skyfall

movies:  While I have begun to get into the habit of posting on movies within one day of when I saw them, I think this time I am actually glad that this time I was not able to.  I was able to go see Skyfall, the new James Bond movie, over the weekend.  The word leading up to its release was that it was going to be the best bond movie ever.  As a huge fan of the franchise and of the Sean Connery era, I was intrigued by these assertions.  I honestly, no matter how good the movie could be, could not wrap my mind around the best Bond movie not being one Connery was in(I do enjoy movies from the other Bond actors, but to me he was just the best.).  After having seen it, I have to concede that this may have been, at very least, among the best.  But I think the thing that separates this particular Bond film from the rest is not its quality.  It may be the most unique of all the the movies in the franchise.
Skyfall continued the story of the James Bond that has been inhabited by Daniel Craig.  This is Bond before we met him in Dr. No so many years ago.  In Casino Royale he wasn't even a 00 yet when the movie began.  While something as simple as that set the time frame for Casino Royale, in Skyfall it was a little more vague.  Most of the movie could have, like all of the old Bond movies, taken place any time.  But as the pieces elegantly fell into place we begin to see the continued drive towards the Bond-verse we have known for fifty years.
The first of those pieces was James's beautiful sidekick that doesn't seem to quite have what it takes in the field.  She is also clearly infatuated with our favorite secret agent and yet is never taken advantage of as Bond always recommends she get a desk job instead of working in the field right when it seems that something steamy could happen.
The second of those pieces is a high ranking Parlaiment official, named Gareth Mallory, who comes to the aid of MI-6 after an attack on their offices in London.  With the espionage program under fire for being outdated and insignificant in the modern world, Mallory supports MI-6 in their time of crisis.  This notion of the antiquated spy was something that was brilliantly handled throughout the movie.  MI-6 was under attack from its own government for having out lived its usefulness and moving to a more technological approach to the spy game where computers would be the eyes on the ground and the military the muscle instead of a single man providing both capabilities.  The villain Silva, played to perfection by Javier Bardem, managed to do most of his damage with obscenely sophisticated technology while James was armed with nothing but a gun and a radio.  But most importantly in this notion of the obsolete spy was commentary on the Bond franchise itself.  With interest dwindling over more recent films, talk of the financial trouble at MGM was threatening to kill the fanchise, and the simple notion that after fifty years it was time to let our favorite spy go, in such a great movie it was the writers way of saying directly to its audience and its detractors that if you just make good movies, just like putting the right man in the field, that there is no need to get rid of something that has worked so well for so long.
As we weave our way through this revelation we are met with another startling revelation.  The main relationship in this movie is not that of James and his token Bond-girl, but that of he and M.  Played by Judi Dench for the past three films, she has been allowed to build a relationship with Bond in a way that no character in the history of the franchise has as he grows from just another agent to the 007 we know from older movies.  She acts his supporter, boss, mentor, and even at times friends as she helps him to become the super-spy we all know and love.  With Silva (a former MI-6 agent) out to kill her, M looks to Bond for help.  They go on the run, finding exile at a place that illuminates Bond's past in a way that is only comparable to the effect that the Vesper's death has on him in Casino Royale.  The strength of their relationship, as they plot and scheme and banter while fighting for survival (M's fight being for her life and Bond's being for his life, the only life he has ever loved in his role in MI-6), then carries the movie to a remarkably emotional climax that forces us to realize that the Bond girl of this movie is not the typically seduced beauty from the casino in Macao, who by the way is hardly on screen more than five minutes, but that it is none other than M.  It is their love and relationship and respect that is the companionship for James that drives the film.
There truly never has been a Bond movie quite like Skyfall.  There was a woman James didn't sleep with (maybe a first).  There were side characters to invest in, such as Mallory and Bond's old friend from their hideout in Scotland.  There was a developed relationship that allowed for the franchise to step outside what it usually is thanks to serializing the movies that have starred Daniel Craig.  Rather than being a jolly romp of violence and one off storytelling that leaves you entertained but not moved emotionally as James misogynistically degrades every woman he comes in contact with enroute to taking down typical and untextured villains  we see him in a movie where the one thing that will keep him and his profession alive is his genuine love and respect of a woman, a woman who we have come to know within the context of his job and the taking down of those bad guys.
Whether or not Skyfall proves to be the best Bond movie ever is hard to say.  It had one of the best villains  plots, and songs.  It had one of the worst traditional Bond girls, but its only non-traditional one.  It was also the most moving film of the franchise by far (one could say that the fact that it carried any emotional weight was a first).  It was certainly one of the best if not the best.  But it was definitely its most unique.  We will probably never see a Bond movie like it ever again.  And what made it unique made it great.