CinemaDope

"Skyfall" (2012)
d-Sam Mendes
w-Neal Purvis, John Logan and Robert Wade, based on characters created by Ian Fleming
dp- Roger Deakins

First may I please begin by inaugurating my first change to this rather pathetic, pustulating little piss spot of a blog. Henceforth, all film reviews and analysis, whether of first run films or examinations of classic films shall be given a rating. For this blog, the chosen patron saint is Dick Morris. So films will be rated thusly: One morris - dud - worse than Karl Rove's arithmetic.
Two morrises - Meh. not worth seeing again and you'll forget all about it before your next piss.
Three morrises - Good film. Not great, but entertaining.
Four morrises - Excellent film. Your inner Roger Ebert is pleased and extremely happy.
Five morrises - Masterpiece. Spencer Tracey is smiling in heaven.

Why, might you ask, Dick Morris? Fair question. The simple answer is that this blog is called CinemaDope - 'cause any dope with a WiFi connection can be a film critic. Well, please find me a bigger dope than Dick Morris, and I'll name it after him (or her).

Now - to the film...

I'll start by saying that I can't give much of a synopsis because I don't want to give anything away for those who haven't seen it yet. Please take this advice, and DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES allow yourself to know the detailed plot beforehand. The pleasures and pain of the film lay largely in the surprises throughout.
So the synopsis is this:

Shit happens to Bond
LOTS of shit happens.

Shit happens to M
Lots.

end of synopsis.

                                                   Daniel Craig as James Bond, 007

This film, the 23rd in the Eon Films series, is quite possibly the best of the lot so far. I would argue that it's up there in "Goldfinger" territory easily. It's that good because this film has more depth of character, more meat in it's dialog and more deftness in it's direction and execution than almost anything out there in the last few years, in any genre. It really is that good.
Daniel Craig takes Bond to emotional places never even hinted at in any earlier film. His intensity is delicately balanced with a subtle humor. His Bond is a man wounded physically and psychologically by his chosen career. Craig's portrayal hews much closer to Ian Fleming's original darker, moodier Bond than the featherweight, glib character that dances through the series from Roger Moore onward. His performance and interpretation have kicked it up several notches into a new sphere of storytelling. This is the real deal, character and performance-wise.

Dame Judi Dench plays Bond's boss M with real gusto and a keen enthusiasm. She has a hell of a lot of fun getting into and exploring this character and it damn well shows on screen in spades. M has more to do in this film than in any previous Bond film, as she is central to the plot. She's the macguffin here, and all action takes place because of her. And Dench plays it to the hilt, lifting this to one of her best screen performances in a career filled with an embarrasment of riches in performance. To watch the emotions play across her face and in her eyes is a marvel. Robert Wise once said that a fine performance by an actor who really knows his craft is in his eyes. You can see the wheels turning inside. Well, that is spot on what Dench delivers here.  Watch her eyes. Watch her face. Stunning. If they gave oscars to "action films" Dench should be a shoo-in for Best supporting actress. If there is any justice, she will be nominated.

Which brings us to Javier Bardem, who plays the villain of the piece, Silva. Silva is an ex MI6 operative who was stationed in Hong Kong in the 1990's and was allowed to be exposed and captured by the Chinese by M herself because she wanted an exchange of 6 captured spies in exchange for the much more dangerous Silva at the time of the 1999 changeover of Hong Kong back to the Chinese.
Bardem plays the betrayed, gone-to-bugshit mad ex agent with the same intensity he gave to his celebrated Oscar winning performance as Anton Chuggar in 1998's "No Country for Old Men." It's hard to take your eyes off of him whenever he's onscreen. Is he the best Bond villian of all time? Not in my opinion, but his performance is mesmerizing nonetheless. That's just too good a rogue's gallery to claim best of.
Albert Finney shows up as an old family friend of Bonds when the action moves to Scotland, and the ancestral Bond family home, the titular Skyfall.  Ralph Fiennes plays M's new boss, who feels it's time for her to retire. Fine performances both. I must give mention here also to two Bond girls, Naomie Harris's MI6 operative Eve, and Bereniece Marlohe as the tragic Severine, the siren who tries to go straight. Harris plays the Felix Leighter who turns into Miss Moneypenny. Just see it.

This picture explores themes of change, growing old, growing away from basic truths. It's a study of the effects, large and small, of betrayal. And it's about paring down to the basics, the tried and true.  This story doesn't involve fancy, campy gadgets. It's about the systematic shedding of all but the very minimum and working with that.

Sam Mendes' direction is fluid and well paced, without at all becoming choppy and epileptic, like every other Michael Bay sucking action picture out there (I'm looking at YOU, Jason Bourne). Deakins' camerawork is fast but smooth, taking time to pay attention to composition. The opening sequence is a tour-de-force of near perfect photography, editing and pacing, making it the best action sequence filmed for any movie in years. I was giggling in my seat like a little catholic schoolgirl. Thank God it was dark and I was alone. It was embarrasing. And the plaid skirt I wore merely accentuated. But I digress.
The sequence where Bond follows the assasin in Hong Kong to his snipers nest in an abandoned office high up in a glass tower is amazing for it's use of fluid neon and reflection and shadow. Bravo on what must've been a very carefully planned and story boarded sequence. I must say also here that Daniel Craig's Bond, like early Sean Connery, does feel pain, he does get tired, he does get hurt. No longer is he a carIcature. He's real and genuine.
This picture is real and genuine, too
Genuinely FANTASTIC. Definitely one to see again, and own on bluRay.

My best morris for this?

four and a half morrises