James Bond movies never get old, and Sam Mendes reiterated that with the release of “Skyfall” in November, starring Daniel Craig as the legendary Bond.
Agent 007 comes back from the dead (or so his colleagues thought) to try to save his his boss M (Judy Dench), and the British Secret Service from a former agent who is out for revenge.
Javier Bardem plays Raoul Silva, a former M16 agent under M’s direction who uses his vast knowledge of computers to carry out terrorist attacks across the world, and now also on his former employer. After Silva blows up M16 headquarters, Bond, who was presumed to be dead after being shot by his own agent, shows up just in time to pursue Silva and try to stop him before he kills M and wipes out the entire British Intelligence.
This action packed thrill-ride stakes an aging and less than physically prime Bond against a man with the cleverness and cunning to get whatever he wants. Bond pursues Silva indirectly at first, not knowing who he is going after. It is not until one of Silva’s agents, Sévérine, tells Bond who her boss is that he knows the true identity of the terrorist. She told him only with his promise that he would try his hardest to kill him, which Bond dedicates himself to doing throughout the movie.
Bardem’s memorable performance as Silva is one of the high points of the film. Almost right away the viewer had an urge to hate him, which grew stronger as the movie progressed. He truly played a great villain, almost up there in my opinion with the likes of Heath Ledger as the Joker in “Dark Knight.”
The action, which was intense and thrilling, was another strength of the movie. Bond, as he always does, finds himself of the worst of predicaments with a slim chance of surviving. The fight sequences are realistic and heart-pounding, especially the final scene in which Silva and his men confront Bond, M, and Bond’s old friend Kincade. The action was carefully filmed and the effects were superb.
One criticism of the movie, however was the lack of the classic James Bond gadgets. There was no laser technology or clever weapons that Bond carried on his person except a gun that only shot when held in his hand. Aside from that it was missing the life-saving gadgets that are so well known to the James Bond films.
Overall this movie was more than worth the price of a ticket. Though it runs for almost two and a half hours, it feels like half as much. The movie is so captivating and thrilling that it flies by before you know it. The only thing thing going through your mind when it ends is when the the next one will come out, because if it is anything like Skyfall it will make for an incredible story and even better action film.
Kenny Ayres is a third-year student majoring in communication studies and minoring in journalism. He can be reached at KA739433@wcupa.edu.