This morning we got our first look at the upcoming 23rd James Bond film, Skyfall. And what is clear for all to see, 007 is back with a fiery bang, not with a splash (bad Quantum joke there).
When I first heard that Skyfall would not be a direct sequel to Quantum of Solace I was a little dismayed that they were dropping the Quantum storyline (despite not being a great lover of QoS, it has grown on me and I like it far more than I did on first viewing) and I presumed most of the previous plot points. However it seems that from the outset they want to make clear that Bond’s tortured psyche will carry over from Craig’s first two outings and that he is perhaps still broken from the loss of Vesper as we see a word association test between Bond and a physician. His answers clearly defining the Bond we all know and love; Country? “England”. Gun? “Shot”. Agent? “Provocateur”. Murder? “Employment”. Skyfall? “DONE”. There is an expression on Bond’s face when he is asked about Skyfall that we haven’t seen before – fear. Whilst we still don’t know what Skyfall relates to, I think it’s safe to assume the implications are to be cautious about.
There’s plenty of action, plenty of guns, plenty to be excited about. The score is something we’ve not heard before and there is a warped and twisted rendition of the traditional Bond theme which seems to parallel the twisted psyche of Bond himself. Craig himself looks fantastic in the role and looks set to firmly cement his place as my favourite Bond.
Taking a look at the imagery, the film itself looks beautiful; what I believe was the Shanghai skyline, what looked like a Chinook firing at Bond through a wall, a gorgeous shot of Bond in front of a brightly lit Chinese dragon, Bond storming through the streets of London near Big Ben and a tube train crashing through a wall. All of those pale insignificance quite frankly to the absolutely fantastic shot of Javier Bardem’s shadowed face walking away intently from a burning mansion.
Skyfall opens on October 26th. I wait with bated breath to see if Bond is back to ground breaking form… what about you?
Martin Deer
Originally published May 21, 2012. Updated December 6, 2019.
