Kiwi Film Reivew: Skyfall

IMDB: 8.1/10
Rotten Tomaotes: 92%
Roger Ebert: 4/4 stars
What The Flick: 9.5/10

Stars: Daniel Craig, Judy Dench, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw
Directed By: Sam Mendes
Written By: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, John Logan

Release Date: 9 November 2012
Described by IMDB as: "Bond's loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost."


I feel like this was the first Bond film (that I've seen at least) thats been really much more then cars and bond girls, but even from the beginning of this film it is full of action. The opening sequence shows Bond being sort of betrayed by M and is thought to be killed off. No worries, this won't have any spoilers, if you've seen the trailer you know this much at least already. The staple "Bond opening sequence" was breathtaking. The beautiful design combined with Adele's "Skyfall" was nothing short of perfection, truly beautiful.

I feel like this is a pretty different film then Sam Mendes is used to directing, but I was previously a huge fan of his work. American Beauty is one of my all-time favorite films, and I really enjoyed Revolutionary Road, but neither are very action-packed, but I have to say, even without a history in Action films, he did an amazing job of balancing story with action. Kept it interesting without making it completely unbelievable. The storyline was great, I really enjoyed the backstory to Bond's childhood and how he became the was he is. The cinematography was beautiful. All of the scenes over Shanghai were awesome, as were the scenes of London. Lots of views of the London Eye in this one. The views in Scotland are also completely gorgeous, the last quarter of the film was my favorite, and the cinematography was probably half of the reason, it was just so beautiful.

I really love everything about Daniel Craig as Bond. He's been strong and sexy, but also truly weak and vulnerable in all of the films, especially this one. I love how he's the suave, tuxedo Bond, but he's also a more down and dirty, gritty Bond, I really liked the whole "unshaven" look in the beginning, really added a different feeling. The whole film you really wonder whether M(Judy Dench) is on his side or not, especially after you learn all of Silvia's(Javier Bardem) story, and you find out that it may not be the first time she's turned her back on one of her star spies.

Javier Bardem was unreal in this film, so genuinely creepy, but so good. He was incredibly intense throughout his entire performance, it really felt like genuine emotion. He was definitely a great and classic Bond villan.  Ben Whishaw is the new tech and toys guy "Q". He's having a pretty great year, he was in Cloud Atlas a few weeks ago. There is also a pretty strong chance that I am totally in love with him, he is probably one of my new favorite actors. (I've also started watching The Hour which is awesome).

Best part about this movie is that I heard a few days ago that Daniel Craig has signed on for another 2 Bond movies! Pretty excited about this.

If I haven't already made it clear, I loved this film and pretty much everything about it. I'm giving it a 9.5/10. Definitely go see it asap, great for any action, thriller, drama, or Bond lover. 

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