematically SF was very accomplished, but the internal logic is awry at times. I'm not one to harp on about plot holes, they're difficult to eradicate, but you can put work into making the plot, a) coherent and b) practical (ie. believable, even if only in the context of the film and it's world).
Indeed it was. Very funny.
The rest of the film I loved. It is probably the best of them all. I was surprised by M's death as I wasn't reading any news about the production. Craig was brilliant as usual.
I'm hoping with the next film we get more of the same.
It's not so much overcomplicated, as incoherent. And characters do things (a lot of things) that just don't make any sense.
M orders the 'bloody shot' even though her top agent is in the process of getting the disk back; Moneypenny misses but doesn't take a second shot to take out Patrice; Bond gets shot twice, falls 200m unconscious into a river and miraculously survices; all sorts of impossible to follow nonsense happens in London with lots of lazily plotted computer stuff; Bond inexplicably kidnaps M and takes her to her almost certain death by using her as bait to draw in some blond loony to an abandoned old house in the middle or nowhere; Bond gets the head of MI6 killed and is welcomed back as the all conquering hero.
Is there any coincidence that Malory seems intent on getting M's job all the way through the film, and then lends his support when Bond drags her off to die in Scotland?
The hillarious thing about SF is that there is almost a parallel plot going on - one of internal MI6 shenanigans and official incompetence - but the film almost seems oblivious to all this. Everyone basically contrives to get rid of the old bat (understandable, since she's become a total liability) and get her killed.
I supposed it's quite funny seen from a certain angle.
My list is missing a lot of stuff! Funny how some stuff doesn't bother me though. I mean, I did wonder where the local constabulary were when Silva turns up with his army of goons, but the chopper itself passed my by.
I totally accept you have to suspend your disbelief a little when going to the cinema, and am usually happy to do so, if overall it makes sense, but there's just so much daftness in SF that the cumulative effect was to make me switch off and just sit back, thinking 'what on earth is all this cr*p?'
I think what really bugged me by the end were that the character actions and motivations just didn't seem to make sense to me. People just do crazy inexplicable stuff for no apparent reason. And I also thought the whole return to Skyfall was a bit lame in the end. I didn't really feel that they 'did' anything with it in terms of the Bond character. Perhaps they wanted to avoid the risks of oversentimentalisation, but it just seemed a bit of cop out.
I'd contend that the flaws were a little more than nits. They were glaring plot holes.
However, the strength of the cast, the excellent production values, cinematography, and (this may be controversial) superb score glossed over it, so it was not so consciously apparent to many. If any of these cover up points were weaker, I'd suggest that SF would be being lambasted on this thread, not praised, as the flaws would have been much more obvious.
Fair comment. But I think that's the purpose of the thread, partly.
For me the biggest incoherence going on here is as to why is the SF appreciation thread being used for something that has nothing to do with appreciation... yet again! Oh, if only this ammount of energy were expended in more useful ways :-w
There was plenty of appreciation in my earlier post, tempered with some realism. I think it's important to be balanced, even in an appreciation thread. I get your point about the thread's premise though, so let me be clear:
SF is a very entertaining James Bond movie. One of the most entertaining in years. It had excellent production values, a superb cast, & a very good score (in my humble opinion) along with a 'kick a'..title song. It also was the last time we will see Judi Dench's M, for which I'm particularly appreciative.
Hopefully we're all happy now.
I think she means me ;)
Couldn't agree with you more with that bit about Dench. She should have left after DAD IMO. ;)
Amen to that!
@Getafix
You are not by any chance related to the Havelocks' parrot are you? Because you do have a tendency to repeat yourself over and over again, you know… ;) I'm sure Maggie Thatcher is blushing somewhere...
Yes, most definitely. I am deeply appreciative (and relieved) that she has been put to pasture. Silva deserves credit for this. She should have taken the pension Mallory offered her and left with dignity. Either way, thank god.