Released in September 2012, Skyfall – the 23rd official James Bond film – was met with almost universal acclaim. In the Daily Telegraph, Robbie Collin praised it as "often dazzling, always audacious”. Roger Ebert called it "a full-blooded, joyous, intelligent celebration of a beloved cultural icon”. And, for Empire, Kim Newman wrote “Skyfall is pretty much all you could want from a 21st Century Bond.”
To date, the film has earned $1.109 billion worldwide and its place in the action movie/thriller canon seems assured. It is, arguably, one of if not the best Bond film ever made. In his third outing, Craig finally feels assured in the role; he is as brutal as Connery or Dalton, and dryly funny without veering into the campiness of Moore or Brosnan. He also doesn’t wear a cravat, so on that point alone he has George Lazenby’s Bond beat.
Where Skyfall really succeeds, though, is in taking the Bond formula established over the previous 22 films – and, at that point, 50 years of cinema – and making it feel fresh. The plot sees Bond face off against a disgruntled ex-MI6 employee. Unfortunately for Bond, we aren’t talking about a janitor fired for always missing a spot in the staff loos, but a former super spy with the tech credentials and henchmen required to make Bond’s, and M’s lives a misery.
Bond has fought former British spies before – notably Sean Bean’s 006 in 1995’s Goldeneye – but never has an adversary carried the charged menace of Javier Bardem’s Raoul Silva. Bond has also ‘died’ before (You Only Live Twice’s opening can’t be beaten when it comes to OOT fake deaths). But Skyfall’s opening train fight was genuinely thrilling. When Bond is shot from a carriage roof and falls hundreds of feet into the river below, the audience believe for a moment that it might actually be the end of him.
And, in fleshing out Judi Dench’s M, Skyfall becomes the first film to turn its supporting cast into actual human beings, not just props to set up Bond’s one liners / people to be killed / women to be shagged. Frankly, it’s idiocy that Bond producers didn’t give Judi Dench more to do before this film because in many ways, she’s the best thing about it.
Sure, Skyfall is problematic. Viewed ten years later, its shortcomings become even clearer. Bond is still a chauvinist, the trope of having a scarred villain persists, and by the end of the film, order is restored and M is a man once again. No Time To Die went some way towards addressing some of these complaints, but as our attention turns to the question of who will be the next James Bond, and what the next film will look like, there are a few things Bond 26 can learn from the franchise highpoint.
As noted, M is one of the most interesting characters in Skyfall. Likewise, it’s exciting to see Naomie Harris’s Moneypenny out in the field instead of typing up sexual harassment complaints from behind her desk. But, by the end of the film these characters are either dead, or deskbound once again. Which is a shame. No Time To Die introduced Lashana Lynch’s female 007, but she was an agent all along. By bringing secondary female characters to the fore, and the field, Skyfall really opened up the world of James Bond, and we need to see that kind of richness and character development again, but more so.
Another place Skyfall excels is its use of location. It’s always a thrill to see Jimmy trotting around the globe, but some films in the franchise have overdone it. How the hell is one supposed to fight terrorists when dealing with that much jet-lag? By placing the film’s final act in Scotland, Skyfall not only reminded us that the Highlands are beautiful, but helped ground Bond as a British character. Ditto, the scenes in London. Get the characters and action right, and it shouldn’t matter where Bond is. Like Skyfall, let’s stick to one or two familiar locations next time.
Grounding Bond in the UK (a brief Shanghai sojourn aside) serves to humanise him, too. We go back to his roots, in Scotland. There, in his scenes with M, we see him at his most vulnerable. We’ve seen Bond as inexperienced in Casino Royale, but it’s only here we see hints of the fragile boy he used to be, the boy who had to construct this big tough exterior to survive. Let’s explore that more in the next film. Heck, let’s go all the way back to his youth (at least for a flashback) and really ground him as a character not just worthy of our admiration/disdain (depending on your feelings) but our compassion, too. Wouldn’t that be a first?
Skyfall is also notable for its destruction of MI6 HQ, a plot device which serves to not only demonstrate Silva’s power, but to unmoor Bond and send him out on his own. Again, let’s see more of this – a Bond without allies, without gadgets, even, forced to figure everything out on his own. What about instead of Bond and M travelling to Scotland, a fresh and green Bond and M are shot down into enemy territory and forced to use their wits to survive, before eventually overcoming the big bad hiding out in the jungle/desert/wherever. That’s something we haven’t seen before, especially if that’s the whole film.
While we’re at it, we can’t forget that Skyfall is the best looking Bond film we’ve ever had, thanks to the cinematography of the legendary Roger Deakins. Bond fighting an assassin against the backdrop of a neon video screen is stunning. The burning manor house and the misty moors at the end have no business being in a popcorn blockbuster. Let’s bring Deakins back or, if he’s busy, Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant,Children of Men) or even Rachel Morrison (Black Panther). While we’re at it, let’s have Adele do the score again. Or, even better, an Adele and Billie Eilish collab.
As with every Bond film, the next one will need to walk the fine line between paying homage to past films while putting a new twist on proceedings. A new Bond is the perfect chance to do this, of course, but if producers are looking for a blueprint to build out and improve upon, Skyfall has everything they should require.
