No Country For Old Strawdogs-Skyfall Review

Having seen Skyfall last night I was very impressed. Easily the best directed Bond film that's ever been made, and not just because of the higher calibre cast or because we need one. Though saying that, I remain a big and possibly the only fan of Quantum of Solace. Skyfall however represents a step up in standards and a return to the big boys of cinema.

What Skyfall did was, if Casino Royale hadn't already, was cement Craig as the best Bond. Examining Craig's journey through his three films, we see a development of a smooth sophisticated rookie, Casino Royale, a ruthless and investigative spy in Quantum to a capable driven visceral hero in Skyfall. Only in Skyfall, did I genuinely believe he could save the day. We've seen in the recent Nolan Batman films, where there very clear parallels in Skyfall, that people are much more expecting of reality and humanity over fanfare and farce. The opening half hour reminded me of the eponymous Indiana Jones (effectively the American Bond) claim 'its not the years, its the mileage'. We got the luxury of genuinely not knowing whether Bond was up to the task thanks to the retraining scenes and it is reassuring to see a hero get genuinely battered and bruised and feel some effects from it. Usually Bonds of Bond past tend to move on from kill to kill and quip to quip without remorse or regret.  One fatal flaw of Bond that will be ever present, and I therefore cant blame the franchise, was that Bond obviously hadn't died during the opening mini-film and it was hugely likely that Silva was not going to spend his entire role in his glass cage. There was consequently no surprise when they escaped/survived and I was questioning why bother kill Bond to have him return. Why not have him MIA or go into a guilt spiral for blowing the mission.

 These thoughts led me to examine further why to bother killing Bond and after about forty minutes I had worked it out. There are very strong themes throughout of duality and rebirth coupled with clear designs on homaging classic Bond and classic cinema. This was a film for both film lovers and Bond lovers-which made it very much my cup of tea. Mendes explored rebirth through his consolidation of the franchise, effectively changing the state of play with M and Moneypenny entering the fray and establishing Bond as more weary and aware rather than being Doctor Who-ified each film. Killing Bond and blowing up MI5 effectively tears up any previous script, and gives him license to do whatever he wants to the characters. Having Bond fall thousands of feet into a thematic watery rebirth, he can resurrect Bond to his design. From there on, the rules have changed and we happily get on board. The genuinely funny moment of Bond bursting through the carriage and immediately checking his cuff links was a clear nod to Moore's Bond and the infrequent farce that tended to follow him. But after the 'death' we saw a much more serious Bond and a lot more visceral violence and language.

Mendes added further substance and credibility with his exploration of mirrors and reflection. these tools reinforce ideas of duality and paradox. Bond was constantly looking in his mirrors and seeing himself stare back but in reverse. Bond, in reverse, is effectively Silva. Silva was M's favourite and then he was betrayed and left for dead and went evil. Bond, was also M's favourite and left for dead too, yet remains on the good side, the good side of the mirror. This is also amplified by the shaving scene. Bond looks in the mirror and sees his scars and examines what the job and service has done. He attempts rebirth by shaving his bedraggled beard but is interrupted by Eve. He both affirms the rebirth cycle with his choice of a 'cut throat razor' rather than modern technology and then rejects the mirror in favour of Eve shaving him. Naturally he had some alternative motives but Bond was constantly questioning his role in the service and his morals with his preoccupation with mirrors. Eve doesn't have this dilemma at all as she is very much in love with MI5 and isn't world weary enough to question her role. She appropriately smashes off both her wing mirrors in her car without a moments hesitation.

If Bond was to look hard enough he might see Silva staring back at him. But his love for the service and M keep him straight. Perhaps I am over reaching here, but there could be an argument for Silva being a photo negative of Bond. Bond with his shorter darker hair and pale complexion is an opposite to Silva's long blond and darker complexion. This theme was also explored in The Dark Knight Rises where Bane was perceived to be the Batman in reverse. Both born from the same cave, raised by same father but chose different paths. The only part of Batman that is revealed is his mouth and the only part of Bane that is concealed is his mouth. Effectively they are a ying/yang of eachother. Bond and Silva also chose to fight with opposing technologies, Silva with high tech gadgetry and Bond choosing more traditional primative weapons. They are opposing forces equalling each other to the bitter end. Furthermore, the end of Bond on the roof surveilling London  was very Batman-esque

In my opinion, a Bond film needs a lot of humour instilled otherwise it is spy murdering people for British interests and is unlikely to be taken seriously. Or it becomes farcical as Bond goes from joke to joke amidst casual violence. The Bourne trilogy is indeed fantastic, but takes itself so seriously, that if it didnt, we would question its purpose. Furthermore, Bourne goes against the system rather than on behalf of it so we have more sympathy for him. Skyfall delivers humour well and appropriately. There are few quips, which have lost their weight in post millennial cinema and concentrates on in jokes and tapping into the British pride. After all, these are British films with British sympathies, it is funnier to hear Judi Dench say fuck and mean it than Meryl Streep to say it for effect. The brilliant Goldfinger cameo of the car and ejector seat interplay between Craig and Dench summarised Mendes' objectives perfectly-let's get Bond back to best and cut the crap.

As well as the humour, I particularly liked the homages to the older Bonds, Moonraker with Silva's teeth, Goldfinger with the car, Tomorrow Never Dies with the motorcycle chase and a return to the Casino. There was a real sense of purpose and message about this film and I know that Mendes sat down with Craig and other players in the franchise to discuss what was best and what was worst about the Bond series. Thank god the inherent Bond racism was taken out and the sense of adventure and duty was reinforced. Ralph Fiennes role was pretty obvious as soon as his name of Mulberry was mentioned and that ruined the ending quite a bit for me. But I highly rate him and although Dench was superb, Fiennes will be brilliant too, I am sure of it. I am sure he is looking forward to an extended role as the good guy for a while.

I also picked up on other films having a strong impact. As previously stated, Nolans Batman trilogy was heavily prevalent here. Silva's escape very similar to the Jokers as were the attempts of realism coupled with a fine supporting cast. Silva, in his escape from the tube, resembled his Chigurh role from No Country For Old Men and the siege in the country house must have been a homage to Straw Dogs. To those not familiar, Straw Dogs is a thriller in which the hero, Dustin Hoffman, defends his house with traps and shotguns from invaders, becoming a man at the time and protecting his own sense of worth and masculinity above anything else. Either that or Home Alone..

Overall, really enjoyable film. It waas great to see some directorial flair and a clear concise message. It was quite long and I found it predictable, however all Bond films are predictable to a high extent and we have to remember that. Craig has signed up for another two and I cant wait!