Skyfall (2012)

We have finally reached the end; this, the culmination of an epic journey of Bondiness. I had hoped to see the film a second time before writing this, but given that my wife’s waters broke last night I don’t think that’s going to be an option! It is also therefore perfect timing for the end of Blogalongabond as I feel my blog posting maybe curtailed for a while. So without further ado, here’s what I thought of the film that 22 months of 00heaven have been leading up to.

I thought that the direction by Sam Mendes was top notch; the film was skillfully, subtly and deliberately made. For example there were several slow camera moves that would lead the eye from character to character or location, linking events together. In particular there is a great scene in the club in Macau, where Bond and Eve move around speaking to each other through their ear-pieces; but as they glide around the club separately, they really dance around each other. It’s these kind of moments that help guide the eye through a scene and make viewing a pleasure.

Not only that but Roger flippin’ Deacons was cinematographer! So of course the whole film looks gorgeous. There was a five second scene of 007 slouching on a bed, drinking a beer after banging some random woman, but it really stuck in my head because it was so beautifully composed: the light from the sunset/rise angles through onto Daniel Craig, just enough to illuminate the knackered (notched) fantastic headboard. Quite an insignificant scene, but etched in my head because it looked so fantastic. Of course everything in the final act of the film looked ace too, everyone’s faces lit up with the orange glow of a burning Skyfall.

It goes without saying that the cast are pretty perfect. Daniel Craig continues to be the best Bond; not just brilliant in action scenes and looking great in a Tom Ford suit, but an actual actor to boot. Ralph Fiennes is good as Mallory (an M with a name!), and Naomie Harris does well as Eve. Javier Bardem is a fine villain, the hairpiece alone proves it, though not the terrifying cold-blooded killing machine of No Country for Old Men. Good that he was able to own an island in Cobb’s subconscious though! Despite his escape from the MI6 secret bunker being a cross between Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs and Moriarty in BBC’s Sherlock, his single-mindedness in pursuing M is quite refreshing in the Bond villain hall of shame. No ludicrous “Necklace of Death”, or Sun-focussing death ray, or even playing arms-dealers money on the stock-market; Silva is all about simple revenge.

Speaking of M, let’s face it, this is really Judi Dench’s film. The bond girl isn’t Bérénice Marlohe’s Sévérine (whose trembling lips strangely reminded me of Rodrigo Santoro’s Xerxes in 300); it isn’t even Naomie Harris. No, Skyfall’s Bond girl is M; and Dench is great, finally getting the kind of scenes she has always deserved (though the misogynistic dinosaur bit in Goldeneye was pretty good too). We’ve always know that M has balls (despite her admission to the contrary in Tomorrow Never Dies), and she gets to show it here. She’s quite happy to tell those who consider themselves her superiors or those who are investigating her exactly what she thinks of them, and does her own thing anyway. A wonderful swansong performance from Dench.

We also get a new quartermaster too:

Well something like that. Anyway, Ben Wishaw is pretty good.

The song by Adele is a grower. It’s no You Know my Name, or Living Daylights, or even Live and Let Die. Come to think of it there are plenty of Bond tunes better than Skyfall. However, the song has a melancholy inevitability to it, which is a perfect reflection of the film - especially the startling events of the final act.

I think where Skyfall succeeds is that it doesn’t try too hard, it is almost naturally good. There are still some superfluous scenes, but for the most part everything has a purpose in the film. There are no completely unnecessary car chases, or hydrogen-fuelled exploding hotels, or insignificant characters covered in oil. I don’t think I really have a bad thing to say about it, I’ve only put it 3rd in my list because I think the story in Casino Royale is neater and it was such an incredible breath of fresh air; also I have a real soft spot for You Only Live Twice. A brilliant 007, excellent performances all round, more tremendous action, a straightforward revenge story (though on the other foot from Licence to Kill), and such a crowd-pleasing final scene you wouldn’t believe. All in all, a very fitting end to Blongalongabond.

Blogalongabond will return in... actually it probably won’t this time!

Final order of preference:

Casino Royale, You Only Live Twice, Skyfall, Goldfinger, The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill, Quantum of Solace, Tomorrow Never Dies, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Goldeneye, Live and Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, From Russia with Love, Dr No, The World is Not Enough, The Man with the Golden Gun, Die Another Day, A View to a Kill, Octopussy, Moonraker, Diamonds are Forever, Thunderball

The Hurt Locker (2008)

War is a Drug

On the face of it The Hurt Locker is about a group of bomb disposal marines posted to Baghdad, about the difficulties working there and the heroic deeds that this group of men do on a daily basis. Under the surface the film shows how dangerous clashes of personality can be under these stressful situations, how difficult it is for soldiers to disengage from the army when they return to their families, and that to people of a compulsive nature war really is like a drug.

Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner) is the new appointment to take charge of a three-man bomb squad which also consists of Sanbourne (Anthony Mackie) and Elridge (Brian Geraghty). Whereas Sanbourne had a great rapport with his previous team leader, James is very much a loose cannon. There is instant conflict between the reckless James and the serious Sanbourne as James puts everyone at risk by doing his own thing, disregarding normal protocol.

By concentrating on just a few characters, the film is able to really develop their relationship. The thing is that you don’t know what Renner’s character is likely to do next because he is so reckless; this leads to some very tense moments. Adding to the tension is the steady cam work; most of the film is shot alongside the soldiers, putting the viewer right in the action. By being in with the troops, combined with lots of quick zooms and edits, the film manages to convey the confusion of the squad as they desperately try to quickly read every situation; because anyone could be a bomber. There are also many shots of the marines from behind buildings, railings etc all adding to the claustrophobic feeling that the troops must have in the city centre.

I’ve only ever seen Renner before in The Town. He was good in that film, but he was only ever playing second fiddle to Ben Affleck. In The Hurt Locker Renner is very much centre stage, and he’s very good. For the most part he is an arrogant adrenaline junkie, but he does have his more heartfelt moments; and having experienced his character out in the field the viewer can really relate to how he feels at the end of the film when back home with his wife and son. Especially when faced with a bewildering choice of food in the supermarket. Mackie and Gerahty are also very good supporting actors, and the dynamic between the three is consistently believable.

A very enjoyable film, concentrating on what is presumably a largely forgotten aspect of war. Emotionally acted, dynamically shot, and a very engaging story. Well worth a look.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011)

From the opening understated scene of Snape looking out from a Hogwarts window (in a Galadriel/Elrond kind of way) HPATDHP2 is a very fitting finale to the HP series. The most financially-successful franchise in cinema has seen stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson grow from cute, bewildered (yet perfectly cast) 12 year-olds into proper actors.

The story takes off immediately from Part 1, which was nice; there was no “Previously on Harry Potter”. Though I am glad that I had recently watched part 1. The action is then fairly constant throughout the film; but not so much that the cast don’t get the opportunity to shine. It was great that Ralph Fiennes finally got to act! He has mostly been in the background in the previous films, but here he is really able to get his Voldemort on! He manages to be angry, intimidating, yet scared and uncertain. Alan Rickman is of course superb as always; though I did feel that the reveal of Snape’s history was slightly rushed, which lessened the impact that it should have had. Jason Isaccs is brilliant once again as the terrified, sycophantic Lucius Malfoy, and I have already mentioned that Daniel, Rupert and Emma are now all great actors.

The Deathly Hallows themselves were barely mentioned in Part 2, and the whole Horcruxes/Hallows debate was completely missing which I felt was a major part of the book. It was never explained that by the end, Harry had both destroyed all the horcruxes AND had all three hallows. Not that any of this really mattered for an action-packed finale, it just slightly lessened the emotional impact. Speaking of emotional impact, suddenly seeing Tonks, Remus, and Fred/George (delete as appropriate, I can’t remember) on the floor of the great hall was all a bit “Oh, right. They’re dead then.” Whereas concentrating on the characters a bit more would have upped the emotional content when we then actually saw them die; and it is the empathy that we have with these characters that binds us to the film. Just think of some recent films without emotional content to get the idea (Sucker Punch, Transformers...).

These are only minor niggles, and overall I thought the film was great. For those viewers who hadn’t read the books or seen all of the previous films, there were probably plenty of moments that wouldn’t have made sense or simply gone straight over their heads. This may have diminished their enjoyment a bit; but for someone who has seen all of the films and read all the books (though not recently enough to pick lots of holes in the film) I really enjoyed it.