Film Review: Skyfall

Skyfall. Rated M (violence and infrequent coarse language). 143 minutes. Directed by Sam Mendes. Screenplay by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan.

Verdict: A triumph of cinematic storytelling.

How, one could ask, might filmmakers mark the 50^th anniversary of the venerable James Bond films that began with Dr No in 1962 (with Sean Connery as Bond)? As iconic literary and cinematic characters go, Ian Fleming’s ‘007’ arrives with a generation of history and association, ensuring that any new James Bond film is going to be rigorously scrutinised – and what we have with Skyfall is an undeniable triumph on a vast cinematic storytelling scale.

When MI6 bungles an attempt to retrieve a stolen computer hard drive that contains the identities of undercover agents around the world, the head of MI6 – ‘M’ (Judi Dench) – is held personally to account. But when a sinister Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) launches a cyberterrorist attack on the organisation’s headquarters, M finds herself fighting not only for her own life, but the survival of everyone associated with the intelligence organisation she commands.

Purvis and Wade (Quantum of Solace, Casino Royale) and Logan (Hugo, Gladiator) have fashioned a mighty three-act screenplay that encompasses every aspect of the Bond films we have come to know and love. Beginning with a sensational action sequence and ending with an anxiety-stricken showdown in the Scottish highlands, the stakes throughout the film’s long running time are never less than impossibly high – and perfectly matched by Stuart Baird’s (Casino Royale, Die Hard 2, Gorillas in the Mist) flawless editing.

It is Mendes’ (Revolutionary Road, Jarhead, American Beauty) background as revolutionary theatre director that informs much of the work from his exceptional cast at the top of their games, superbly captured in every minute detail by cinematographer Roger Deakins (Revolutionary Road, Jarhead, A Beautiful Mind, The Shawshank Redemption).

The theme of shadows (both actual and metaphorical) and what hides and emerges from them, powers this film – resulting in a deeply unsettling, sensory experience. Collectively, the stunning Bondesque locations (including breath-taking sequences in Shanghai, Macau and the London Underground) form an environment of deceptively illuminated groundlessness. And by the time we end up in the almost impenetrable darkness of the film’s final act, our immersion into the world of Daniel Craig’s brilliant Bond is complete.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.