Skyfall Review

Following on from my first review of a book I have just finished reading, I will be reviewing more books, as well as films in the future.

If you have an indie book you would like reviewed or are an independent movie maker/animator who would like a film reviewed, please leave a comment and I'll get back in touch with you. I'd love to help!

Anyway, back to why we are here...Skyfall.

I know this film has been out for a while now but I have only recently just seen it.

I have seen all the James Bond films at some point over the years, all with exception of Quantum of Solice. The reason why I have not watched it is because I was put off the series for a long time by the poor quality of Casino Royale and Die Another Day. I know a lot of people really enjoyed Casino Royale but I didn't.

Alas, but that was six years ago and some friends told me that the new film was good. I am glad that I listened to them! I was very impressed with Skyfall and I felt Daniel Craig played the part of 007 extremely well.

For those who have not seen it (but without spoiling the plot) the film is about James Bond's quest to retrieve a computer hard drive that contains the identities of secret agents that has fallen into the wrong hands. M (Judy Dench) sends Bond to get it back before those who stole it release its contents to the world. However, Bond loses the hard drive after he is accidentally shot by one of his fellow agents and the thief gets away. Bond himself is also feared dead, after he falls from a train following the shot.

After disappearing for a couple of months Bond is finally forced to contact M after a bomb is planted in London, killing a number of fellow secret agents. What follows is a two hour chase across the globe to retrieve the hard drive.

For those who ever wanted to know about the origin of Bond, or in fact M, will now get the chance to do so. Joined by a younger cast, including a new computer-whiz Q, Bond is forced to come to terms with the fact that he is no longer a young man and is struggling to keep up. M also faces losing her job with the threat of forced retirement by her seniors and an investigation into the bomb plot that killed a number of her agents.

What follows is an emotional journey for both characters as they face the demons of their pasts and come to terms with their current circumstances. This paints a greater depth to the two characters, who have maybe been a bit to mysterious personality-wise in previous films. Their exposed flaws also makes them seem more human.

The one thing I did not like about the film, however, was the constant shift between real stunts and CGI. I don't have a problem with CGI being used in movies and I understand it being used in difficult to otherwise shoot scenes, eg, when James Bond is grappling with a henchman under a frozen lake (sorry spoiler). But some of the times they used it in Skyfall was just pointless. There is a great chase scene that opens the film with motorbikes and a fight on the top of a train and it is pretty much all filmed with live stunts.

But then there is a scene when Bond is taken to a deserted town and instead of a set, all the buildings are CGI. Staying with the same scene, when he is rescued by helicopter, the three choppers are also CGI.

I understand that it must have been cheaper for the film makers to use CGI helicopters than use real ones and the quality is really good but you can tell that it is fake. For a moment I thought James Bond have walked into Call of Duty or another fighting-style video game.

I don't have a problem with CGI, but it just seemed to be used at random and kind of felt disjointed mixed in with the real stunts in some scenes.

But despite this misgiving I give Skyfall an eight out of ten.