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kelly_chamblissI went to see Skyfall today. As is appropriate in a film celebrating fifty years of the James Bond franchise, a major theme is old-versus-new. In the days of high-tech wizardry, do we still need old-fashioned spy-vs-spy operatives? Are M and Bond past their sell-by date? How does the past (M's, Bond's) inform the present?
In other words, I think what's really being asked is, "do we need any more James Bond films?" The producers have apparently decided that the answer is "yes"; a title at the end of the film reads, "James Bond will be back."
Here's my review in plusses and minuses (spoilers ahoy):
Plusses
+ I went to see the film primarily for Judi Dench, and I was not disappointed. She and Bond compete to outdo each other in deadpan hard-ass-ness. It's great fun. (But I did wish that the "secret from her past" had been something personal and not just a wacko ex-agent.)
+ The whole thing was fun, in its "don't expect us to make much sense" action-flick way. Huge plot holes abound, but I don't think anyone goes to a Bond film for the plot.
+ The cinematography is gorgeous, and the scenes are framed to take full advantage of the beautiful locations. I loved: Bond fighting a nemesis in a darkness lit only by the amazing buildings of Shanghai. The mysterious gold-and-orange-and-black trip to the gambling casino. The whole "bleak Scottish house" scene -- a cliche in itself, but very atmospheric. The fire.
+ The trademark Bond opening of a physically impossible yet riveting chase scene -- they did a great job with this one. No, of course Bond would not have survived. But then again, of course he would have! He's Bond. James Bond.
+ Adele's opening song
+ the new Q
+ Albert Finney!!! True, when you look at him now, it's hard to see much trace of the incredibly hot Tom Jones, but then again, that film was made forty-nine years ago. He was great as the grizzled, loyal old retainer.
+ I love the way they make use of all the hoary old action cliches, going back to the earliest days of silent westerns -- "Hey, let's have two guys have a fistfight on top of a moving train! And let's let them almost get decapitated by a tunnel!" -- and yet give a twist somehow (steam shovel as train coupler!)
+ Other fun cliches: fireworks as a symbolic representation of orgasm; grizzled, loyal old retainers (see above re: Albert Finney), whimsical psychopaths
+ Subterranean London, especially the tunnels supposedly used by Churchill. "Fascinating. . .if it weren't for the rats," says Tanner.
+ Naomie Harris (the new Miss Moneypenny) is gorgeous.
+ Javier Bardem was really fun as a scenery-chewing psychotic villain who has a
+ slash scene with Daniel Craig, who, in response to sexual moves from Bardem, says,
+ "what makes you think it's my first time?"
+ Other fun dialogue: Bardem to Bond, who is tied to a chair: "M has betrayed you." Bond: "Well, she never tied me to a chair." Bardem: "A wasted opportunity."
+ the *sob* death of M. --Bond cries!
+ Judi Dench reciting Tennyson's "Ulysses"! Be still, my Victorian-lit-professor's heart. Yes, it's a poem of empire, but it's more complicated than that, and I always adore that last line: "to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
Minuses
- Asysilme pointed out on her journal, we get virtually no explanation of why Bardem has dedicated his life to getting revenge on M. Yes, she threw him to the wolves of espionage, but aren't those the rules of the game? He kept calling her "Mama," which of course says a lot about his (and Bond's) relationship to her, and maybe that was supposed to be all the deep psychological explanation we needed, but I wanted more.
- You don't go to a Bond movie expecting a nuanced treatment of gender issues or a non-objectifed view of women, but like a few other flisties (I'm looking at you,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
melusinahp), I was disturbed by the treatment of the character of Sévérine, one of the women who "belongs" to Javier Bardem. Bond establishes that she was sold into prostitution at a very young age and that she spends her life in terror, yet within a few hours of meeting her, he's slipping naked and unannounced into her shower without so much as a "btw, would you be interested in having sex?" And when she's beaten and killed, no one seems fazed or fussed in the least. I can see why the psycho villain wouldn't blink at her death, but you'd think at least the script would make a little nod towards the bitterness of it.
- Sorry, but Ralph Fiennes is going to make a boring M. And I'm not just saying that because he's no Judi Dench. But he and Bond are macho tough guys together, without much to distinguish them. *Yawn* I only ever went to Bond movies (and not even all of them) for Judi. I'll probably skip them totally now.
- I liked Naomie Harris, but. . .I want Samantha Bond back as Miss Moneypenny!
- Yes, the slash scene was fun, but why do the same-sex overtures always have to come from the slavering psycho? It's just a way of allowing mainstream audiences to write off same-sex possibilities as icky and mad and wrong.
Literary note: T. S. Eliot's second wife Valerie Fletcher Eliot died in London. She had kept control of his papers ever since his death; it will be interesting to see what provisions she has made for them.
In other words, I think what's really being asked is, "do we need any more James Bond films?" The producers have apparently decided that the answer is "yes"; a title at the end of the film reads, "James Bond will be back."
Here's my review in plusses and minuses (spoilers ahoy):
Plusses
+ I went to see the film primarily for Judi Dench, and I was not disappointed. She and Bond compete to outdo each other in deadpan hard-ass-ness. It's great fun. (But I did wish that the "secret from her past" had been something personal and not just a wacko ex-agent.)
+ The whole thing was fun, in its "don't expect us to make much sense" action-flick way. Huge plot holes abound, but I don't think anyone goes to a Bond film for the plot.
+ The cinematography is gorgeous, and the scenes are framed to take full advantage of the beautiful locations. I loved: Bond fighting a nemesis in a darkness lit only by the amazing buildings of Shanghai. The mysterious gold-and-orange-and-black trip to the gambling casino. The whole "bleak Scottish house" scene -- a cliche in itself, but very atmospheric. The fire.
+ The trademark Bond opening of a physically impossible yet riveting chase scene -- they did a great job with this one. No, of course Bond would not have survived. But then again, of course he would have! He's Bond. James Bond.
+ Adele's opening song
+ the new Q
+ Albert Finney!!! True, when you look at him now, it's hard to see much trace of the incredibly hot Tom Jones, but then again, that film was made forty-nine years ago. He was great as the grizzled, loyal old retainer.
+ I love the way they make use of all the hoary old action cliches, going back to the earliest days of silent westerns -- "Hey, let's have two guys have a fistfight on top of a moving train! And let's let them almost get decapitated by a tunnel!" -- and yet give a twist somehow (steam shovel as train coupler!)
+ Other fun cliches: fireworks as a symbolic representation of orgasm; grizzled, loyal old retainers (see above re: Albert Finney), whimsical psychopaths
+ Subterranean London, especially the tunnels supposedly used by Churchill. "Fascinating. . .if it weren't for the rats," says Tanner.
+ Naomie Harris (the new Miss Moneypenny) is gorgeous.
+ Javier Bardem was really fun as a scenery-chewing psychotic villain who has a
+ slash scene with Daniel Craig, who, in response to sexual moves from Bardem, says,
+ "what makes you think it's my first time?"
+ Other fun dialogue: Bardem to Bond, who is tied to a chair: "M has betrayed you." Bond: "Well, she never tied me to a chair." Bardem: "A wasted opportunity."
+ the *sob* death of M. --Bond cries!
+ Judi Dench reciting Tennyson's "Ulysses"! Be still, my Victorian-lit-professor's heart. Yes, it's a poem of empire, but it's more complicated than that, and I always adore that last line: "to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
Minuses
- As
ysilme pointed out on her journal, we get virtually no explanation of why Bardem has dedicated his life to getting revenge on M. Yes, she threw him to the wolves of espionage, but aren't those the rules of the game? He kept calling her "Mama," which of course says a lot about his (and Bond's) relationship to her, and maybe that was supposed to be all the deep psychological explanation we needed, but I wanted more.- You don't go to a Bond movie expecting a nuanced treatment of gender issues or a non-objectifed view of women, but like a few other flisties (I'm looking at you,
melusinahp), I was disturbed by the treatment of the character of Sévérine, one of the women who "belongs" to Javier Bardem. Bond establishes that she was sold into prostitution at a very young age and that she spends her life in terror, yet within a few hours of meeting her, he's slipping naked and unannounced into her shower without so much as a "btw, would you be interested in having sex?" And when she's beaten and killed, no one seems fazed or fussed in the least. I can see why the psycho villain wouldn't blink at her death, but you'd think at least the script would make a little nod towards the bitterness of it.- Sorry, but Ralph Fiennes is going to make a boring M. And I'm not just saying that because he's no Judi Dench. But he and Bond are macho tough guys together, without much to distinguish them. *Yawn* I only ever went to Bond movies (and not even all of them) for Judi. I'll probably skip them totally now.
- I liked Naomie Harris, but. . .I want Samantha Bond back as Miss Moneypenny!
- Yes, the slash scene was fun, but why do the same-sex overtures always have to come from the slavering psycho? It's just a way of allowing mainstream audiences to write off same-sex possibilities as icky and mad and wrong.
Literary note: T. S. Eliot's second wife Valerie Fletcher Eliot died in London. She had kept control of his papers ever since his death; it will be interesting to see what provisions she has made for them.