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Since I'm not sure how much time I'll have afterwards to post for Blog Posting Month here is a placeholder so I don't miss a day. Is this cheating? Probably. I'm doing it anyway. When I get back I'll fill it with something that is more interesting. Hopefully.
self why do you fail at time management
So okay it's 2am and I'm back from watching Skyfall with my brother and sister. It was good! Not as good as Casino Royale, but better than Quantum of Solace.
Things I Liked:
-Most of the action and espionage sequences! Thank god they dropped the shaky cam that pretty much ruined QoS and went back the semi-realistic, highly physical emphasis that Casino Royale had. That said, the action setpieces are generally more, uh, extreme than Casino Royale's--the ending, in particular, gets rather explode happy in a way that gets a little tiresome--but they're all exciting. My favorite sections were the opening scene in Turkey and the part where Bond tracks Patrice in Shanghai.
-The Skyfall title theme by Adele. I'm not a huge fan of most Bond title themes so this was a pleasant surprise.
-The focus on M and her relationship to her job and her agents/Bond. IMO she's the most fascinating character in the new films and this was a great send-off for her. Well, mostly. I do have a bone to pick with that ending...
-All of the new characters who are actually old characters. The new Q, M, and Moneypenny were all fun to watch and I'm glad they'll be in future Bond films.
Things I Disliked:
-Javier Bardem's character, Silva. The ~criminal mastermind~ archetype is like, my least favorite kind of villain, because it's pretty obvious that, for plot reasons, he'll orchestrate some grossly elaborate plot that is so exacting in its particulars that it's almost impossible to take seriously. Also, the fact that Silva is either bisexual or at least faking bisexuality w/ Bond is all kinds of unpleasant since it's used solely as a creep factor. Ick. The only thing I enjoyed about Silva was that his backstory was important in deepening M's character.
-Eve ending up as Moneypenny. Like, I'm glad Eve is going to be in more Bond films. BUT. The reason she becomes 'Miss Moneypenny' is because she's not cut out to be a field agent, according to the plot; it's her whole character arc and the film keeps beating viewers over the head with it. Only...she's not a bad field agent! At least I didn't think she was a bad field agent. Yes, she's the one who shoots and 'kills' Bond, but that's far more on M's head than Eve's; Eve straight up tells M that she can't get a clean shot, and it's M who decides that Eve has to take it anyway. Bond clearly blames M just as much, if not more, than Eve for his near-death. Eve is able to joke about her mistake as soon as she sees Bond for the first time after the shooting, so she's clearly able to shake off some seriously traumatic stuff. The only other time she's in the field she saves Bond's life, so when she says she doesn't want to be a field agent, it just seemed really off to me.
-M's death. Aside from the fact that the whole showdown at Skyfall went on waaaaaaay too long and had far more explosions than was necessary, M dying right after Silva just made the last third of the movie seem like a waste. The hearing in London makes it sound like M is the only one who understands the threats facing governments today, and then M16 and Bond spend so much time protect M...only to have her die from an untreated gunshot wound literally two minutes after nearly being killed by Silva. Like, what was the point? Honestly, I don't see much of a difference between the actual ending and what Silva wanted--for M to kill both of them at the same time. I know the idea with having Silva die at Bond's hands was to deny Silva his dream of uh...dying with his mother figure?...but again, it sure didn't feel like any kind of victory. I almost wish M had killed herself to take Silva out--it would have underscored how dedicated she was to finishing what she started, as stated early on in the film.
But aside from those issues, I really enjoyed the movie.
