Daniel Craig reappears as James Bond in 'Skyfall' (+trailer)
The James Bond movie franchise is 50 years old, but judging from the latest entry, 鈥�Skyfall,鈥� it鈥檚 aged remarkably well. Daniel Craig, in his third outing as 007, has taken over the role in a way that makes it his as distinctively as it was Sean Connery's all those years ago.
This distinction comes with a price. While I recognize that Craig鈥檚 nuggety, almost thuggish approach to Bond was perhaps a necessary corrective to the dapper sleekness of Pierce Brosnan and Roger Moore, I also regret that much of the playfulness has gone out of the series. Craig鈥檚 Bond is a lot closer to Jason Bourne than he is to any of the previous Bonds (although the first two Connery movies, 鈥�Dr. No鈥� and 鈥淔rom Russia With Love,鈥� were often decidedly 鈥渄ark鈥�).
Still, even though Craig鈥檚 Bond isn鈥檛 exactly the wish-fulfillment fantasy that Connery鈥檚 was, he鈥檚 a more powerful, and powerfully conflicted, screen presence. (By Bond movie standards, he鈥檚 practically chaste this time out.) 鈥淪kyfall鈥� fills in 007鈥檚 back story in psychologically resonant ways. I came out of the movie feeling I鈥檇 seen not just an action spy extravaganza but, you know, a "real movie."
The film opens with an elaborate chase through Istanbul that leaves Bond presumably dead. We, of course, know otherwise, but it takes a TV report of a bomb demolishing London鈥檚 M16 headquarters to bring him back from a dissolute life of exotic beachside anonymity. M (Judi Dench) has already posted his obituary. Without so much as a double take, she reintegrates him into the spy network that has increasingly come under high-level fire for being antiquated in an era of shadowy, stateless terrorists and cyber warfare. (Q is now a geeky cyber whiz, played by Ben Whishaw, who disdains Bond鈥檚 smash-and-grab approach.)
鈥淪kyfall鈥� is essentially a rousing defense of old-school sypmastering as personified by Bond, whose skills have been degraded by his near-death exploits. He must redeem M, under whose watch a hard drive containing the names of NATO agents who have infiltrated global terrorist organizations has fallen into the wrong hands.
Those hands belong to Silva (Javier Bardem), a cyber wacko whose golden hair and toothy smile are malevolence incarnate. Silva has his own history with M. Both he and Bond share a psychological connection to her that is decidedly Freudian.
Director Sam Mendes is best known for the highly overrated 鈥�American Beauty,鈥� a far inferior movie to 鈥淪kyfall.鈥� With the help of screenwriters Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan, he鈥檚 discovered his stride here, a blend of thrills and sabotage and deep-dish emotionalism. The powerful performances by Craig and Dench surely owe a great deal to his indulgences.
I trust it won鈥檛 take another four years for the next installment in the series. With all the talk in 鈥淪kyfall鈥� about outmoded spy methods and achy agents, I wouldn鈥檛 wait too long to once again cash in on Craig. Grade: A- (Rated PG-13 for intense violent sequences throughout, some sexuality, language and smoking.)
