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I also welcome the fact that EON wants to try going in different directions. I considered the Brosnan tick-box era a disaster and was very happy with how things were going with CR and QoS. I just feel SF is a mess and a missed opportunity. Like you say, it promises so much and ultimately delivers so little. I felt the emotional journeys in CR and QoS were far more compelling and believable. I still don't fully understand what is supposed to have happened in SF - in terms of Bond's resolution of his past (what exactly is resolved ?) and his relationship with M (she totally fails to trust him and then completely trusts him again). I feel the film touches on so many areas and I was initially interested in where the characters were going to go, but in the end it seems we just get nothing. We are back where we were at the end of QoS.
It's fine to go around in a circle, but the journey has to be interesting. Generic action, largely forgettable script, dire film score and incoherent plot. SF is a middle ranker, at best.
That's not what you've said before. You've described CR as "not a very entertaining film"
Personally, having gladly seen SF three times now I can safely say its MILES ahead of its predecessor (perhaps even better than CR but not sure). The characters make more of an impact and the story is (to be frank) more intriguing.
The narrative makes sense. M screwed up. She has to be held accountable for her actions - both by the authorities and by the enemy. That's the main thread of the film and the motivation for Silvia ("think on your sins"). In the process Bond's loyalty towards her is confirmed. The idea was that Bond and Silvia were both used by the same woman. Where Silvia went rogue and became twisted Bond stayed on the side of good - even when M had presumed he was dead.
In terms of Bond's past there was nothing really to resolve. It was more a case of showing us some of Bond's background and having Bond go back to a place he thought he'd left behind. That hasn't been touched on in the films before and I for one thought it was done in a moving (and funny) way. The film examined the idea of Bond being an orphan more than it had done in GE (there it was a fleeting reference) as we saw the graves of his parents and found out a bit about the people who subsequently looked after him. Him being an orphan was a large reason why he ended up in the secret service and why he came into contact with M. Her line about "orphans making the best recruits" really hits home.
Yeah completely agree. He is James Bond and Bond should have moments where he is a badass. Although, I'm not really into the ballerina style fighting when it comes to Bond movies. If I want that I will watch Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. In Bond, I want it to feel real. I also, would like to say that I don't want to see every encounter with enemies lead to a fight, let alone a shallow fight scene.
I'm not a huge CR fan, but I welcomed it as a major step forward after the Brosnan era. It has a lot of good scenes but for me it was overlong and had one too many pointless action sequences (namely the Miami airport chase). I've stated on here countless times that I actually like QoS. It's a simple, relatively no-nonsense Bond movie. It has flaws, such as dodgy editing, but overall I like it. SF is inferior to both
I think that this screenplay was on the right track (not to sound contradictory). Skyfall as I think about it more and more does have its own feel within this rebooted Craig era. It was almost as if Mendes or whomever, wanted to bring some of the cheeky charm from past Bonds. I'm not really against that approach as Bond movies always had a little fun, but some really important building blocks that reinvented this new era were sacrificed or just ignored.
I do disagree about the score though. Well I mean I like the Adele song. Also, the end of Skyfall (to me at least) felt different than QoS. Although, maybe that was just from Craig's acting or from the ending scenes themselves. I want to try to convey that better, but I have to go to work now. :)
I heartily agree. Some of what I consider to be the best Bond movies were directed by those who rarely directed a movie outside of the franchise or who started out as film editors and directed only Bond films.
And who wrote the screenplay for "SKYFALL"? I have not seen such sloppy writing since "DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER". Mind you, I have seen some occasional sloppy writing in the Bond movies of the last 40 years, but the sloppiness of the plot for "SKYFALL" left me speechless.
One other note-
I find the bi-sexual undertones used in skyfall disgusting and a disgrace to Ian Fleming plus Bonds history. it was very politically correct and unnecessary to have Bond say, "What Makes You Think This is My First Time?" Some of you may say, "IT WAS A JOKE! ". But seriously what are we supposed to believe? This is just another attempt for the producers to appease another minority ( the gays and lesbians) . EON really sold out here and I'm disappointed with Daniel Craig . Now I am no racist nor do I hate gays, in fact I know many nice gay people, but it was completely unnecessary for EON to suggest at all Bond might have boinked a guy.Seriously come on.
This is just one of many things wrong with the film.
Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the Novels was Bi-Sexual I believe.
Bond wasn't implying he was Bisexual, he was shooting back at Silva. They were playing mental chess. It was a funny quip. If Bond was implying he was bi I think he would have said so. "Oh Silva!" =))
While we're on that, I thought of one little thing that irked me, probably because I watched the trailers and TV spots so much: was anyone else disappointed to see a reshoot scene of Silva's "She sent you after me..." bit? I was so accustomed to how it sounded in the trailers that it just sounded rushed and 'off' to me when I heard the new version of it in theaters.
The funniest part about all of that, though, is that some people on this site, unfortunately, found any traces of bisexuality (or homosexuality, however they saw it) to be disgusting/messed up, what have you...and yet out of all of Bond's villains, Silva managed to kill M, though not by his own hand. Quite impressive for someone with a "disgusting" character trait, as so many others see him.
I take back what I said earlier about the ending of SF and contrasting it with QoS. They are actually very similar endings. I rather liked both of them too. I guess because I geeked out a little over the padded door and Ms. Moneypenny that that scene brought more of the future into prespective.
You are very right though about how so many things were touched on and not followed through with.
=))
It's comments like these which do you no favours whatsoever, and why no one here can you take you even a little bit seriously.
Meanwhile back on planet earth, Skyfall continues to rake in the big numbers at the BO, and is all set for a few Oscar nominations hopefully. I suggest you take a break from decent Bond movies and go back to watching this -
The unending mantra of the homophobe.."some of my best friends are gay but..."
I don't think they infer anything. Look, Bond's dealing with a guy who seems a little uneven and unstable and who seems to be taking an interest in him and his looks. Teasing him a bit might unbalance him even more, which gives Bond the advantage. Besides, they never even once return to this point. Clearly Bond had hoped it might work, do some good to imply something that might put Silve off his guard, but it didn't which is why he never brings it up again and, for that matter, neither does Silva. One might argue that LeChiffre's comment about Bond's naked body in CR plays out like a bisexual subtext as well. Then too, however, I feel it would be reading too much into it. We are extremely far away from a homosexual Bond, trust me.
I see that you had failed to read my entire post. I also stated that there was some sloppy writing in the movies between "DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER" and "SKYFALL". But these two movies had excessively sloppy writing.
I'm no fan of DAF but, with all due respect, I think the "writing" of DAD is probably worse.
DAF has names like Mr Wint and Mr Kid - vaguely imaginative. What does DAD have? Mr Kil #-o #-o #-o
Implying that SF has worse writing than DAD is just insane.
I actually thought this was one of the most successful scenes in the film and at that point I was still prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt. I thought this was going to be the first bit of verbal sparring before some scene-chewing dialogue at the end of the movie where we'd get an epic confrontation between Bond and Silva. Sadly, we all know that that never happened. The scene is cut short, Bond is trotted outside looking ridiculous in aviators, fails to do anything apart from look drunk, allows the girl to die and then is saved by the Royal Marines. Cut to utterly forgettable dialogue and generic action scenes in London for an hour before a desultory ham-fisted 'climax' at Skyfall.
I feel like I saw a different film from most people. How any one found the second half of the movie enjoyable or satisfying I do not know. It fizzles, spectacularly.
Agree with these points. Probably my favourite scene in the film. I was genuinely gutted we didn't get anymore scenes of equivalent value concerning dialogue. It seemed like this scene was setting up a momentous clash but I guess the problem was always going to be, Silva's beef was primarily with 'M'. A real shame in a way because a film less dependent on M's demise and more concerned with the Silva vs. Bond dynamic could have thrown up some great moments.
Also I think my favourite scene in the film is the Tennyson speech and the cuts of Bond running to save her. Teriffic scene which sent shivers through me when I saw it.
And yet Getafix likes QoS in which most of the action scenes don't really show Bond in that much danger (other than the end) either.