Adele

Here I was coming in hearing good stuff and bad stuff ("I like it" and "It's not so great"), which I guess can cancel each other out. So that shouldn't be in a factor in contextualising my experience. What should be is that this is the first time I've seen a James Bond picture in a big screen.

James Bond is different. It's not a superhero movie (the closest thing to action that I've seen in the cinema), or the general blockbuster (a Harry Potter). I guess I want to see the "big" pictures on the big screen some time in the future (either through someone doing a re-release which means I'm living abroad or through a home theatre which means I'm rich which would be pretty great). James Bond has its own formula for success(?).

And it is a formula. Gruff and suave leading man. Some gunplay. Attractive women who can or cannot act, but pretty either way. Some slinky scenes with them. A criminal mastermind with some undefined plot of evil. We open with an action sequence (a textbook climax scene), usually a chase, with the familiar theme. This is followed by the guess artist doing a picture-specific song to some trippy graphics. Then the movie. It's classy.

First, let me tell you how it works. James Bond is cool (more or less) and we all want to be James Bond. That solves the likeability issue that usually worries me. The action sequence at the start is already the climactic scene in most movies. It hits hard early and sometimes it's the only thing that's good, but what's important that it's almost always pretty solid and that keeps you tuned and into it. And I guess that previous sentence is a lie because the girls are pretty great as eye candy. There are low expectations for them and they're glorified sex objects really, so everything above that is already gravy. The baseline is that you're going to entertained. You can expect it. You're going to be entertained by at least one thing going in.

Sometimes it's much more than one thing.

This is not a great movie. I am not going to recommend this, name-drop it into every conversation I can. But this was an incredibly fun and entertaining experience for me and I'm pretty sure I'm going to watch it again. Let me count the ways why.

The opening sequence is pretty good action that translates incredibly well on the big screen with the large things crashing at you and the big sounds and the speed of things. We've got Bond chasing a guy who's pretty good. We've got a bit of vulnerability, we've got a bit of dialogue for company. Bond is down. Piano.

This segues into the song which is really good. The metric for a good song is that getting a copy of it is the first thing I do once I get home. The usual weird tiled pattern graphics are excused because the song just works. It's just really good. You can insert it in a random movie called Event Horizon or something and people's reactions would be "It doesn't really fit into the movie, but it was really great."

Then the movie. I think it's pretty great to use a villain who is just so darn smart because it elevates the stakes immediately. Javier (sexy) Bardem as Nicholas Cage is what I'm telling people. Bardem is just hamming it up and stealing scenes and totally owning it. I can't remember when we last had a just downright loony (and scary) Bond villain. The Bardem villain here isn't a "heavy". He doesn't have the physical presence and doggedness of, say, Bane. What he has instead is a certain creepiness, charisma, and intelligence of a Hannibal Lecter. He's plainly unhinged, he's using banter, he's a real threat. It's the Joker template down to the quirky hair and sartorial choices.

The Bond girl(s). Bérénice Marlohe was a small revelation here. She's initially a Xenia Onatopp (who is a bad guy): she has the seductress, this-is-going-to-be-complicated sort of thing going for her initially, but there's the important sequence which is(intentionally?) a bit clumsy, a bit raw in a Marion Cotillard sort of way. Her hands shake and her voice breaks. There's confusion, fear, and a nakedness that just works. It's an honest turn that isn't excised (had there been a development that it was just a ploy) so it sticks with you. The story is not clear, the dialogue murky, but it translates incredibly well. It's a shot of acting tenderness slotted into the middle of the explosions (this is probably the reason why I liked the song too).

Naomie Harris initially (before seeing the picture) was someone I thought was going to be the usual sidekick Bond girl. I thought Eva Green was great here (less in the re-watch), but Gemma Arterton I didn't for so much (or Olga Kurylenko either but at least she spoke little but was pretty great). This character usually gets a bunch of screen time so there is always the risk of diminishing returns (see Arterton or Halle Berry). What's different with Harris, I think, is the little bits. She's not spunky, but she's moderately talented. In that sense she has some street cred and we're made aware of this, but she's not flashing it. I think the bit about her not being a great agent was a little too much and I don't think it would have mattered in her final decision.

And here's the little part that comes in at the end. I didn't like it in The Dark Knight Rises (didn't like is too forgiving a phrase actually), but it came out alright here. I'm not sure why. There's two of those here, Moneypenny and M (does Q count), and I don't really think either was important. The latter was probably important pragmatically because maybe Judi Dench didn't want to reprise the role any more.

But I guess the message the picture is giving is that their reloading by making a nod to the past. New MGM deal, new and bright hopes, new roster of the longstanding supporting characters. I guess the best depiction is the Tim Duncan Spurs or the early noughties saying goodbye to Avery Johnson and Sean Elliot, and saying hello to Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. At the point of decision, it's pragmatic in nature. A changing of the guard, but like the Spurs it also implies a gamble on youth, on potential that can be more than just a routine.

It helps that we have Naomie Harris that knows her limitations, and a Ralph Fiennes playing the minor supporting character card incredibly well, bringing his own blend of class and Helen Mirren-ness to the vacated Judi Dench role. Ben Whishaw is also interesting, at least in terms of potential. He has the really key role here, I think, and he's brought the most personality with his little sense of entitlement, his assured belief of his own genius. There are nods to the original, well-loved actors with the important subtle twist to be their own characters. (and no brattiness like "Robin")

Ah, then Judi Dench. As someone who craves parsimony (or intense excess for the smallest number of movies), this is again not a decision you had to make. I don't think Judi Dench should have been shot, or that she should die from the wound. But there's a poignancy, a fit to the proceedings of the last third when we go into the past of the Bond character. This was the safe house when all safe houses have been compromised. While Bond says something else, I think in terms of metaphorical statistics, this is the hearth of Bond. To keep you safe, the sacrifice of letting you in has to be made and the ending draws it in a more melodramatic sense as where the (unconditional) loves of Bond come to die. I think it was a gamble, but the correct gamble for the stakes (although I guess the stakes should have been more immediate, or graver in a Ghost Protocol sort of way). I don't hate it and I don't love it either, but I think it's an interesting turn. It's not what I would have done, but I respect the writing decision. (and Scotland is just gorgeous; I guess I'm not in love with the way Bardem died but that is already the biggest complaint I have)

I guess that's the theme. It follows the formula, but it injects just the right amount of new blood to not only keep things interesting but also generate excitement and eagerness for the next feature. The theme of death, resurrection, and relevance is repeated in the gallery, in the poem, in the final scene. It's dramatic. It's reasonably ambitious.

Skyfall (Sam Mendes)