In keeping with contemporary tastes, Daniel Craig has successfully humanized James Bond. It’s what we’ve come to expect: Our Batman needs to be hobbled every once in awhile and Rambo-like shenanigans are met with a cynical laugh. While 007 used to be a façade of dapper perfection, today’s super agent is struggling with an alcohol problem, womanizes because he has abandonment issues and has a mangled body that looks as if it has been ran through a meat grinder.
Now that Bond is flawed like the rest of us, the latest install, “Skyfall,” focuses on our hero coping with getting old and becoming irrelevant. It a theme that has parallel significance as the entire franchise is turning 50 years old and the modern world has shifted so that you have to give us a blond James Bond to keep our fickle tastes from souring. Keeping nothing sacred, “Skyfall” reinvents the character (it even reinvents the Daniel Craig version) while pulling the best elements from the past: The beautiful women, the exhilarating stunts and a villain that nearly steals the entire show. But through it all, Bond seems tired but resolute as he refuses to be cast off to the graveyard.
This time it is MI6, the super secret government agency that cuts 007 his checks, that is the target. If the ones charged with protecting us are vulnerable where does that leave us? Bond is wounded during an important mission to retrieve a list of undercover agents that, if in the wrong hands, would mean the end of the agency. At his side is the stunning Eve (Naomie Harris), another agent who has the guts for fieldwork but seems destined for a desk job.
After some digging (and punching and shooting) it becomes clear that the true target is actually M (Dame Judi Dench) and Bond, with his mommy issues, takes the aggression personally. The mastermind behind the master plan is Silva (Javier Bardem) who makes for the perhaps the juiciest villain in Bond history. He slinks around; mad as sack of nuts, issuing threats that he is more than willing to keep. With this and his work in “No Country for Old Men” I move that Bardem play the baddie in all films. At all times.
Motivations are revealed, people are hung from the sides of skyscrapers and asked “Who do you work for?” and James bags a beauty. In keeping with the cinematic face-lift, the new Q (Ben Whishaw) is a hipster tech-wiz kid played with cool indifference. Director Sam Mendes was tapped to resurrect the franchise after the cold “Quantum of Solace” killed all momentum created by “Casino Royale”. Mendes barely hits a dull note and keeps the film rolling at a good clip. Mendes is known for smart movies (“American Beauty” “Jarhead”) not action-packed ones but he proves to be an excellent choice as he brings a sophisticated touch.
One misstep would be the inclusion of Bond Girl Bérénice Marlohe as the beautiful Sévérine who proves to have no purpose. While all other Bond Clichés are improved upon, Marlohe is given nothing to do but to look good and provide a meaningless tumble in the shower. It would have been more fitting to give her something substantial to do other than to wear lovely dresses like this unique short prom dress.
Daniel Craig is amazing and has solidified himself in becoming the best of the Bonds. Connery set the stage and gave us the most polished 007 but Craig was tasked with revising an icon and has succeeded. While Bond is presented as a mortal human capable of superhero feats, Craig makes you believe that those feats are possible.