James Bond 007: Skyfall - Movie Review

A lot of  big budget movies get a big budget marketing plan. Avengers had one, but it became mostly popular through mouth to mouth propaganda till it was everywhere. The Lord of the Rings was pretty famous with several TV-Clips and documentation about it. But Skyfall is different. It has such a big marketing budget that it is nearly everywhere. There are so many posters and billboard that you could believe Germans would decorate their houses with them. There is even a title song that made it to the charts. TV shows send non-stop commercial about "How to be like James Bond". Even though it runs in 8 different auditoriums at the same time and that in just 1 movie theater i couldn't get a good place till Monday. Thats ridiculous how many people want to see it and it isn't even in 3D. But with a great hype comes a great responsibility. Can it live up to it? See for yourself.

The story begins with a chase like it were in the prequels before, but with a twist at the end, which isn't necessary for the plot. The chase is set in Istanbul, the favorite city if Ian Fleming himself. We see Bond and another agent chasing a criminal through the streets with cars, motorcycles and of course on decks of a train. Nothing really new happened but at least it was great pictured. Afterwards the slow parts take over, in which bond behave like a broken person who lives to die. reckless and broken like it happened in Batman, Die Hard and many others, but never in Bond. The almighty hero grew old. now he is a relic of the past, like the cold war and agent themselves. in the present the agents are hacker who control the world by simply pressing a key. One of these geniuses is the "new" introduced character Q. Whenever he and Bond meet it ends ridiculously funny. They like water and fire, but they are I need of each other. They make a hell lot of jokes about old traditions, like old gadgets as the explosive pencil, symbolizing that these kind of things are now in the past. I won't reveal why but they manage to turn back a bit to their traditional routes, which makes this flick a bit more Bond like then its prequels.

The movie goes on and on and switches a couple of times between fast paced action and slow dialogs scenes with a grain of humor till you begin to think: “When will the big showdown actually happen? Wait! Where is the villain? Hey brain, did they show him for a second or as a silhouette? And then it happens. In bright colors shines a big pause screen and you reached the end if the first half. Wait! What? A half is already over? It could have been nearly a movie itself and the villain wasn't even introduced yet!? I'm curious if this works... and it did.  

The second half changes all of the rules and begins with the villain and his crazy fucked up mind plays, which were incredibly acted and staged. The villain itself is pure genius, but has a huge fault. He is a 1:1 copy of the Joker in The Dark Knight, which could be the reason why I really liked Skyfall. None the less it was fun to watch him being crazy. It all ends with a big Bond typical showdown, which is predictable since the beginning. But that doesn't harm the movie at all, because the scene is heartwarming and so important for the character Bond himself, which the next two installments will build on directly. It’s the start of a trilogy and my guess is that it will be the last two films with Craig as Bond, but we will see…

All the Actors performed well with high remarks to Danial Craig and Javier Bardem. The true star of the movie are the pictures themselves. Sam Mendez created so many unique and incredible scenes. It feels like that not only the story grow but also the epicness of the movie itself got expanded. Bigger landscapes, more places, iconic setting and a Bond who was never as human like as before. The movie had many traditional references but is now fully updated. No wonder that Sam Mendez will direct the next ones, because he seems to be the perfect fit. The vfx for smoke and explosion looked incredible, the few ones for animals looked instead like the beginning of the last decade. Another unsatisfying point is the length of the first half, which could be cut for at least 30%. That would have to help the movie, because it feels long. not in the boring way but more like: "How many years have passed? Oh great! I grew a beard while watching and my legs are stiff."

The movie is a different kind of bond as the prequels were. the ones who loved the old ones won't like it and the success  says they won't get one like that anytime soon. Everyone else who liked the prequels or action movies can have high expectations. you won't be disappointed.

Did you like how they put the traditional story in Casino Royal and the sequels in a modern setting or did you more liked the traditional approach with Pierce Brosnan?