Director: Sam Mendes
The Bond movie
franchise is celebrating its 50 year anniversary and the hiatus imposed by
financial troubles at long-time studio MGM means we haven’t seen 007 on screen in
4 years. Well, the wait is over and they’ve
given audiences something to enjoy in this new edition. Watching Skyfall got me thinking. How does a movie franchise remain relevant in
this day when so many action franchises reach the “long-in-the-tooth” feeling
by the third installment? Here are my
thoughts:
1.
Take advantage of the pedigree. Having already established Daniel Craig as a
tough, scrappy, cool Bond. A 007 less
interested in frivolities and snappy one-liners and more down to earth. He can wear a suit with the best of them for
sure. However, his intensity brings some
mystery to Bond that the character sorely needed. He seems driven by internal forces and he’s
magnetic to watch. With audiences
clearly accepting of Craig as Bond (looking at the grosses of the previous two
efforts), the production team brought in Sam Mendes (a director more interested
in theatre than action films) to direct, added John Logan (screenwriter of Gladiator)
to co-write, and Roger Deakins (of Cohen brothers films) to photograph. This is clearly a sign that Team Bond is
taking opportunities seriously and they want Bond to be around for another 50
years. The production is top-notch
filmmaking. Staging, editing and pacing
are all key to the story and the suspense.
They have made that rare film where images stick with you after the
movie, in a good way.
2.
Respect the audience
and your history. A tricky part of keeping a
franchise alive is to constantly balance giving the audience something new,
something old (tipping the hat), and something to look forward to. In this respect, Skyfall pays off in spades. While Casino Royale’s job was to introduce us
to Craig as Bond and bring the action into our Bourne-influenced times, Skyfall
juggles the tasks of paying homage to the previous 50 years of Bond as well as
setting the stage for future installments.
It felt to me like the job of re-booting Bond was not over, because the
lack-luster Quantum of Solace didn’t do much to keep you wanting more. So,
Skyfall seems to complete the process of re-instating 007 through its
events. I won’t get into spoilers, but
fans of the Bond movies of old will catch several homages and some changes are
made that set things up for Craig to fall into a groove in the next few Bond
films (of which I understand he has committed to doing 2 more).
3.
Recognize the times. Skyfall is blatant about pointing out how
different our world is now. Enemies are
no longer as obvious as countries (as in the Cold War era) and for all we know
could be terrorist cells housed within small towns. When anyone could be a major threat, this
drives fear, uncertainty, and panic.
Movies, by definition, counteract this because no matter what happens,
in the end we are going to be looking the enemy straight in the eye as they
face down our hero, in this case 007.
So, while movies today go to great ends to demonstrate that any one of
us can create a whole lot of trouble for the masses if we are crazy enough, it
is somewhat cathartic to have that camera follow them around so we know who we
are looking at. And Javier Bardem is no
slouch as a totally crazy Bond villain.
This guy is pure creepy, it’s as simple as that.
4.
Gain the right to
reinvent. Bond can keep going as long as he wants to
really. Many years ago by replacing
Connery with Roger Moore, they created a pattern of handing over the reign that
makes the next reinvention of the character an inevitability and something to look
forward to, not to dread (well, Lazenby and Dalton aside at least). With the expectation that the wheel will keep
turning, people have shown they are obviously interested and up for the
escapist ride. After all, everyone needs
a hero and we can all enjoy the adventures of an anti-hero who manages to grab
the gun, get the girl, and save the day.
So, I haven’t
told you very much about the movie itself, which is on purpose. It’s a Bond movie people. And it just so happens to be a pretty well
made one. As Team Bond would no doubt
approve, I am looking forward to the next one.
