Distributor: Columbia
Pictures (Sony Pictures Entertainment)
Opening Weekend Box Office:
#1 with $88,364,714
Domestic Box Office
Gross to-date: $178,045,000
Gross Revenue: $685,945,000
Production Budget:
$200 million
Director: Sam Mendes
Though Sean Connery is best associated with the character, the fact remains that since 007 first showed up in 1962, James Bond has been a mainstay in theaters thanks to a wide variety of actors, and the insanely successful series remains the benchmark against which all other spy films are measured. Daniel Craig inherited the mantle from Pierce Brosnan and won audiences over with 2006’s Casino Royale, but the momentum of the series took a definitive step backwards with 2008’s confusing and altogether underwhelming Quantum of Solace…needless to say, if Bond was going to return again, it was going to have to be with the help of a much stronger project. To the credit of the filmmakers, during a majority of the development period, the finer details of “Bond-23” were kept under wraps, but as more and more information was released, Skyfall kept looking better and better…personally, I was ecstatic when I learned that Academy Award winner Javier Bardem was going to be the Bond villain, especially since he sent chills down my spine in No Country for Old Men. And as far as marketing efforts go, Skyfall benefited from an aggressively creative pre-release campaign that sent overall hype into the atmosphere and built a new sense of national pride for Great Britain; I mean, c’mon, how awesome was it for Daniel Craig and Queen Elizabeth to execute a skydiving stunt during the Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony? Between the action-packed trailer, the DJs at KROQ raving about early screenings, and the gargantuan impact on the international box office, I was genuinely excited for Skyfall and the return to glory for the Bond franchise.
Skyfall
opens with James Bond (Daniel Craig) and fellow MI6 agent Eve (Naomie Harris)
attempting to recover a stolen hard drive that identifies undercover NATO
agents, but in the ensuing chase, Bond is accidentally wounded and presumed
dead. Using his deceased status for an
early retirement, Bond initially takes refuge on an island paradise, but once
he learns about a terrorist bombing at MI6 seemingly connected to his last
mission, he decides to report to London in order to investigate. Cleared for duty by the head of MI6, “M”
(Judi Dench) and the new Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Community,
Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), Bond follows several leads with the help of new
quartermaster "Q” (Ben Whishaw) and an exotic femme fatale known as Sévérine
(Bérénice Lim Marlohe). Bond eventually
crosses paths with Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), a former MI6 agent and computer
genius who not only works as a digital terrorist, but also carries a deeply
personal vendetta against M. Facing a
truly dangerous and thoroughly unstable enemy, Bond must look to both his past
and his new allies in order to save his supervisor and reaffirm his status as a
protector of the government.
During the Daniel Craig-era of
James Bond, the films have tried to convey a distinct down-to-earth tone, but
in returning the character to the roots of the franchise with considerable
style and engaging characters, Skyfall
easily earns its designation as one of the best films in the series and one of
the best action films of the year. As
always, Daniel Craig brings a distinct humanity to the main character and is a
blast to watch as her alternates between dry humor and brutal violence, but his
interaction with the other franchise characters is what takes the film to the
next level. The added tenderness of Bond
and M’s relationship raises the stakes of the personal conflict in the
narrative, and the banter with the new Q sets the stage for considerable humor,
but as one would expect, the main draw lies with the Bond villain. Javier Bardem is utterly fantastic and thoroughly
unnerving as the disillusioned agent of chaos that sets his sights on M; the
talented actor clearly had fun with his role, his scenes were among the best in
the film, and I cannot wait for him to receive the accolades that he deserves
for delivering what many are declaring the best antagonist that has been seen in
the fifty years of the series. However,
for as much as I would like to declare Skyfall
perfect, there were one or two shortcomings; not to worry though, because
elements of style and nostalgia help maintain overall quality.
Given all of the pre-release hype,
I was expecting to be absolutely blown away by Skyfall, and even though I did enjoy the overall project, the truth
is that it did take some time for the newest and arguably best entry in the Bond series to build the necessary momentum
to keep me engaged. Like I mentioned
earlier, Craig may be great as Bond, but overall quality didn’t take off until
Q was introduced and tongue-in-cheek references to the historic series started
appearing…granted, none of this matters once Javier Bardem appears, but the
slow start is noticeable. Despite this
negative aspect, there are simply too many positive elements to Skyfall to disparage the overall
project; for instance, even if you weren’t a fan of the spy genre, I think that
anyone remotely interested in film needs to appreciate the gorgeous
cinematography used and the talented direction of Sam Mendes, and music fans
will be happy to know that Adele absolutely wows with the opening title song. Luckily, as longtime fans of Bond will
compose a large portion of the intended audience, Skyfall more than delivers some great references to the larger
cinematic universe that has been built over all these decades; when the famous
Bond chords drummed-up as an Aston Martin was revealed, the audience cheered,
and I absolutely had a geek-fit during a perfectly-executed last-minute
reveal. In the end, even though Skyfall may not be the Oscar-winner for
Best Picture, it still remains as a remarkably well-executed film that should
not be missed by anyone.
Prior to its release, Skyfall was already setting records at
the international box office, so absolutely no one was surprised when the
domestic opening weekend drew in nearly $90 million dollars, thereby earning a
first place ranking by an impressively wide margin. Now, getting any studio to sign-off on a $200
million production budget had to be one hell of a challenge, but with a
worldwide gross of nearly $700 million that shows little signs of slowing down,
it is easy to see that such expenditure was anything but risky. With this impressive opening and box office
run, Skyfall will undoubtedly
maintain the Bond legacy as the
second-highest-grossing film series (behind Harry
Potter), and with as much as was introduced for 007 in this film, I cannot
wait to see the next adventure for the legendary character. Rumor has it that Sam Mendes is open to
returning to the series for the next installment and has already entered talks
with the studio, so that can represent nothing but good news for fans. It doesn’t matter if you are a staunch
Connery supporter, miss Pierce Brosnan, or utterly hated Quantum of Solace, if you have ever enjoyed the world of espionage
brought to life by Ian Fleming’s James Bond, then you owe it to yourself to see
Skyfall.
