Skyfall

[Josh]

Oh yeaaaaah.

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There are like three billion women and two men on this planet that I'd consider sexing up. Einy is one, and Daniel Craig is the other. I loved Casino Royale up to the last fifteen minutes or so, and I give Quantum of Solace a mulligan for being fucked over by the writer's strike.

So I'm actually allowing myself to have high hopes for this one. It's got the pieces I love, which is basically Craig and Densch and a plot that appears to give them a lot of interaction. Plus Craig just being all awesome and badass and broken-fuck psychotic.

[LadyTevar]

I am jealous of the blokes in England, who get to see it first.

[Josh]

And the jackwagons with an Imax theater in their town, 'cause they get sweet, muscular, manly...

Sorry, it overcame me again.

Those assholes get it a day in advance is all I'm sayin'.

[Stofsk]

I loved Casino Royale up to the last fifteen minutes or so

IDK if I like the last 15 mins of Casino Royale, but the last minute or two make up for it.

[LadyTevar]

I am hopeful for the new Q. Young, very computer-savvy from what I see in the trailer

[Josh]

I loved Casino Royale up to the last fifteen minutes or so

IDK if I like the last 15 mins of Casino Royale, but the last minute or two make up for it.

Oh yeah, "Bond. James Bond" rocked, but they really needed to pare down the romantic escape. I get that they were trying to build the tension for the inevitable explosion, but I remember sitting there thinking "Okay, we get the point! He could have a happy life and be quasi-normal. Yes! He's in love! Okay! Are we there yet?"

Btw, I've found that Quantum of Solace begins to approach palatable if you watch it right after Casino Royale. It's almost like an extended epilogue in a way rather than an abysmal failure of a stand-alone movie.

I am hopeful for the new Q. Young, very computer-savvy from what I see in the trailer

Yeah, it's good to see them take that relationship in a new direction as well.

[General Havoc]

I've gotta be the only person in the world who actually liked Quantum of Solace. I didn't think it was as good as Casino of course, but in and of itself, it was a decent movie.

I'll be reviewing Skyfall of course.

[LadyTevar]

Havoc, Martin and I both loved Quantum as well. So you're not alone

[Josh]

As a standalone I thought Quantum was very jerky, poorly assembled, and worst of all completely unmemorable. As in a month after watching it I could barely remember the plot. Something something bullfight something something in the desert and fire. Well, and the opera scene, which was cool but could've been much cooler.

I rewatched it a few months ago after the new trailer came out, in a back to back after the original Craig movie. It's got some strong elements from Craig and the fallout of the Vesper disaster, but the overall plot needed tightening up. Like I said, it really feels best as a fourth act to Casino Royale.

I think that without being interrupted by the writer's strike, which resulted in the director and Craig assembling the plot on the fly (Craig said in an interview that it proved he's no writer) it would've been right up there with the first one.

[Josh]

On second thought, though... rather than debating a matter of taste, I'll wax enthusiastic about what I like about Craig's portrayal.

Which is that it doesn't hide from the fact that Bond has to be fucked up to do what he does. Earlier iterations of Bond focused on the cool factor, this guy who is always stylin' as the bodies drop around him.

Craig's Bond follows the Die Hard formula of making the hero bleed for his accomplishments, both mentally and physically. It's basically taken James Bond into Tony Soprano territory- you can like the character, root for the character, exult in his victories, but the story reminds you regularly enough that you're rooting for a broken individual who is consuming himself in his work and life.

[Josh]

95% on Rotten Tomatoes for all those lucky shitheels who've gotten to see it already.

[Josh]

Okay, saw it.

Better than QoS, not quite up there with CR. Very much a Judi Dench movie, she gets the most screentime and action of any of her appearances.

I can see the Dark Knight comparisons everyone's been making, from the cinematography to the Rube Goldberg scheme of the villain to the final scene with Bond looking out over London from the rooftop.

It definitely takes us back toward the traditional Bond, albeit more gadget-light. The end sequence is nothing but pure callback for the 50th year.

I left with only two quibbles: the fight scene in Shanghai was not the best choreographed of the series, it definitely could have done with a reshoot or a better edit. Then there was a bit of clunky dialogue I would've tweaked in the final scene, but I can live with it. The new Q worked great, Dench was awesome, Bardem made a very convincing and creepy villain.

As for Daniel, I was a bit disappointed but that was a logical outgrowth of the character development. The first movie featured the novice Bond, younger and ambitious and out to prove himself. The second was Bond in pain, chasing vengeance. This one is... Bond. Bond as we came to know him in the other movies, the cold-ass fuck who gets the job done and doesn't get attached. As such, the portrayal is a lot less accessible because he's playing a character who has burned away his feelings and closed off his capacity for attachment. So... disappointing for the way I really enjoyed the first movie for its portrayal of a younger, hungry and downright cocky Bond, but a natural development of the character.

As for the visuals, fucking spectacular. Every major setting is given ample time to be visually displayed to full effect, from Istanbul (the opening chase scene is pure awesome, the bike chase over the rooftops being my favorite part) to London (mostly raining) to high-tech glitzy Shanghai, to Macao with the beautiful ocean casino scene, then off to barren-ass Scotland making my home desert look downright hospitable.

Also, the exchange on the way to the movie with my best friend:

Me: "So then there's Daniel Craig..."

Him: "You love him more than you love me, don't you?"

Me: "It's all purely platonic in all cases. Anyway, so what I like about Daniel's performance is..."

Him: "See, he's just Daniel now. Like you know each other."

Me: "I like to think that we do know each other. In a spiritual sense."

TL/DR: If you like Bond, you'll probably like the movie.

[General Havoc]

I have made my opinions on the movie known.