Due to the relevance of the plots of the Daniel Craig era 007 series, before watching the last two 007 movies, it is necessary to revisit 2012's "007: Skyfall", the first of two 007 films directed by Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes. The film grossed $1.109 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film in the series.
Following the controversial 007: Quantum Solacea, 007 is a much-needed new chapter in the series, closer to the quality of Craig's debut Casino Royale, while reintroducing many of the classic 007 segments missing from Quantum of Solace.
Now, 10 years later, the flaws of "007: Skyfall" are certainly more obvious, but the film is still largely the most ingenious, complex, and unexpectedly influential in the entire 007 series.
It's like a perfect storm that brings together a group of talented filmmakers that not only reshape 007, but still pay homage to the spy half a century of history.
Some die-hard fans may prefer to see something more exaggerated and absurd, but there's no doubt that Skyfall's technical and character success can't be easily denied...
12. Stunning opening songs, mediocre opening songs
While "007: Skyfall" opens with a spectacular prologue that leads to Adele's highly engaging Oscar-winning theme song – undoubtedly one of the best songs the series has ever made – disappointingly the title itself is cliché and lacks highlights.
Dominated by sexy female bodies and fancy cheap, over-the-top CGI visuals, the title basically feels like a chaotic homage to all previous opening sequences in the series.
Not only are the visuals rather crude, but the response to the film's story scenes and themes is also uncreative: just symbolic shows of flying Chinese dragons and shooting targets with Bond's face.
Fortunately, Adele's high-pitched voice makes the opening acceptable to the film, and without her, the opening of this otherwise excellent film would only seem extremely banal and boring, without novelty.
11. Deeply influenced by Christopher Nolan
It has been 14 years since Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" was released, and it still affects the production of Hollywood blockbusters, and no movie has successfully imitated the essence of "The Dark Knight" as "Skyfall".
Compared to many previous 007 movies, Sam Mendes chose a very solemn, realistic, gritty style to shoot action shots, especially the critically acclaimed Shanghai scenes, which are easily reminiscent of a trip to Hong Kong in The Dark Knight.
Both films make little use of CGI technology and tend to employ intuitive stunts, and in terms of narrative, Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) in Skyfall also has quirks and complex plans that rival the Joker (Heath Ledger), and even deliberately allows himself to be caught.
To their credit, Mendes fully acknowledged the impact of The Dark Knight and did not intend to hide it from the audience. Skyfall is a very successful parody, at least in many ways as time-tested as The Dark Knight.
10.CGI not very good...
While Skyfall is smart about its careful use of special effects, to be honest, most of the ephemeral CGI shots are pretty rough.
From the fancy titles, to various green-screen shots of Bond (Daniel Craig) doing dangerous maneuvers (riding a motorcycle on a rooftop, standing dangerously on top of a train), to the distracting Komodo dragon in a casino scene, to Silva's facial deformities, it all looks a little out of place.
Although the film cost about $200 million, it was clear that more money was needed to allocate to the VFX budget, and instead of bringing a greater sense of excitement and immersion, these wonderful scenes ended up making the audience play because of the special effects flaws.
Effects shots don't need to be perfect, but at least they need to look better. If you can't get a convincing close-up of Craig riding a motorcycle, use a wide-angle lens, right? No one believed that he would follow Tom Cruise in person, so there was no need to expose his flaws in such a revealing way.
9...... But it is still the most "good-looking" 007 movie ever
Even though the film's CGI is flawed, it's still the most visually intoxicating 007 film to date, thanks of course largely to Oscar-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins.
The legendary photographer brings to full view his penchant for dazzling gorgeous visuals, ensuring that every scene, from simple dialogue to dazzling action scenes, is dynamic, colorful and cinematic.
The most obvious highlight is, of course, the Shanghai scene and the final climax, and none of the scenes in the entire film look dull. Incredibly, Deakins lost the Oscar for Best Cinematography to Pi's Fantasy Drift for digital effects, so much so that it took another six years to finally win the award for Blade Runner 2049.
Even the other 007 movies, which have been regarded as classics for many years, are nowhere near as meticulous as Mendes and Deakins' attention to detail in the shots.
8. The casino scene inspired Black Panther
Looking back at 2018's Black Panther ahead of the recent hit movie Black Panther 2, it's clear that the scene from Skyfall Macau casino had a huge impact on the Korean casino clip in Black Panther.
The two scenes are strikingly similar visually and narratively — the protagonist follows a clue and gets caught up in a fashionable riot, and both scenes exude warm colors — and it's not surprising that Marvel boss Kevin Feige once introduced Black Panther to director Ryan Coogler as a James Bond-esque adventure.
In addition, Coogler also included a clip of "007: Skyfall" in his previous film "Quidi", and it is clear that he is a fan of the 23rd 007 movie.
But while both scenes are wonderful, it's a little weird to see him paying homage to a recent 007 movie rather than a movie from decades ago.
7. Saifrine's sex scenes are completely unnecessary
When it comes to respecting female characters, the 007 series of movies does not have a good reputation. Although "007: Skyfall" has only been released for 10 years, its treatment of one of the Bond girls is quite embarrassing and nostalgic.
When Silva's mistress Cyphline (Benanes Mallow) introduces herself to 007 in Macau, the audience and Bond quickly understand that she was once a sex slave and is now essentially Silva's slave.
As a result, Bond still sneaked into the bathroom and did something to her despite knowing this, which is quite undesirable, basically completely adhering to Bond's black history of treating women like trash.
Although "007: Skyfall" was released many years before the #MeToo movement, it aroused many people's doubts as soon as it was released, and it seems even more haunting today.
Moreover, Severine was shot minutes later, and even Bond coldly called her death "a waste of fine Scotch whisky".
6. Silva's appearances are among the best of all the villains in the series
Truth be told, despite the many iconic 007 villains that have emerged over the past few decades, few of their debuts are truly impressive.
But Silva's way of appearing easily dwarfs all the other villains. It wasn't until halfway through the film that Bond was taken to his hiding place on an abandoned island that he finally made his belated appearance. Mendes cleverly shot Silva's arrival with a long lens, immersing both Bond and the audience in his slow, progressive appearance.
It was certainly a good choice to have Bardem play the villain, and he showed some crazy naughty frolics, which made up for the glamour left by Matthew Amalek in "007: Quantum of Solace".
In fact, Silva's appearance is very simple, basically equivalent to Bond and him talking in the same room, but thanks to creative cinematography, some great dialogue and Baden's phenomenal performance, the scene becomes one of the most acclaimed scenes in the entire film.
5. M's recitation of Tennyson's poems is rather awkward
In the third act of the film, M (Judy Dench) is summoned to participate in a parliamentary inquiry to answer how she dealt with the theft of the hard drive, resulting in Silva eventually hunting him down.
During this time, M made a point of reciting Tennyson's Ulysses, claiming that it was one of her late husband's favorite poems. Although "007: Skyfall" is a fairly classic work in the 007 series, this poetry reading feels a little too clumsy, blunt, and does not achieve the profound effect it clearly wants.
Even if you can understand Tennyson's complex wording, it would still be funny to hear M blurt out poetry during a public question, because it completely counteracts Bond's desperate urgency to stop Silva.
A better example of classic literature integrated into Hollywood blockbusters is The Dark Knight Rises, released a few months ago in Skyfall, where Christopher Nolan uses Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities to achieve a reasonable shock effect. And in the scene of "Skyfall", it only makes people feel a little contrived and forcibly raised.
4. It's a bit too long
While Skyfall is great, frankly, its 143-minute duration is a bit unbearable. Skyfall was the 2nd-longest 007 movie at the time, only a minute less than Casino Royale, and although the duration of Spectre and No Time to Die has gotten even longer since then, you can still really feel its length when you rewatch the movie today.
A large part of the problem is that Skyfall actually switches between different scenes along one clue after another until Silva appears, and after that, his crazy and complex revenge plan takes a long time to unfold.
So, sometimes you might wish the story progressed faster, but even if it's only 10 or 15 minutes shorter, it will feel more concise and compact overall. Regardless, while the length isn't a big issue, there are a few scenes that clearly test the audience's patience a bit.
3. The best ending of the series was born
The final 30 minutes of "007: Skyfall" are the best finale of all 007 movies to date, and this is not casually said.
Casino Royale may come in second, with 007: Skyfall combining unforgettable Scottish scenery, Bond's vivid backstory, Albert Finney ("Welcome to Scotland!"), Home Alone-style action scenes and M's soulful death, making it the ending of a unique 007 movie.
Don't forget the final introduction to Moni Penney, played by Naomi Harris, and the new M, played by Ralph Fiennes, who ushered in a new era for 007. Considering that most 007 movies are completely devoid of emotion and sentimentality, it is indeed a very cathartic experience to see this series finally have a hearty and tear-jerking ending.
Not only the action, plot, beautiful visual effects, wonderful sound design, but also laid a good foundation for the next movie. What more could you want?
2. Use swear words just right
One of the most controversial elements of 007: Skyfall is that it was the first 007 film to use the word "f**k", and before the final showdown, M said to Bond: "I f**ked this up, didn't I?"
Although some fans feel that this is out of place for the character of M and the series as a whole, this quote does help to express the seriousness of the dilemma and M's despair. If there is a group of armed thugs ready to strafe your hiding place at any time, and you don't swear at this time, then when do you plan to leave it for now?
Of course, it's best not to make swearing a habit in this series, and given M's situation at the time, her "f**k" is shocking, but it does deepen her character in a clever way.
1. M is the ultimate Bond girl
"007: Skyfall" seems to take Bond girls very seriously on the surface: Severine is objectified and the role is quite small, while Moni Penney is actually not important (she sits behind her desk most of the time in the movie).
What some people may not realize is that M is the real "Bond girl" in Skyfall. Sure, she may not be as young or sexy as most traditional Bond girls, but she's definitely an integral part of the film's narrative and has decades of ties to villains that certainly would be enough to get her selected for "Bond Girls."
After all, there has never been a strict rule that a woman who must be in love with Bond to be a Bond girl — just look at Camille Montes (Olga Kurylenko) in 007: Quantum of Solace — so those who feel the film's lack of femininity may need to be open-minded.
Combining intelligence and playfulness, M is truly the ultimate Bond girl, and her character development is fuller than all Bond girls combined.
What do you think of Skyfall? Please state your opinion in the comments.