A Dame to Kill For

Skyfall

*** out of ****

Directed by: Sam Mendes

Starring: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw

Running time: 143 minutes

Through 50 years and 23 films, James Bond has gone through enough actor alterations, story universes and franchise reboots that one is never quite sure how the next film will interpret the character. Sam Mendes’ take on the spy icon, the atmospheric and intelligent, albeit flawed Skyfall, revels in old-fashioned nostalgia while dealing with very modern subject matter.

As Daniel Craig’s installments go, Skyfall lacks the go-for-broke excitement that made 2006’s Casino Royale such a giddy thrill ride but is head and shoulders above the muddled mess that was 2008’s Quantum of Solace (a film whose dip in quality could be contributed to an unprepared script in lieu of a writers’ strike).

Skyfall is a slow-burn Bond, reclaiming in intelligent filmmaking what it lacks in visceral excitement. This is 007 with the moody introspections and ambiguous characterization of Christopher’s Nolan’s latest Batman films (which, interestingly, featured many nods to 007).

The opening sequence, set in Turkey, looks like something out of Homeland if that series had Mission: Impossible’s budget. Bond and his partner Eve (Naomie Harris) are on the move to grab a mercenary that has murdered an MI6 agent and stolen from him a hard drive with valuable intelligence. The scene moves from a car chase to a motorcycle race on the rooftops before ending with a mano a mano fight atop a moving train.

However, Eve fires a bullet from a distance that clips Bond in the shoulder and he plunges into the icy lake below. With Bond believed to be dead, an intelligence and security chair, Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), pressures MI6 head M (Dame Judi Dench) into giving up her post.

However, when a triggered explosion destroys MI6 headquarters and kills many, M is in a tough spot. “To hell with dignity,” she says. “I’ll leave when the job’s done.”

Not to fret, though, as Bond returns home, battered but ready to serve her majesty. To keep with the revised security precautions, MI6 shifts its base to the tunnels of London. Meanwhile, the new quartermaster (a precocious Ben Whishaw) looks like he belongs more in a One Direction cover group than in the Secret Service’s intelligence chambers.

Bond returns to field operations to recover the stolen intelligence, despite showing signs of strain and fatigue. His findings eventually lead him to Silva (Javier Bardem), a cyber-terrorist with a personal vendetta against M.

Bardem is just as slithery as the franchise's best baddies, but with a more intriguing back-story and a joyous, reptilian wit that works well in opposition to Craig’s cold demeanor, which is dry as the vermouth in Bond’s martini.

Although this is only Craig’s third turn in the iconic role, he is already starting to lack the charm and gravitas one usually associated with 007 – one that he claimed with might in Casino Royale. More brooding than exciting, this Bond lacks personality and wallows in an intense loneliness.

The film’s stark, sometimes colourless visual schematic fits well with the bitterness and ambiguity that comes with the character. In Skyfall, Bond often appears in a soft silhouette – not just in the iconic barrel roll – emphasizing a detachment from the character. The cold, washed hues that appear in scenes toward the end recalls the look of Mendes’ excellent 2002 drama Road to Perdition.

Meanwhile, Skyfall makes many nods to the iconography of earlier 007 films. The strings of John Berry’s classic theme start in the first frame, as the spy steps out of the shadows, before ending abruptly. A sleek ride moviegoers should recognize also appears in the film’s final third.

The film’s callback to old-fashioned elements is best epitomized by the Skyfall theme, sung by Adele, an artist whose pop hits are throwbacks to soulful 1960s love ballads. Her purry contralto voice is serious and seductive, and the opening song, a jazzy requiem, is very good.

Sadly, the film's action sequences are not up to standards. The opening chase is only intermittently thrilling, a lesser version of the virtuoso foot race that blasted off Casino Royale. Further, a cat-and-mouse showdown between Bond and Silva in a subway station doesn't stand out. The plan hatched by the villain in this ambitious sequence is intricate but feels too farfetched by how easily all the elements lock into place.

The best scene in Skyfall is a pursuit through a blue-lit Shanghai skyscraper, featuring a moody Thomas Newman score and which recalls the sleekness of Michael Mann at his best.

Skyfall is one of the better Bond entries, although it is probably the least exciting film in the franchise. Taking a page from the bleakness and political overtones of Nolan’s Dark Knight installments - it clearly takes place in a post-9/11 world full of security anxieties - Mendes’ film is classic in style yet contemporary in substance.