Skyfall Review

[DixieKong]

amp316 said:

DixieKong said:
Even though I haven't seen Skyfall yet, I've read numerous reviews (positive, negative, and mixed), read the spoilers, and watched some video clips. So I pretty much know all there is to know about Skyfall. Yes, I'll need to actually see the film in order to make a proper judgement. But from what I know so far, as well as my dislike for Casnio Royale and Quantum of Solace, I don't think I'm going to care too much for Skyfall. It might be better than the previous two, but for me, that's really not saying much.

I just don't like all this constant tinkering of the Bond formula/elements, as well as the overly dark tone. If it was something along the lines of For Your Eyes Only or the Timothy Dalton Bonds, then I could side with it. But these recent Bonds have been rather gloomy and depressing. And I just don't find Craig's Bond to be appealing at all. Again, to all those that like these new Bond films, that's perfectly fine, and I totally respect your opinion. But Bond hasn't been fun for me in long time. The last one I really enjoyed was GoldenEye, and afterwards it's been either just okay to not so great. The old Bond magic just isn't there anymore.

But I'm going to stop moaning and complaining about my classic Bond woes, and say congratulations to Amp on reviewing all the official and unofficial Bond films. You certainly put a lot of time and effort into these reviews, and they're always a pleasure to read.

Thanks for the positive feedback on my reviews.  You have been one of the constants to comment on these.

I would just like to say that knowing your preferences that you will probably like Skyfall better than the last two, but probably not as much as the older films.  One thing is for sure though.  The direction is much better.  You and I won't fight over how many men Bond takes out in an elevator and both be wrong like we were in that scene from Quantum of Solace.  All of the quick cuts and camera shaking in  QoS was atrocious.

Looking back, it was pretty funny how a couple of Bond fanatics like us had a nerdy debate about how many guys Bond fights in that elevator scene in QoS, only to find out that we were both wrong. I agree that will definately not be the case with Skyfall, since the filming is much better.

But I still don't like how the Bond formula/traditional elements are being tinkered with. Take the gunbarrel opening, for example. I don't know whether you heard this, but apparently the gunbarrel being placed at the end of QoS was supposed to symbolize that Bond has finally transitioned into the cool spy we all know and love. As strange as that sounds, this was pretty much the explanation given. But once again, the same thing was done for Skyfall's gunbarrel, so that sort of defies the purpose of Quantum's gunbarrel placement. Perhaps I'm getting confussed, but I thought that Craig became Bond by the end of Casino Royale.

Skyfall's title song is an improvement compared to the last few, but really isn't anything that special. I've listened to some of Skyfall's soundtrack online, and you're right, it's not as good as John Barry's work. It just seems that these recent Bonds are lacking all the various qualities that made the series so fun and appealing. Even the posters have been very lackluster. I just don't like they way Barbara Brocolli is handling the series now. Even though her father's Bond films weren't always perfect, they were overall still fairly entertaining, and usually had some sort of likeable qualities to them. Perhaps I'm a little too old-fashioned for my young age. But I just find that these recent Bond films have been lacking in various qualities in comparison to the older ones.