Ashdoc's movie review---Skyfall

Aaah !! To be James Bond....

You chase a bad guy up and down an exotic city in the mystical orient ( Istanbul---Constantinople for those waiting to see it liberated from the clutches of the Turks ) first in a car and then on a motorbike making impossible jumps without hitting or killing any living soul....

....and then the chase continues on a train until you are shot at the hands of a delectable black girl....

But lo !! you still survive the shot by falling deep into water , and are saved to end up being caressed tenderly by the loving fingers of a lovely woman in bed.....

This whole action sequence is shot beautifully making it one of the best starts to a Bond movie ever---making you ask for more....

But the more does not come at all....

Instead what you get to see is a plot to expose the identities of all MI6 agents on Youtube metamorphose into a mission to save Bond's boss M from the revenge of an old MI6 agent who is out to settle old scores with her....

And what a villain is the old wronged MI6 agent....all blonde and gay....

Yes , gay enough to lay his hands on James Bond's muscular thighs stroking them with lust in his eyes....

And with this gay villain getting centerstage , the women are sidelined....we don't get to see Bond on top of the delectable black girl at all....and the one he gets to bed is shot dead within a short time....

Yeah ,the exotic locations are all there photographed with skill---from the hideous beauty of Shanghai ( hideous because it was built by kicking out 3 million poor people from their homes ) to the modern wonders of Macau....

.....And so are the high tech bond gadgets like an antique car that fires machine gun fire from hidden guns to a pistol that is coded to James Bond's palm prints....

But ultimately it comes down to a showdown with the villain by the use of old shotguns and makeshift bombs in Bond's ancestral home in Scotland with an old geezer as ally....

So can James Bond prevent MI6 operatives from being exposed ?? And most importantly , can he save M from being killed ??

Go and see the movie for that....

But is it worth the watch ?? I think not....

For there are too many loose ends---like how does James survive the shot and fall from the train....and how does the villain escape so easily after being caught and held amidst tight security by MI6 ??

The one thing that shines is Daniel Craig as James Bond---who is all brawn and muscle and acting performance....

But to me at least , it wasn't enough to carry the film entirely on his ( admittedly broad ) shoulders....

The action is bunched in at the start and at the end with the middle of the movie showing all talk but no action....

Music and especially the song by Adele is decent....

But the movie is barely so....

Verdict---just about okay...

if ashdoc didnt like it, I'll probably LOVE it. 4 thumbs up

[quote="ashdoc"]Aaah !! To be James Bond....

You chase a bad guy up and down an exotic city in the mystical orient ( Istanbul---Constantinople for those waiting to see it liberated from the clutches of the Turks ) first in a car and then on a motorbike making impossible jumps without hitting or killing any living soul....

....and then the chase continues on a train until you are shot at the hands of a delectable black girl....

But lo !! you still survive the shot by falling deep into water , and are saved to end up being caressed tenderly by the loving fingers of a lovely woman in bed.....

This whole action sequence is shot beautifully making it one of the best starts to a Bond movie ever---making you ask for more....

But the more does not come at all....

... long refractory period, i should think

Propagandhi711 wrote:if ashdoc didnt like it, I'll probably LOVE it. 4 thumbs up

exactly my thought when I read the last line. We booked tix for Thursday night IMAX show.

Propagandhi711 wrote:if ashdoc didnt like it, I'll probably LOVE it. 4 thumbs up

i thought you were going to avoid reading my reviews

I was a little disappointed..

Yah, Yah..it was the predictable stuff..

The action-filled great chases

Craig looked debonair and dashing

The cinematography was amazing

But..

The Bond women- were ok- no spark

Liked Adele's song more on the car radio..and watching on youtube

Overall..the movie was much too long..and soap-operaized("Ma"- son complex dynamics, tears etc) for a Bond movie!

3 stars/5.

Glad didn't go to watch it yesterday.

Tracy,

It's just my review..you may like it more!

Just for any action movie experience and an evening outing..it's fine, imo.

Am thinking will catch up on the Hindi flick releasing tomorrow. Jab tak hai jaan.

I would have seen skyfall yday buy BFF called and asked to come over for Diwali. Tried to escape, but she insisted. So then I thought wth, let's have some fun. So went, and was glad I did.

Was nice to see all dressed up people. And to get a darshan of the god when they lifted the curtains.
Also, I'm surely lucky coz I didn't get burned in any of the chaotic fire cracking events. Actually I became a pro at dodging spinning chakris on the floor and raging sparklers. Was a community effort. Like someone would tap on my shoulder. Which meant I had two seconds to know what's blowing where and dodge away. I only protested a bit when I was called, 'Arre Ben, watch out', once by a reasonably good looking fella. That was the only downer.

Anyhoos, fun overall.

Natalia Romanova wrote:Actually I became a pro at dodging spinning chakris on the floor and raging sparklers.

LOL nats. we bought 15,000 bucks worth crackers today. so many crackers younger and help got and they are sitting a few feet away from me.



^15k is peanuts for that shitload. by now the missus has tracked the cheapest place to get them (lungi bazaar!) and we will burst them in our yard nearby. younger and his cousins already celebrated a mini diwali today. last year my brother almost got arrested for bursting them on our house's terrace (noise pollution strictures) and i had to swing some political help to avoid his imminent arrest. this year, with the older absent, the stuff will be a bit low key. diwali is fun. good you decided to go BFF way. diwali without noise and holi without bhang and (bihari) keechad/grease and wet colours but with only gulal/abhir -- bliss.

here is a 2006 holi pic (clockwise -- older, niece, nephew)

Natalia Romanova wrote:Glad didn't go to watch it yesterday.

You will like it. It is Bond Bollywoodized.

Maria S wrote:("Ma"- son complex dynamics, tears etc)

Mommy is being very bad; giving away plot points.

greatest fucking bond movie ever. sam mendes elevates the genre to another level, with superlative acting by four serious actors and stupendous camera work. but if they keep taking bond in this direction, the franchise will die a sad death. the masses want to be wowed by gadgets and simple plots..

I watched it yesterday. The imax version was sold out. Long lines for the normal one, but it was worth it. I liked this more than other Bond movies.

panini press wrote:I watched it yesterday. The imax version was sold out. Long lines for the normal one, but it was worth it. I liked this more than other Bond movies.

>>>Maybe I shd check it out. I am still stuck on the old ones with Sean Connery.. my favorite Bond. The ladies were not too shabby either. Ah, the things I do for england...

Are you back or still in Paris? I remember seeing a Nick Nolte flick there many years ago. The dialogue in english and the subtitles in french, which I was concentrating on reflexively, threw me for a loop the first half hour.

I am back from the boondoggle in Europe. Need a week to recover from all the fine wine, haute cuisine and jet lag.

Some scenes did make you get up, take notice, and go wow, yep bond movie of course! and there were parts where you would think, 'am i really in james bond movie, why so many longer quieter emotional dialogs'?

But final takeaway, loved it still, now that I see Adele's song. Yep, those scenes are the ones which were impact-full.

And what they heck he meant by, “What makes you think it's my first time?”. Did he really mean what they are speculating he said? What are we having next, sharper looking bi-bond?

Sky fall in IMAX - first 10 min is worth the 20 bucks I spent. Terrific action.
Some lame dialogues like m says after coffin scene "I am going to find who ever did this". Isn't that her job?
Overall a better bond movie in a long time. Somebody at studios saw thunder all recently.

Didn't see it in IMAX. no patience to plan/book in advance... just walked in while i was around. Still loved the action.

Regarding bi bond, i thought his response was more for laughs than for any new revelation. Not many hot scenes or skin display. This movie was easier to enjoy with family than half naked suggestive gyrations of Indian movies.