50 Years of Bond
Skyfall
Review by Ross Anthony

50 years of Bond! Wow, you’ve got to respect that staying power. Though it’s had its fair share of hits and misses, the Bond franchise is a cinematic success story. Speaking of hits and misses, Skyfall has both. In general, the first half hits, while the second half misses. From the lush, creative and very visual opening and title sequences, Skyfall awes audiences with smart, fun action, a promising premise, great cinematography and direction, and cute punctuated dialogue. The ride builds nicely up to and including the proverbial meeting of the titans. The entire film pivots on that one incredible scene. Javier Bardem has Bond and the audience in the palms of his hands. It’s a boldly written, masterfully-acted, lovingly-directed, creepy scene that will engage you completely. It’s squarely the best drama the film has to offer. It’s so good, it feels like the climax, but it’s only the halfway point from which the rest of the film continuously struggles unsuccessfully to compose itself. In fact, from here, the film descends with a rather tedious display of hostility, killing, insulting implausibility, and unfulfilling action to a climax leagues below the film’s “first” one. Sigh. One shining scene graces this messy second half: Berenice Marlohe‘s strong acting chops in the floating casino scene which really should have earned her character more respect by the writers.

Speaking of writing, the film relies on a rather messy screenplay that feels arrived at by teams of differently directed writers without anyone quite in control of the final product. I’m a huge fan of Daniel Craig (really enjoyed him in Casino Royale), but his Bond as written in Skyfall is a rather empty action hero, vacant even of any romance.

-- Books by Ross Anthony, Author/Illustrator --


  • Skyfall. Copyright © 2012.
  • Starring Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Berenice Marlohe. Directed by Sam Mendes. Written by Ian Fleming, Robert Wade, John Logan, Neal Purvis. At MGM.

Grade..........................B (2/4)


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Copyright © 1998-2023 Ross Anthony, Author - Speaker - Solo World Circumnavigator In addition to reviewing films and interviewing celebs at HollywoodReportCard.com, traveling the world, composing great music, motivational speaking, Mr. Anthony also runs his own publishing company in the Los Angeles area. While traversing the circumference of the planet writing books and shooting documentaries, Mr. Anthony has taught, presented for, worked &/or played with locals in over 30 countries & 100 cities (Nairobi to Nagasaki). He's bungee-jumped from a bridge near Victoria Falls, wrestled with lions in Zimbabwe, crashed a Vespa off a high mountain road in Taiwan, and ridden a dirt bike across the States (Washington State to Washington DC). To get signed books ("Rodney Appleseed" to "Jinshirou") or schedule Ross to speak check out: www.RossAnthony.com or call 1-800-767-7186. Go into the world and inspire the people you meet with your love, kindness, and whatever it is you're really good at. Check out books by Ross Anthony. Rand() functions, Pho chicken soup, rollerblading, and frozen yogurt (w/ blueberries) also rock! (Btw, rand is short for random. It can also stand for "Really Awkward Nutty Dinosaurs" -- which is quite rand, isn't it?) Being alive is the miracle. Special thanks to Ken Kocanda, HAL, Jodie Keszek, Don Haderlein, Mom and Pops, my family, R. Foss, and many others by Ross Anthony. Galati-FE also deserves a shout out. And thanks to all of you for your interest and optimism. Enjoy great films, read stirring novels, grow.


Last Modified: Monday, 26-Nov-2012 22:15:29 PST