More Than Just Another Bond Film . . . Almost
by Andrew Collins
“Think on your sins.”
A line like this should give you goose bumps — especially in the hands of a good filmmaker.
The problem with the latest James Bond film, Skyfall, is that it doesn’t.
We all know the tropes of a 007 movie. It’s the typical young male’s daydream — cool gadgets, high-speed chases, save-the-world scenarios, a suave hero, and of course, beautiful women. On these counts, Skyfall does not disappoint. Bérénice Marlohe, a stunning French actress largely unknown to American audiences, delivers a surprisingly good performance as Sévérine, the latest Bond girl. Daniel Craig brings a class act — rugged, inscrutable, and aged just enough to earn his place as the latest Bond actor. MI6 suffers its worst security breach ever. And longtime Bond fans will appreciate the return of the 1965 Aston Martin DB5, first driven by Sean Connery 50 years ago and complete with an ejection seat and machine guns mounted under the headlights. It’s a welcome nod to the legacy of an iconic franchise, and many in the audience cheered as Bond unveiled his car of choice for the final showdown.
Indeed, Skyfall fires on all cylinders as an action film. The classic Bond elements along with director Sam Mendes’s skillful pacing and cinematography put it a cut above your typical action flick, but it never moves beyond this to make viewers think or feel deeply. This is a shame, because it had the potential to leave the audience mulling over questions central to the human condition instead of talking about how Daniel Craig is such a badass.
Skyfall flirts with this potential by adapting to our late-modern age, where the major nation-states no longer threaten each other with attack and the world seems relatively stable. The era of M.A.D., the space race, intense patriotism, and espionage that birthed the Bond legend in the 1960s is gone. When MI6 is attacked in Skyfall and suffers a deadly security breach, it raises questions among British leaders about whether there really is a need for such a program anymore.
Yet more intriguing, the Bond of Skyfall is past his prime — almost a relic, and not unlike Bruce Wayne in the latest Batman film. Years of active duty have taken their toll on Bond. His aim has grown unsteady and his body badly scarred. An engaging premise, to be sure, but the story never quite delivers.
Although Bond is rushed back into service after failing a basic physical exam, he never confronts his own age or mortality in a meaningful manner. Sure, he almost loses his grip while hanging onto an elevator, but when the chips are down, he still manages to find and kill the bad guys without much of a hitch.
In some ways, though, Skyfall really isn’t about James Bond. It’s more about M, the matriarchal head of MI6 played wonderfully by Judi Dench. At the climax of the opening chase scene, she makes the call to take a shot at the enemy agent even though he is engaged in hand-to-hand combat with 007. Bond is hit and falls into a river, presumed dead, while the target escapes. When Bond returns, he spends one scene grilling M on her decision to take the shot. But once again the drama falls short of its potential.
After that one interview, he never really questions her judgment, despite the best attempts of the villain, Silva (a truly bizarre character played by Javier Bardem), to plant further seeds of doubt about M’s honesty. After all, she was responsible for Bond getting shot, and she allowed him back into the field even though he was found unfit. All good points, yet these facts hardly seem to register as a temptation for Bond, and no further complexities arise.
And what of M? Here, Skyfall misses an opportunity to dwell on some of the morally dubious aspects of espionage. “Think on your sins.” Again and again this line from Silva appears on M’s computer. But does she have any regrets? Does she have any buried skeletons herself? Surely the intelligence business is messy, but the film never explores these questions. As a result, we’re left with an easily-anticipated climax between Bond, with an unwavering commitment to doing his duty for M, and a villain hell-bent on revenge for little more than a perceived wrong from M.
In other words, when Skyfall has an opportunity to take Bond off an idealized pedestal and make him human — a man who has to deal with issues like trust, fear, and morality — he remains just as awesome and inscrutable as ever.
And once again, the audience is left with little more than another male daydream.
