I grew up watching Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan play James Bond so when Daniel Craig took over the role of Agent 007, I kind of lost interest since in my perspective---he did not fit MY character of James Bond. Needless to say, I did not watch the Bond films when Daniel Craig took over...until Skyfall.
Coming back home to Manila after our Boracay sojourn, my wife and I went straight to SM Megamall for lunch. It was an early flight and we again found ourselves "bitin" in our escapade that we decided to watch a movie (luggage and all) and our toss up ended up with Skyfall. I have seen the preview of the film and it looked interesting enough.
As the head of the British Secret Service, "M", has been called upon to make critical operational decisions. At the beginning of the film she authorizes Agent Eve Moneypenny to take a shot while James Bond is tangling with a villain on top of a train to get back the NATO intelligence' "black box" containing the list of agents on the field. Moneypenny tells M that there is a chance that she might hit James Bond but M repeats the order to shoot which leads to Bond being hit and apparently killed. Bond surprisingly survives this and lives up to his death in a secluded community until an attack was made on the headquarters of British Intelligence where six agents were killed. The twist of the film's story comes from a similar scenario with another agent, Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), who endures torture and imprisonment in the hands of his Chinese captors but unlike Bond, blames "M" for his ordeal and is now seeking retribution for her action. Bond and M takes refuge in Skyfall, James Bond's family estate, and where the film reached its climax with the death of the former.
This film seems to be gearing towards re-introducing some of the characters for the next James Bond movies which will be a two part installment. Both Miss Moneypenny and Q's character have not been visible since Daniel Craig became Bond. In this movie, Miss Moneypenny happens to be a field agent before getting the desk job as M's secretary (not to mention that she's portrayed by Naomie Harris who happens to be black) and Q is portrayed as a young genius which was a complete make over of the former Qs more mature stature. It also introduces the new "M" as portrayed by Ralph's Fiennes' character Gareth Mallory. It is also surprising to note that James Bond does not have a new ride for this film but goes back to the vintage Aston Martin DB5 which was the very first Q-designed Bond car used in Goldfinger.
As I mentioned earlier, my dislike of Daniel Craig as James Bond stems from the imprinted Agent 007 persona that I grew up with. It is only now that I realized that the selection of Daniel Craig may have been a move by the producers to go back to the mold of Sean Connery but with more brawn. I guess that would mean that I need to watch the last two Daniel Craig versions to catch up on things!
For all you action film junkies---Skyfall is a must watch!
