My Spoilerific "Skyfall" Review!
Nov. 2nd, 2012 04:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eumeliaWent to see "Skyfall" last night.
Without giving anything away, it was a brilliantly directed movie. Same Mendes' signature was all over the place.
It was a brilliant homage to 50 years of Bond movies, self referential and meta up the wazoo, which I love, but can get grating, because the nostalgia was also, well, retrogressive.
The acting of everyone was fucking wonderful. Daniel Craig is compelling, I really love the way he acts as though he's constantly restraining the underlying violence of his character.
Not to mention Judi Dench (M), Ralph Fiennes (the new M - yeah, Judi kicks it at the end), Naomi Harris (more on her in a bit) and Ben Whishaw (the new Q, whom I hope stays forever!)
The plot centres around the idea that MI6 is antiquated and that espionage is no longer compatible with the world of independent terrorist cells and the transparency of the new media. Not so! Says the movie. Due to this there was a lot of call back and as mentioned self references to the old school of Bond (Like Scotland, people referring to Bond as a relic, old, a has-been, etc.). I'm not ashamed to say that I squealed when I saw the Aston-Martin.
"Murder", "Employment" indeed. He is self destructive is a way that is mesmerising to watch and that would have me running away screaming if he was a real person. I always enjoy feeling empathy for the wretched and the terrible.
Something managed with Javier Bardem's character, Silva, who for lack of a better word was campy in a way so ill suited for today's type of villainy that it was disturbing to watch him operate like in the world constructed in the Neo-Bond movies, which rely on hyper-realism (as opposed to realistic, which it tried to be in places) and actually being as not-campy as can be. Javier Bardem sold it, he was so disturbing, so destructive and so broken, that at times you say to yourself, you know what, yes, fuck anyone who judges him!
But of course, Silva was, as far as I could interpret, bisexual. I mean, obviously. Not only was he a deranged terrorist with a personal vendetta against M, he was an equal opportunity sexual predator against Bond and the Bond girl, Sévérine. So you know, grain of salt and fuckery.
I will say that it was nice to see Bond admit to (or at least allude, or lie about?) having been with a man before in order to for Silva's threat of rape be without the homosexual panic.
The threat and history sexual assault was bandied around like a rubber ball. Sévérine, who had zero agency and zero motivation of her own, with a past of sexual exploitation and walked around trussed up like a Ming vase - by which I mean, she was an exemplary submissive Asian stereotype (who wasn't even Asian, but somehow ends up in a Chinese child prostitution ring, which is brought up by Bond in order to manipulate her and is then forgotten!) who ends up dead for no good reason, because she had no good reason to exist in the first place. Talk about a half an hour I could have gone without.
The other Bond girl, Eve, is a different story. She starts off as a field agent and ends up as Miss Moneypenny. No really, her last name is Moneypenny and she ends up as M's administrative assistant.
The new-M is a white man, James Bond is a white man, Q is a white man, Tanner (Rory Kinnear, who acted as M's body man and is now the new-M's body man) is a white man.
So, you know, the latino queer villain dies and the black female field agent is demoted.
It was a bit too heavy on the nostalgia and "homage" with that, I feel.
I enjoyed it, but I have many many misgivings. I'll go see it again, because I'm addicted to the franchise and love the character too much.
I missed Jeffry Wright as Felix Lieter though. No CIA in this movie, alas.
Without giving anything away, it was a brilliantly directed movie. Same Mendes' signature was all over the place.
It was a brilliant homage to 50 years of Bond movies, self referential and meta up the wazoo, which I love, but can get grating, because the nostalgia was also, well, retrogressive.
The acting of everyone was fucking wonderful. Daniel Craig is compelling, I really love the way he acts as though he's constantly restraining the underlying violence of his character.
Not to mention Judi Dench (M), Ralph Fiennes (the new M - yeah, Judi kicks it at the end), Naomi Harris (more on her in a bit) and Ben Whishaw (the new Q, whom I hope stays forever!)
The plot centres around the idea that MI6 is antiquated and that espionage is no longer compatible with the world of independent terrorist cells and the transparency of the new media. Not so! Says the movie. Due to this there was a lot of call back and as mentioned self references to the old school of Bond (Like Scotland, people referring to Bond as a relic, old, a has-been, etc.). I'm not ashamed to say that I squealed when I saw the Aston-Martin.
"Murder", "Employment" indeed. He is self destructive is a way that is mesmerising to watch and that would have me running away screaming if he was a real person. I always enjoy feeling empathy for the wretched and the terrible.
Something managed with Javier Bardem's character, Silva, who for lack of a better word was campy in a way so ill suited for today's type of villainy that it was disturbing to watch him operate like in the world constructed in the Neo-Bond movies, which rely on hyper-realism (as opposed to realistic, which it tried to be in places) and actually being as not-campy as can be. Javier Bardem sold it, he was so disturbing, so destructive and so broken, that at times you say to yourself, you know what, yes, fuck anyone who judges him!
But of course, Silva was, as far as I could interpret, bisexual. I mean, obviously. Not only was he a deranged terrorist with a personal vendetta against M, he was an equal opportunity sexual predator against Bond and the Bond girl, Sévérine. So you know, grain of salt and fuckery.
I will say that it was nice to see Bond admit to (or at least allude, or lie about?) having been with a man before in order to for Silva's threat of rape be without the homosexual panic.
The threat and history sexual assault was bandied around like a rubber ball. Sévérine, who had zero agency and zero motivation of her own, with a past of sexual exploitation and walked around trussed up like a Ming vase - by which I mean, she was an exemplary submissive Asian stereotype (who wasn't even Asian, but somehow ends up in a Chinese child prostitution ring, which is brought up by Bond in order to manipulate her and is then forgotten!) who ends up dead for no good reason, because she had no good reason to exist in the first place. Talk about a half an hour I could have gone without.
The other Bond girl, Eve, is a different story. She starts off as a field agent and ends up as Miss Moneypenny. No really, her last name is Moneypenny and she ends up as M's administrative assistant.
The new-M is a white man, James Bond is a white man, Q is a white man, Tanner (Rory Kinnear, who acted as M's body man and is now the new-M's body man) is a white man.
So, you know, the latino queer villain dies and the black female field agent is demoted.
It was a bit too heavy on the nostalgia and "homage" with that, I feel.
I enjoyed it, but I have many many misgivings. I'll go see it again, because I'm addicted to the franchise and love the character too much.
I missed Jeffry Wright as Felix Lieter though. No CIA in this movie, alas.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-02 09:03 pm (UTC)Yes!!! I had exactly the same reaction.
I tried to be pleased about more Eve staying in it for future films, I hoped she would from the moment she sped into view - I adored her driving, shooting, verbal sparring - but I was really perplexed about why we were supposed to accept that she felt field work wasn't for her - she was good at it!
The M twist (i.e. dying) was a real shock but, again like you, I was sad that it reduced the diversity, back to an uptight white guy. Hmm.
Everyone in the cinema I was in 'ahhh'-ed when the DB5 appeared on screen. I got a bit choked up tbh, nothing I love as much as an Aston and that was the first one I ever adored!!
no subject
Date: 2012-11-02 09:12 pm (UTC)Gender and racial diversity was basically eradicated in order to create a representation of white male supremacy. It made me feel so weird watching it being re-established.
Oh, the Aston. There was a loud murmur in the cinema I was in as well :)
no subject
Date: 2012-11-03 03:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-11-03 10:36 am (UTC)