Movie Review: Skyfall

Hi everyone,

I hope you guys are having fun or at least more sleep this week! Also, good luck to those of you who still have tests to take! It's been super cold lately, so be sure to dress warmly before heading outside. ^w^ Anyways, today, I'll be reviewing the movie, Skyfall. I don't remember much about it because I saw it a few months ago, but I do remember what I liked and disliked about it, so be prepared for a bad summary this time! OTL

*WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW!*

Summary:
The movie starts out with the main character, James Bond, who enters some building and discovers this guy (presumably someone who worked for MI6, the governmental agency Bonds works for) who's shot. Bond then leaves the building and gets into this car that this woman drove over. They proceed to chase this guy who possesses a hard drive that contains the names of MI6 agents. During a scene in which Bond and the guy fight on a train, Bond gets injured. While still fighting, the woman gets in position to snipe the guy, but when M, the head of MI6, orders her to shoot, the woman shoots Bond by accident, and he falls down and into raging waters. The guy with the hard drive manages to escape, and Bond is assumed to be dead.

Some time later, with M watching, the MI6 building is blown up by a bomb. I don't remember exactly remember what happens next, but it is shown that Bond did not die after all, and is living on some island in secrecy. He learns about the bombing, and returns to help M. After undergoing tests to see if he is fit enough to return to duty, M declares that the tests were successful and he can return to duty. After he leaves, she reveals that he failed, but that he is needed, so she overlooked the tests.

I won't spoil the rest, but Bond goes on a quest to find out who has the drive and to stop whoever's been trying to destroy MI6.

What I liked about it:
Prior to Skyfall, I have never watched any James Bond movies before, and I have always believed that Bond was this impossibly skilled man who was cool and could handle any situation thrown at him. I thought he never had any trouble and never had any difficulty in completing his mission. Watching this movie made me learn that Bond was not as "perfect" as he seemed before. In this movie, I saw that he was capable of mistakes and capable of being hurt. He was vulnerable at times and was sentimental about the people important to him.

I also remember this one scene in which Bond got caught by this bad guy, and when the bad guy suggestively put his hand on Bond's thigh, Bond was all "how do you know I haven't done this before?," and the audience went "OOOHHH!!!!~~" because of what the scene was insinuating. I thought that part was really funny because of the audience's reaction (of course, I was like "OOOHHH!!!!~~" as well xD).

What I disliked about it:
I didn't like how Bond didn't really get any cool equipment to use this time. I feel like that was a trademark of the series, so when all he got was a gun and this radio signal transmitter thing, I felt disappointed.

When the woman shot Bond by accident, I was like, "Noooo!!! What are you doing?! How can you just shoot the main character like that? Weren't you supposed to be a good sharpshooter?! Why did you brag about it if you weren't?!" and so on. Of course, it was difficult to snipe accurately from such a far distance, but it was still a bad call on M's part.

There was also this lady that Bond encounters, I think Severine was her name (with an accent mark somewhere in her name), and she died practically immediately after meeting Bond. I felt bad for the girl because she was the one who got Bond to meet the bad guy.

I don't know if I was just tired, but to me, it felt as if there was a lack of climax in the movie. Like I was all "Ohhhh noooo!!!" after Bond fell into the river, but after the MI6 building blew up, the rest of the movie just plateaued for me. Maybe it's just me though.

Overall:
The movie had its fair share of fight scenes and explosions, of course, and it had a somewhat meaningful plot, not some excuse for mindless fights and violence. I learned that Bond was just as prone to emotions and mistakes like we are, though I'm not sure if previous films were like that too. In addition to the lack of cool technology that is usually seen in Bond movies, the movie also seemed to plateau and didn't seem to have a climax. I feel like some people just watched the movie because of Bond's legacy in movies. Despite its bad points, though, you should still watch this movie if you haven't seen any Bond films before, and/or you enjoy action movies.

- Melissa He, 12th Grade, Editor/Writer for Entertainment