Skyfall: Bond will return

Ruwini JAYAWARDANA

Debates have been on whether or not Daniel Craig is too old to take on the role of James Bond in the latest 007 movie Skyfall. Now the team can put up their feet and rest on their laurels as the movie turned out to be a worldwide money spinner.

The latest Bond flick is specifically tailored for the 50th anniversary of the series. Director Sam Mendes skillfully shows Bond not at his best after the opening action episodes of Skyfall. A more experienced yet physically and mentally not up to standard Bond emerges to deal with an enemy from his boss’ past.

The opening sequence is of true Bond style with chases through a Turkish bazaar, motorcycle chases on rooftops and a fistfight on top of a train in progress. Just when you think that the film has nothing to offer that its predecessors did, the scenes change. We are at the edge of our seat wondering whether the movie marks the end of James Bond only to realize that it is only the beginning of a reawakening. Following an attack on M16 and the leaking of several secret identities Bond is forced to return from the dead to assume duties again. Meanwhile M, the head of M16, is forced to take part in a public inquisition and asked to defend the existence of their allegedly outmoded intelligence operations.

Setting off to Southeast Asia to track down a cyber-terrorist with an apparent vendetta against MI6 Bond captures Silva only to realize that he has a revenge scheme in mind. Though she is given disappointingly limited screen space Naomie Harris makes a memorable impact as fellow agent Eve. She is seductive as well as a serious on the job and makes a fitting companion for Bond. Bérénice Marlohe may have been unveiled as the sexy Sévérine but she lasts for a surprisingly short time on screen as well as in memory. The main Bond girl in this movie is dame Judi Dench who becomes the hunted in the end rather than the head of the investigative unit. Dench is pressurized to retire by bureaucrats and politicians but decides to stay in office to cope with her own nightmare legacy.

From mentor to a surrogate mother he will kill to protect the background is set for a series of action and obscurity for James Bond. Javier Bardem makes a striking entrance as the villain from walking to the fore from the back of a frame while reciting a parable about rats in a barrel. He plays the character with sharp wit and a delirious desire for vengeance so that Silva seems to be a combination of a lunatic and Dracula in flesh.

Action, humor, glamour and mystery are well balanced in the tale. It merges the old and new elements of the tale smartly. The climax seems to be straight out of a gothic movie with the old mansion catching fire and blowing up in pieces.

Silva and his thugs’ visages are lit up by the flames creating a horrifying atmosphere. The movie also manages to make use of its spectacular locations in and out of Britain. The aim of the movie seems to be more on showing the humane side of Bond, revealing that he too has his faults and weaknesses.

The Bond here can barely manage a chin-up before collapsing or dangle from an undercarriage without wincing. Yet while taking brave chances and bold risks he manages to pull through proving that the ace detective who has mesmerized thousands throughout the years does have a future in the 21st century.

Skyfall makes a fitting modern version of a Bond film while staying true to its roots. The success of the movie ensures that Bond will be able to make a comeback in the days to come.