Skyfall (2012)

The James Bond marathon is almost over!  Today, we review the official Bond film #23: Skyfall (2012).

SYNOPSIS:
James Bond (Daniel Craig) and fellow agent Eve (Naomie Harris) pursue a man who stole a list of MI6's undercover agents.  But Bond is shot and presumed dead while the man escapes with the list.  A few months later, agents' real names and their undercover names start popping up on the Internet, and MI6 is bombed.  The target of the attack appears to be M (Judi Dench), by someone from her past.  Her authority is brought into question by Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), the new Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee.  Bond, who has been recovering from his "death" on a beach somewhere, returns to MI6 to find whomever stole the list and save the lives of more agents.  But he's a dying breed; the Minister of Defence wants to put an end to MI6.  The age of spies and hiding in the shadows appears to be over, and with her agency compromised, M turns to the one person she knows she can trust: James Bond.

REVIEW:
There are some minor spoilers in this review, clearly marked so you can skip over them if you like.  With the rebooted films telling a continuing story, it's hard to give a review without dropping some spoilers, as the next film develops off of the previous story.

This film returns to the great storytelling style of Casino Royale.  We get an engaging struggle to start out the film, until Bond is shot and presumed dead.  Months later, the stolen hard drive with the list of undercover agents is finally decrypted and they start popping up on the Internet, 5 names a week.  Feeling partially responsible, Bond returns to MI6 to finish what he started.

Bond, having been shot, drifts unconscious down a river

Bond uses bullet shrapnel in his shoulder to help identify the man who stole the hard drive, then traces his location to find where the list has gone.  His trail eventually leads him to Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), a rogue agent who uses modern-day technology to make his own secret missions.

Raoul Silva, tempting Bond with a new life away from MI6

There's a running theme throughout this film, that M and Bond are old-fashioned and outdated.  Mallory tells Bond that the spy business is "a young man's game." M is berated by the Minister of Defence for believing that we still live in a "golden age of espionage, where human intelligence was the only resource available."  The world is changing and spies in the field is an antiquated concept now.  So both "old dogs" have to fight, on both sides of the fence, to preserve their way of life.

I like that we get a little more background into Bond's past.  Looking for a safe place to lay low, Bond and M travel to the house Bond grew up in, a lodge in the highlands of Scotland named Skyfall.  We learn that his parents, Andrew and Monique Delacroix Bond died when Bond was a child.  MI6 recruited him and he never returned to Skyfall Lodge.  The next film will explore Bond's past a little bit more, but we'll discuss that in the next review.

M and Bond arrive at Skyfall Lodge, Bond's ancestral home

Bill Tanner (Rory Kinnear), MI6's Chief of Staff, returns to the series.  He made a very brief appearance in the previous film, Quantum of Solace (2008), but he played a bigger role in Skyfall (2012) as M's aide.  He was a regular character in Ian Fleming's novels, but the films have rarely ever used him.  Rory Kinnear is the longest-running actor as Tanner, having played him three times now (once more in the next film).  It looks like the Bond film releasing this year will also have him playing Tanner, so he's got a longer-lasting role in the new series than Felix Leiter, Bond's CIA friend.

Bill Tanner, keeping an eye on M

Q (Ben Whishaw) makes his debut in this film!  Q is now a young tech-savvy kid, who issues Bond a new Walther PPK with handprint recognition technology, so only he can fire it.  He also gives Bond a tiny radio transmitter that sends a distress signal when activated.  Q is also shown to be a computer whiz.  When confronted with a near-impossible encryption to hack, he claims there's only 6 people in the world who can create safeguards like that.  When Bond asks if he can do it, he proudly states that he's the one who invented them.

The new, young Q, hacking an un-hackable computer

Random trivia: Ben Whishaw stated that, despite playing the tech-savvy Q, he actually is very anti-technology in his personal life, not owning a computer or anything.

SPOILERS AHEAD: Skip the next paragraph if you don't want to read it.

The end of this film is both tragic, but also uplifting.  Bond stops Silva from killing M, but M is already mortally wounded from a stray bullet.  She dies in Bond's arms while looking up at him, claiming, "I did get one thing right."  Back at MI6, Mallory takes over as the new M, having his own office styled very much like the classic M from old James Bond films.  Eve, who was doing office work for Mallory, is hired on as his personal assistant.  She was the one who accidentally shot Bond in the opening of the film, so she's spent most of the film pulled from field work, doing administrative duty for Mallory instead.  She wanted to go back to the field, but admits at the end that Bond was right - not everyone is cut out for field work.  Bond says that they haven't been formally introduced yet, and she gives her full name - Eve Moneypenny.  So we have our new Moneypenny!  And a bit of backstory as to why she and Bond have a flirtatious relationship that never goes anywhere.

END OF SPOILERS.

When Bond first met Q, it was at an art gallery, where the two were staring at a painting of a beautiful old warship being towed in for scrap.  It was a symbol for Bond being relieved of duty for being old-fashioned.  The British government is in talks about dissolving MI6, and only Bond and M are really fighting the potential change.  At the end of the film, Bond is standing in M's office, and you can clearly see a large painting on the wall between them, of warships going back out to service; a symbol of Bond returning to duty for good.

An old warship being towed for scrap VS warships returning to duty

The self-titled theme song was performed by Adele and it is beautiful!  I read about her discussing the song and how she felt nervous that she wouldn't be able to make a Bond song befitting the series.  She was told that she was hired to write her style of music, so she should just make it her own.  Inspired, she wrote a song that personally moved her, and it turned out amazing.  Interesting trivia: She was pregnant when she wrote the song, and the pregnancy hormones made her singing voice deeper at the time.  She said she's unable to sing Skyfall now, because it's too low for her normal voice.  You can hear the song here:

RECOMMENDATION:
This is a brilliant return to form, introducing us to the wonderful world of James Bond that Casino Royale (2006) set up, while also expanding on that world and tying it in to the classic James Bond world a bit.  This was definitely an emotional film, and a good continuation for the series. I highly recommend watching it, if you haven't already!

Quantum of Solace (2008)

Today, the James Bond marathon brings us to the very first direct sequel of a Bond film: Quantum of Solace (2008), the 22nd film in the official series.

SYNOPSIS:
James Bond (Daniel Craig) and M (Judi Dench) question the mysterious Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), who informs them that the secret organization he belongs to has people everywhere.  Proving his point, M's personal bodyguard turns on the agents in the room, causing a commotion that allows Mr. White to escape.  Determined to find out more about this mysterious organization that blackmailed Vesper and got her killed, James Bond pursues a trail that leads him to Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), an environmental philanthropist who's also a high-level operative in a secret and highly-influential organization called Quantum.  Through Greene and Quantum, Bond gets closer to learning about the secret organization that's infiltrating governments and threatening to control the world.

REVIEW:
There will be light spoilers in this review.  I will mark them so you can skip over them if you want.

This film picks up shortly after Casino Royale (2006) ended.  Bond is being pursued in his Aston Martin DBS by several cars, with their passengers shooting at him.  Managing to evade them, he pulls in to a secret location in Siena, Italy and pops his trunk to reveal Mr. White, held captive.  M and some other MI6 personnel are waiting to interrogate him, but he taunts them with the fact that they didn't even know his organization exists.  As explained in the synopsis, he escapes thanks to an embedded agent of his organization, and disappears.

Mr. White, being interrogated by M and James Bond

This film is not only the first direct sequel of a Bond film, continuing the story from the first film, but also the first Bond film to not start out with the famous gun barrel scene.  Instead, it's been moved to the very end of the film.  I think they did that for better flow of the story.  Interrupting a gritty, dark storyline for a random gun barrel scene seems kind of out of place.

James Bond is chastised by M for killing everyone he comes across.  They want to question people so they can gather more intel about Quantum, but Bond keeps killing anyone who puts up a fight.  M herself gets reprimanded for having a loose cannon for an agent and is told to bring him in, or else the Americans will put him down.  She cancels all his passports and credit cards, forcing him to meet René Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini) for a hook-up.  Mathis has been cleared of all accusations from the previous film and was given a nice property to retire on as an apology.

Mathis explaining to his girl why she shouldn't give Bond fine wine

When Bond refuses to come in, M sends Strawberry Fields (Gemma Arterton) to retrieve Bond and bring him home, by force if necessary, but Bond continues his determined path toward Quantum.  Eventually, M is forced to come herself and attempt to take him in, but Bond escapes MI6 control, determined to discover Quantum's plan and put a stop to it.

The appropriately-named Strawberry Fields

Something interesting about this film is that the line between good guys and bad guys is blurred.  M and James Bond both see this secret organization as a threat to their very existence as a secret  intelligence service.  But governments look more at the "big picture."  They're told that Dominic Greene is buying supplies for oil pipelines and will provide them with a fraction of whatever he finds.  He's even working with the CIA who want a cut of his oil finds.  The British Foreign Secretary (Tim Pigott-Smith) tells M, "Say you're right... Say Greene is a villain.  If we refused to do business with villains, we'd have almost no one to trade with."  Between the Russians and Americans claiming every bit of oil they can find, England is willing to do deals with shady people if it'll give them valuable resources.  So Bond pursuing him is putting the government at risk.

Regardless of how frustrated she is with Bond, M continues to support his decision, deciding that she trusts his judgment more than anyone else.  With potential moles throughout her organization, she needs to have faith in someone, and the one person going against the grain and fighting to uncover this mysterious organization in opposition to MI6 is the one person she can trust.

As I mentioned previously, the Americans are hunting James Bond because he's a liability.  They're trying to do a deal for oil with Dominic Greene, and Bond is interfering.  Specifically, we see two CIA agents working with Greene - Gregg Beam (David Harbour), and Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright).  Bond meets with his buddy Felix to request information on Greene, but their exchange is short, as the CIA is sending in a team to take out Bond.  They're pissed because Bond offered to let them take in Le Chiffre in Casino Royale (2006), but he ended up dead.  Now Bond is leaving a trail of bodies everywhere, and he's after Greene.  Leiter, not convinced that Greene will benefit America's goals, helps point Bond in Greene's direction before the CIA shows up to take Bond down.

Felix Leiter and James Bond, sharing intel over a couple beers

Also along for the ride is a woman named Camille Montes (Olga Kurylenko), who is determined to kill General Medrano (Joaquín Cosío), who Greene's organization, Quantum, is establishing as the next president of Bolivia.  The General murdered her family when she was a child, so she wants revenge.  Her existence in this film is almost pointless, except to give Bond someone to work alongside in the field.  Their separate goals bring them to the same end, and Bond is able to guide the young lady toward satisfying her revenge.  Maybe he understands her plight, what with his ultimate goal being revenge as well.

Camille Montes, meeting General Medrano for the first time since childhood

SPOILERS AHEAD: Skip the next two paragraphs if you want to avoid them.

The thing is, Dominic Greene is fooling everyone.  The plot of land he's acquiring in Bolivia has no oil.  Instead, he's building underground dams to dry up the aquifers, creating a water shortage.  His organization, Quantum, has deposed the previous president of Bolivia and they're putting General Medrano in place as the new president, only asking for this chunk of "useless" land in exchange.  Once the General is appointed, Greene informs him that his organization now owns 60% of all water in Bolivia and the General will sign a contract making them the exclusive water utilities supplier for the nation, or else they'll depose him too and find a new guy to take his place.  Of course, Bond shows up and eventually captures Greene.  He interrogates him, then dumps him in the middle of the desert with only a can of oil.  He bets Greene that he'll walk 20 miles before considering drinking it.

Using the intel he got from Greene, Bond tracks down Vesper's boyfriend in Russia.  In Casino Royale (2006), M explains to Bond that her boyfriend was kidnapped and she was blackmailed into doing what the secret organization requested, or else they'd kill him.  But Bond learned that the boyfriend was actually a member of the organization himself, manipulating the emotions of intelligence members to gather intel.  When Bond finds him, he's dating a Canadian intelligence officer.  Bond informs her that her boyfriend will "go missing" and she'll be blackmailed to give up state secrets to save him. He also points out the Algerian love knot necklace she's wearing, saying he gave it to Vesper too, and she's now dead.  He lets the girl leave and she thanks him.  Despite having found the man responsible for Vesper's betrayal and eventual death, Bond shows a surprising amount of restraint.  He doesn't kill him; instead handing him over to MI6 to deal with.  When M asks if he'll come back to MI6, he tells her he never left.

END OF SPOILERS.

Again, Q doesn't make an appearance, and Bond doesn't get any fancy gadgets.  His Aston Martin DBS V12 is beaten up by the end of the chase scene at the beginning of the film.  And he still carries his Walther P99 handgun.

The title of this film, Quantum of Solace (2008), is the name of a short story from Ian Fleming's 8th James Bond novel, "For Your Eyes Only."  The short story's name is the only thing pulled from the novel; the story itself is told to Bond by a man at a dinner party, about a failed marriage and how, when the "quantum of solace" drops to zero, humanity and consideration of one human for another is gone and the relationship is finished.

Interestingly, the epilogue of this film is similar to another short story in a James Bond novel.  "Octopussy and The Living Daylights," the 14th and final Ian Fleming novel, had a short story titled, "007 in New York," where Bond travels to America to warn an MI6 agent that her boyfriend is actually a KGB agent.

This film is the last one (so far) to pull its title or story from a previous James Bond novel.  Of all the novels Ian Fleming released (two posthumously), there are only four short story titles that have not been used as movie titles yet. They are Risico, The Hildebrand Rarity, The Property of a Lady, and 007 in New York. Although the last one's plot was similar to this film's ending, and The Property of a Lady was the name of the Fabergé egg in Octopussy (1983).

Continuing the trend that the previous Bond film started, this film's main theme song also isn't named after the movie.  It's titled, "Another Way to Die." It was written and produced by Jack White and performed by him and Alicia Keys. The rest of the soundtrack for the film was written by David Arnold.  Honestly, I'm not a fan of this main theme song.  It's energetic and exciting, but just feels... off for a James Bond film.  You can listen to it here:

RECOMMENDATION:
Despite doing well in the box office, this film got a lot of criticism.  Watched in sequence with Casino Royale (2006), it makes sense.  But on its own, it just feels odd.  There are a lot of references to the previous film that you may not remember or understand if you didn't watch them together.  Overall, Casino Royale (2006) was a brilliant film that used great storytelling to keep you engaged, with action as needed to drive the plot.  Quantum of Solace (2008), on the other hand, feels like it tried to go back to the old action flicks.  Lots of explosions and shaky camera scenes, and scattered exposition all over the place.  I've seen it maybe 3 or 4 times now, and watching it in conjunction with the previous film, I think I finally understand the whole plot.  I'd recommend watching it as an extended storyline to Casino Royale (2006), not as a stand-alone film.

Casino Royale (2006)

Welcome back to the James Bond marathon!  Casino Royale (2006), official Bond film #21, is the start of a rebooted series starring Daniel Craig.

SYNOPSIS:
Brand-new 00 agent, James Bond (Daniel Craig), prevents a terrorist from blowing up a brand-new airplane.  MI6 learns that Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a known banker of terrorist organizations, lost millions betting against the stocks for the new plane and then quickly set up a high-stakes poker game.  They conclude that he bet his client's funds on the stock market and is desperate to win back the money before his clients notice.  M (Judi Dench), knowing Bond's the best poker player in MI6, assigns him to attend the poker game and clean out Le Chiffre, expecting his angry and violent clientele to take care of him afterward.  She also sends Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), MI6's accountant, to bankroll Bond and pose as his wife.  Will Bond have the skill needed to win a $150 million poker game against a genius player, or will MI6 end up directly financing terrorism?

REVIEW:
This review will have spoilers, just because I want to discuss this film's plot in depth, plus the book it's based on.

This film is absolutely incredible!  The music, cinematography, story, character development... everything about this film is perfect!  This is my all-time favorite Bond film.

It opens in black-and-white, with James Bond earning his 00 status.  To qualify, an agent needs two official kills on his record.  Bond has already killed one, whom we see him struggle with in a flashback.  The second is Dryden (Malcolm Sinclair), Section Chief of MI6.  M learned he was selling secrets and sends Bond to finish him off.  Ending the opening sequence is Bond's first kill, whom he didn't quite finish off, attempting to pull a gun on Bond.  Bond turns and shoots him in a perfect transition to the official gun barrel scene we see at the start of every Bond film.

A modernized version of the classic gun barrel opening, tying in to the plot this time!

What I love about this rebooted James Bond is that he's not just a witty, charming, attractive man who can talk his way in and out of every situation.  His character more closely resembles the dark, gritty, brooding man that Ian Fleming created in his original James Bond novels.  He's highly intelligent, constantly surprising M by sneaking into her apartment, finding out her real name, and using her credentials while hacking into MI6's network from across the globe.  His skill and resourcefulness is so unnerving that M has a tracking chip implanted in his arm to keep tabs on him.

Not the first time this Bond will have a tracking device embedded in his body by MI6...

This James Bond is also arrogant and cocky, betting heavily on his skill to overcome any situation he's in.  It's something I've noticed about past Bond films; his real name and code name (007) are known to everyone, even enemies he's never met, which you would think makes him a terrible spy.  And in a sense, you're right - a good spy is never known and able to sneak in and out undetected, while still obtaining the information they came for.  But James Bond is different.  He doesn't want to waste time on stakeouts or following clues and analyzing intel.  He's very good at piecing together information on the fly and he'd rather confront his enemy face-to-face and lay the (figurative) cards on the table in order to pressure his foe and catch them off-guard, rather than do the "proper" spy way of staying in the shadows.  And he's incredibly good at it.  When time is not on his side, sometimes exposing himself to his enemy gets him what he needs to know much faster than taking the time to research and confirm from a distance.

Bond teasing Le Chiffre with his real name

In Casino Royale (2006), Bond partly explains this to Vesper.  They arrive to their hotel under a pseudonym, but Bond gives his real name to the hotel clerk, telling them his reservation is under the pseudonym name.  He tells Vesper that if Le Chiffre is that well-connected, then he already knows who Bond is and where his money's coming from.  But he's willing to play anyway, so it tells Bond that he's either desperate or overly-confident.  And all he gets in exchange is a name he already has.  Vesper shoots back that now Le Chiffre knows something about Bond - that he's reckless.  Which is very true.

Bond enlists some local help, a fellow MI6 agent named René Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini), who ensures that local corrupt officials are kept off Bond's back while he plays poker.  Also, when Bond bets the last of his money and loses, a fellow player from the table introduces himself, saying they're "related." We're introduced to Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), a "brother from Langley," also after Le Chiffre.  He cuts a deal with Bond: he'll stake Bond so he can continue playing, as long as Bond agrees to let the CIA take Le Chiffre in after Bond's cleaned him out.  He offers to let Bond keep the $150 million winnings, saying, "Does it look like we need the money?"

Felix Leiter, CIA, makes his return for the reboot!

This film is relatively loyal to the original novel it's based on.  Casino Royale was the very first James Bond book, published by Ian Fleming back in 1953.  Unlike the exciting action scenes that we witness in the film, there's actually very little action in the book.  Most of the novel takes place at the card table, playing Baccarat Chemin-de-fer instead of the film's poker.  Le Chiffre is an agent of SMERSH.

As you may recall from one of my earlier reviews, I mentioned that SMERSH was an actual Russian organization in the mid-40s. It's name was a portmanteau: Смерть шпионам (SMERt' SHpionam, a.k.a. "Death to Spies"). Coined by Joseph Stalin, it was intended to be a counter-intelligence agency, protecting the Red Army from infiltration and internal conflict. Ian Fleming included a fictional version of SMERSH as his international terrorist organization in his novels, up until he wrote Thunderball, where the new acronym SPECTRE took over as their new name.

Main Directorate of Counter-Intelligence "SMERSH"

In the Casino Royale novel, Le Chiffre is desperate to make up his money after a chain of his brothels in France were shut down by a new law.  When Bond cleans him out, he kidnaps Vesper and causes Bond to crash his Bentley while in pursuit.  Taking them to his villa, Le Chiffre proceeds to physically torture Bond's genitals while demanding to know where the check with the winnings has gone.  When Bond shows no signs of giving in, Le Chiffre begins to mentally torture him, explaining what his men might be doing to Vesper in the other room.  But then a SMERSH agent bursts in and shoots Le Chiffre.  He tells Bond that he has no orders to kill him, but that SMERSH are only known to give mercy by chance or by mistake.  He carves a Russian Cyrillic "Ш" (SH) into Bond's hand, marking him as a spy in case any other SMERSH agents come across him.  Then he leaves and Bond passes out.

Waking up two days later in a hospital, Bond is nursed to health by Vesper.  They go off on a vacation in France 3 weeks later, and romance blooms.  Bond considers leaving MI6 and marrying Vesper, living a happy life and starting a family with her.  But then a SMERSH agent by the fake name "Adolph Gettler" starts shadowing Vesper, making her super paranoid.  He's a German man with a glass eye patch monocle.  Bond catches her acting suspicious and making secret phone calls, so he questions her.  She insists that she'll tell him everything in the morning.  They make love and Bond retires to his own room.

The next morning, Vesper is found dead in her bed, overdosed on pills.  She left a note for Bond, stating that she was forced to be a double agent for the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. SMERSH had kidnapped her boyfriend who served as a pilot for the Polish Royal Air Force, and was blackmailing her to sabotage Bond's mission.  When she fell for Bond, she thought she could run away with him and start over, but Gettler's presence told her she'd never be free, and she was only putting Bond at risk.  Steeling his heart, Bond calls up his liason officer and tells him, "The bitch is dead now."

The film follows this plot pretty closely.  Bond cleans out Le Chiffre, Vesper is then kidnapped, and while in pursuit, Bond wrecks his car when he finds a tied-up Vesper lying in the road.  They're picked up by Le Chiffre's men and brought to a rusty, abandoned ship, where Vesper is led off into another room.  Bond is stripped of his clothes and forced to endure torture to his genitals by Le Chiffre.  Despite clearly suffering, he continues to joke with Le Chiffre about his attempts to "scratch his balls" for him, and Le Chiffre, clearly frustrated, pulls a knife and goes in to castrate Bond.  Before he can, though, Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), a man who's been silently hanging out in the background of the film, bursts in.  Le Chiffre promises he'll get the money and Mr. White informs him that money isn't as important to their organization as loyalty.  He shoots Le Chiffre in the head and Bond passes out.

I can FEEL this scene every time I watch this film. *Shudders*

Bond wakes up in the hospital later, with Vesper and Mathis.  Le Chiffre had informed Bond earlier that Mathis was actually his friend and sold Bond out, so Bond has Mathis taken away by MI6.  When Bond recovers, he and Vesper run away to Venice together and live happily for a bit off some of the poker winnings.  Bond tenders his resignation from MI6, planning to run away and salvage what's left of his humanity with his love for Vesper.  She goes to the bank to pull some more money and Bond gets a call from M, saying that Vesper still hasn't paid back MI6 the money they staked in the game.  Getting suspicious, Bond calls the bank to find that all the winnings are being withdrawn as they speak.  He tracks down Vesper and finds her exchanging the briefcase of money with a man with one eye and some lackeys.  Bond pursues them and kills everyone, but Vesper locks herself in an elevator, which sinks into the water.  She lets herself drown while Bond desperately tries to save her.

Vesper saying her goodbyes as she drowns

M later informs Bond that Vesper was the one who sold out Bond, not Mathis.  Her boyfriend was kidnapped and she was being blackmailed.  M offers to give Bond some more time, but he asks why would he need more time?  Bond tells M, "The job's done, and the bitch is dead."  Browsing her phone, Bond finds a brief message she left for him, naming Mr. White.  Bond shows up at Mr. White's house and shoots out his knee before introducing himself.  And... the rest will be told in the next film.

Blow out kneecaps first, then introductions

Sadly, there's no Q in this film, nor the next.  Bond's only equipment is a 2006 Aston Martin DBS V12, which comes with a Walther P99 handgun with silencer, and a defibrillator.  He also wins a 1964 Aston Martin DB5 from a poker game earlier on in the film, a nod to his classic car from Goldfinger (1964).  This will become his personal car for the rest of the Daniel Craig era.

2006 Aston Martin DBS V12 (left) and 1964 Aston Martin DB5 (right)

Personally, I think Daniel Craig is the best James Bond.  Which is interesting, considering there were protests and boycotts of the series announced when he was picked for the role.  Most people didn't think the blond, waxed Australian man could pull off the character, but all judgment stopped after Casino Royale (2006) released.  He dominated the role, and made the best Bond we've had yet!  I don't think we've had a truly bad Bond throughout this entire franchise, but Daniel Craig just fits the profile best.  I'm a big fan of the original novels, and Daniel Craig's Bond is about as close as we've ever come to matching Ian Fleming's interpretation of Bond, both in personality and in appearance.  I'm really going to miss him after his final Bond film releases later this year.  I don't know how the franchise is going to move on from him.

Daniel Craig's resemblance to Ian Fleming's interpretation of James Bond is uncanny!

The opening theme for this film is one of my favorites, both in music and the opening title sequence.  Breaking from the (usual) tradition of naming the song after the movie's title, this song is called "You Know My Name."  It was performed by Chris Cornell.  The rest of the film's soundtrack was written by David Arnold, who also helped Chris Cornell write the film's theme song.  You can view the opening title sequence here:

RECOMMENDATION:
This is a fantastic re-imagining of the James Bond franchise, starting off strong by telling the original James Bond novel's story.  Everything about this film works so well.  It takes the relatively boring concept of watching people play cards for several days and makes it interesting and enjoyable.  I was on the edge of my seat throughout this film, and to me, this is the pinnacle of James Bond on the big screen.  You have to check this one out!

GoldenEye (1995)

Welcome back to my James Bond marathon!  We've finally reached the Pierce Brosnan era, with the 17th official film, GoldenEye (1995).

SYNOPSIS:
A top secret Russian satellite system known as GoldenEye is designed to fire an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) at a specified location, frying all electronics within a 30-mile radius.  When Russian General Ourumov (Gottfried John) and his deadly assistant, Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen) steal the GoldenEye program and launch keys, James Bond, Agent 007 (Pierce Brosnan) is sent to investigate.  He discovers the mastermind behind the theft is Alec Trevelyan, former Agent 006 (Sean Bean), long thought dead.  Alec holds a grudge against England, and James Bond for scarring his face the last time they met.  Can Bond stop his former friend before GoldenEye is used to destroy England?

REVIEW:
This is sort of a soft reboot of the James Bond series.  Albert R. Broccoli, the remaining producer who had originally bought the film rights from author Ian Fleming, was suffering from poor health and would pass away shortly after this film released.  He helped produce this film, but leaned heavily on his daughter, Barbara Broccoli, to help reinvigorate the franchise for a new generation.  Poor reviews and low ticket sales for the previous film, License to Kill (1989) meant that the franchise could be on its last legs without some changes.  Barbara Broccoli had been helping produce the franchise since Octopussy (1983), but this was her first time reinventing the series, bringing the franchise into the modern era.  The changes she brought helped to create a new successful era for James Bond through the '90s.

The GoldenEye program and keys

Desmond Llewelyn is the only returning actor, continuing his famous role as Q.  He provides Bond with a few new gadgets to play with: An exploding pen, which sets a four-second trigger when you click it three times.  A leather belt with a built-in tensile wire that can support one person's weight.  And finally, Bond's new car, a BMW Z3.  Bond also makes use of an Omega watch with a built-in laser.

Q explaining the many features of Bond's new ride

M has been replaced with a woman, played by Judi Dench.  She tells Bond that he's a "sexist, misogynistic dinosaur; a relic of the Cold War."  She doesn't approve of his womanizing ways and lets him know that despite her being viewed by her people as more of an accountant type, she knows what the job entails and has no qualms with potentially sending agents to their deaths.  This new, tough M will continue to challenge Bond through the Brosnan era, keeping him in line when he strays.

Judi Dench with her cold, judging stare.

There's a new actress playing Moneypenny too: Samantha Bond.  Rather than fawn over James Bond like previous Moneypenny roles, this Moneypenny straight up accuses him of sexual harassment in their first scene, only expressing the slightest bit of interest in him by admitting he needs to follow through on his innuendos one of these days.  "Playful banter" in the '90s comes with a harassment warning, apparently.

Moneypenny laying down the law!

It was a new era, and the age of the James Bond who could get away with forcing himself on women was over.  This first revitalized Bond film needed to set that standard.  Although Bond still gets a little forceful a couple times in this film, he also meets his match with the tenacious Xenia Onatopp, who derives sexual pleasure from killing.  Her preferred method of assassination? Crushed between her thighs during sex.  She corners Bond at a bathhouse, where even the infamously promiscuous Bond needs to tell her that no means no.  Is it female empowerment when the genders are swapped?

When even James Bond has to tell you no, you know you've gone too far

We're also introduced to Jack Wade (Joe Don Baker), Bond's new CIA counterpart.  If this is truly a continuation of the old Bond films, then you may recall that Felix Leiter, Bond's friend and CIA buddy, got maimed by a shark in the previous film, losing a leg.  It's assumed that Leiter is now out of commission and retired, so Bond gets a new CIA contact when dealing with US territories.

Jack Wade, CIA - taking over for Felix Leiter for the Brosnan era

One thing to note is that this is the first James Bond film to use dynamic lighting in the famous opening gun barrel scene.  Up until this point, every opening had a static image of the inside of a gun barrel while following James Bond.  In GoldenEye (1995), they made it look like an actual gun barrel, with light reflecting in real time inside the barrel while it traced Bond across the white room.  You can view it here:

This film is another original story, not having any ties to the old James Bond novels.  It was named after Ian Fleming's own private Jamaican villa, Goldeneye, where he wrote all the original James Bond novels.  You may remember my Casino Royale (1954) review all the way back at the start of this movie marathon, where I talk a bit about Ian Fleming and his Goldeneye villa, and where he originally came up with that name.

GoldenEye (1995) was the very first James Bond film I ever saw.  Back then, I didn't realize it was an entire franchise.  I thought it was just a regular stand-alone '90s action film.  When I was around 12 years old, my close friends and I really got into spy films and I discovered a James Bond VHS collection at Best Buy with the first 16 films.  It was my first true introduction to the franchise, and I've been a huge fan ever since.

My first taste of the spy franchise was through this VHS collection

My interest in the franchise was only encouraged through the wildly popular GoldenEye 007, which released for the Nintendo 64 in 1997.  It became the most popular first-person shooter of its time, inspiring the world of multiplayer gaming.  Having re-watched this film makes me want to pull out my old N64 and play some GoldenEye 007 levels again.

Look at those cutting-edge graphics!  ...For the '90s, anyway

You may be interested to hear that GoldenEye 007 has had a high-definition fan remake in the works for years now.  It will be called GoldenEye 25, due to the fact that it's scheduled to release in 2022, the 25th anniversary of GoldenEye 007.  Check out some sweet gameplay here:

Finally, if you miss the days of GoldenEye 007 multiplayer, there's a fan-made multiplayer-only game built off the Half-Life 2 engine called GoldenEye: Source.  It's a free project - install that game on your computer and jump into an online multiplayer match in your favorite GoldenEye 007 levels, re-made with high-quality graphics.  Their website is here.

That GoldenEye Bunker level looks amazing in high-def!

The self-titled opening song of GoldenEye (1995) is performed by Tina Turner, and for a while, was one of my favorite Bond themes.  The music in general was really good throughout this film; although hearing the soundtrack now, I realize it had heavy undertones of the '90s era embedded in its style.  You can listen to/watch it here:

RECOMMENDATION:
This is the classic that got me into the James Bond franchise in the first place, as well as refreshing the character and story for a new generation.  If you watch only one James Bond film, you should seriously consider this one!

Licence to Kill (1989)

For today's James Bond marathon, we're already at the end of the short-lived Timothy Dalton era, reviewing his final film, Licence to Kill (1989).

SYNOPSIS:
On the way to Felix Leiter's (David Hedison) wedding, the DEA intercept him and his best man, James Bond (Timothy Dalton) to inform them that the notorious drug lord, Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi) is out of hiding.  Taking a quick detour, Bond and Leiter capture him alive, then make it to Leiter's wedding just in time.  But Sanchez escapes capture that night and goes after Leiter and his new bride, maiming them on their wedding night.  When Bond's attempt to chase down Sanchez is denied by M (Robert Brown), he resigns from the service and goes rogue, chasing Sanchez south of the border.  And so begins a revenge-fueled vendetta to avenge Felix Leiter and his wife, no matter the cost...

REVIEW:
This is the first time we've seen Bond go rogue.  It's a very dark tale of hatred and revenge, which fits nicely with the menacing look of Timothy Dalton.  He refuses to accept his next assignment from M, and so when M revokes his license to kill, Bond makes a run for it, being shot at by his very own people.  By the way, the original title of this film was "License Revoked."

M demanding Bond's gun after revoking his license to kill

Along the way, Bond finds himself so driven by his one goal of ending Sanchez that he inadvertently stumbles across other nation's secret agencies trying to infiltrate Sanchez's organization.  Bond's refusal to give up on Sanchez jeopardizes everyone else's mission and gets agents killed.  MI6 even sends an agent to collect Bond and drag him back to England, unsuccessfully.  Moneypenny (Caroline Bliss) is so distraught by Bond resigning, she authorizes a search behind M's back to help track down Bond's location.  And so, M decides that the only way to get Bond back is to help him complete his mission.  He enlists Q (Desmond Llewelyn) to go find Bond and provide him with any necessary tools he may need.

Bond being interrogated by fellow agents

Q checks in to Bond's hotel room, posing as his uncle, and provides Bond with a bag loaded with gadgets.  He provides Dentonite Toothpaste (plastic explosive in a tube) and a pack of cigarettes as a remote trigger.  He also has a camera that can be reassembled into a sniper gun, with an optical palm reader that only fires when it detects Bond's hand gripping it.  We also see a Polaroid camera that shoots a deadly laser from the flash and takes x-ray photos, plus an alarm clock that explodes if you use the alarm.  Neither were used in the film, though.

Q briefing Bond on his latest gadgets

Failing to take out the well-protected Sanchez from a distance, Bond instead decides to get close to him by posing as a potential ally.  He tells a partial truth, letting Sanchez know that he's a former agent of the British government.  After being captured by other foreign agents and saved by Sanchez, Sanchez starts to believe that Bond is truly an ally, and lets him in to his inner circle, where Bond can start tearing down the walls of trust among his people and destroying his drug business.

Sanchez and Bond bonding over tea

Earlier in the film, there was a scene where Felix Leiter's new wife tried to toss Bond her garter, saying it'll mean he's next for marriage.  Rejecting her offer, he turns to leave.  When she asked Felix if she said something wrong, Felix points out that Bond was married once a long time ago.  This ties Timothy Dalton's Bond to both George Lazenby and Roger Moore's Bond; the former having been married and losing his wife in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), and the latter visiting her grave in For Your Eyes Only (1981).  When George Lazenby's Bond attempts to resign from MI6 and starts cleaning out his desk, we see items from past missions that Sean Connery's Bond went on, further tying his past to that actor's films.

Felix Leiter, explaining to his new wife why Bond rejects marriage

This rejects the theory out there that "James Bond, 007" is just a code name that multiple people have used over the years.  For a long time, some fans of the series believed that each new actor was just a new person playing the persona of Bond, in order to keep a spy legacy going; a plot point that was actually brought up in the spin-off satire film, Casino Royale (1967).  But these four actors have a shared history in their Bond stories, making it impossible for them to be different agents sharing a code name.  Pierce Brosnan's Bond was a soft reboot of the franchise, which I believe doesn't have any solid ties to the previous films (we'll find out when I re-watch his films over the next week), and then Daniel Craig's Bond was a complete reboot of the franchise.  But we'll discuss all that later when we get there.

Timothy Dalton was actually signed on for three films, with his next film reportedly being called "Property of a Lady."  This is the name of a short story in Ian Fleming's 14th and final novel, "Octopussy and The Living Daylights."  Unfortunately, production was delayed so long, Timothy Dalton eventually announced his resignation from the role and moved on to other things.  It would be six years before another Bond film would be made.  The story (and title) of License to Kill (1989) is almost completely original, having practically no connection to any of Ian Fleming's work.  In Fleming's second novel, "Live and Let Die," Felix Leiter is maimed by sharks, losing an arm and a leg.  This small plot point was used as the driving factor for Bond's revenge in this film, but that's the only connection this film has to a Bond novel.

The self-titled song for this film is pretty good.  Despite being a little soft like most of the other '80s Bond songs, it has a pretty impacting theme that I like.  It was performed by Gladys Knight, the legendary "Empress of Soul."  Maybe that's why I enjoy it so much.  You can listen to it here:

RECOMMENDATION:
If you want to see Bond go on a personal vendetta to exact revenge, even going rogue from MI6 in order to complete his mission, this is the film to see.  This film is likely what inspired the video game "GoldenEye: Rogue Agent," where you play as an agent who turns on MI6 to join the villains.  This is also the first true taste of a dark, gritty Bond, before Daniel Craig reinvents the character in his gritty modern Bond films.  I enjoyed this darker film, and I'd highly recommend it!

The Living Daylights (1987)

Today the James Bond marathon continues with the 15th official film, The Living Daylights (1987).

SYNOPSIS:
James Bond (Timothy Dalton) aids in the defection of a KGB officer, General Georgi Koskov (Jeroen Krabbé).  Ordered to kill the sniper preventing the defection, Bond notices she's a beautiful cellist he had just been watching perform, and chooses to shoot her rifle instead, scaring the living daylights out of her.  General Koskov is debriefed, claiming that KGB General Leonid Pushkin (John Rhys-Davies) is responsible for the latest several 00 agent deaths, having reenacted the old WWII policy of Smert Shpionam (death to spies).  Koskov is then kidnapped by the KGB, and M (Robert Brown) sends 007 to assassinate General Pushkin before any more agents are assassinated.  But Bond smells a rat, and tracks down the sniper he spared, using her to find his way to Koskov and find out what's really going on...

REVIEW:
This is the first of two Timothy Dalton films.  He was known for playing a much more strict and sometimes cruel James Bond.  Witty one-liners are minimal and he's more forceful and demanding with people than previous Bonds.  The classic gentleman Bond went away with Roger Moore and we're now experiencing a taste of a gritty, dark Bond.  Although I'm getting a little ahead of myself; the next film will explore a darker side of Bond than this one.

Those piercing blue eyes can make anyone feel on edge

Timothy Dalton was actually considered for the role after Sean Connery left the franchise, but turned it down twice.  Later, he was offered the role when Roger Moore decided not to return for For Your Eyes Only (1981).  But Moore changed his mind at the last minute and decided to keep the role for 3 more films.  Interestingly, Pierce Brosnan was cast as James Bond for The Living Daylights (1987), but had to turn down the role due to a commitment to the TV show, Remington Steele.  It would be 7 more years (and two more films) before Brosnan would be picked up for the role.

Caroline Bliss takes over the role of Miss Moneypenny. Up until this film, she was only the second actress to play Moneypenny since the franchise began in 1962.  She was a tall, young blonde, dressed a little nerdy for Bond's taste, although it doesn't prevent him from engaging in playful banter with her.

Cute, but a bit too bookwormish for Bond

As you may recall from my From Russia with Love (1963) review, Smert Shpionam ("death to spies" in Russian) was the full title of a real-world Soviet organization in the '40s to root out any and all spies; although the title was condensed to "SMERSH" (SMERt SHpionam) by Joseph Stalin.  SMERSH was the original evil terrorist organization that Ian Fleming used in his novels before SPECTRE; although his was a fictional version of the real-world defunct organization.  So when M finds out that Smert Shpionam is supposedly being revived by General Pushkin, it gives him motive to send Bond to assassinate him.

Q (Desmond Llewelyn) provides Bond with a keyring that beeps when you whistle, so you can find it. Whistle the first few notes of "Rule Britannia," though, and it releases a stun gas that effects anyone within 5 feet of it. Also, if you give a wolf whistle, it will explode.  Q-Branch also brought back the Aston Martin with a new model: the V8 Vantage Volante.  Decked out with missiles, lasers, rocket motor, radio scanner, and tire spikes and retractable skis for the winter.  It also featured a self-destruct button.

The return to the Aston Martin brand

We also see Q-Branch testing out a "Ghetto Blaster." It's a large '80s Boom Box with a hidden missile launcher inside.  Q excitedly exclaims, "It's for the Americans!"

Back in my day, listening to music on the go doubled as exercise!

There's an arms dealer (Brad Whitaker) in this film, played by Joe Don Baker.  The actor would return to the series later as a CIA agent (Jack Wade) to help out Bond in two films.  This would be the second time an actor has returned to the series after playing a role on the opposing side.  Charles Gray played a British agent living in Japan in You Only Live Twice (1967), and then played Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever (1971).

Whitaker is guilty of Stolen Valor too, having been kicked out of West Point, yet wearing a 5-Star General rank

This is also the first time we've seen Felix Leiter (John Terry), James Bond's friend and counterpart in the CIA, since Live and Let Die (1973).  Although his role was limited, Bond finds out they're both on essentially the same mission from different countries, so they pool their resources to help each other out.

This film gets its title from the 14th and final James Bond novel, "Octopussy and The Living Daylights," by Ian Fleming.  More specifically, it takes its name from the short story within, "The Living Daylights."  It was about James Bond being assigned as a sniper to assist with Agent 272 escaping from East Berlin.  Bond is ordered to eliminate a KGB sniper by the code name "Trigger."  But when he see the sniper, he realizes she's the beautiful cellist he witnessed performing the past three nights.  Choosing not to kill her, he instead shoots her rifle, allowing Agent 272 to escape successfully.  Bond admits that despite Agent 272's successful escape, not killing the sniper will probably mark the mission as a failure, and he hopes M fires him for it.  A good chunk of this short story ended up in this film, except the agent was replaced with a defecting KGB general, and the sniper happened to be just a cellist, not an actual sniper.

The self-titled theme song was performed by "a-ha," a Norwegian pop band.  It was also the last James Bond song co-written by John Barry.  You can listen to it here:

RECOMMENDATION:
This was an entertaining film, taking you from Czechoslovakia to Vienna, to Afghanistan, to Tangier.  Lots of different climates and cultures, ending with a climactic fight scene while hanging out the back of a massive cargo plane in the air.  It was a very enjoyable, and a good start to Timothy Dalton's role as James Bond.  I'd highly recommend it!

Never Say Never Again (1983)

I got my James Bond film timeline mixed up.  I was supposed to post this review yesterday, but I powered through the final Roger Moore film before I remembered.  Oh well.  We're going to take a detour from the official James Bond films today and review the last non-official Bond film, Never Say Never Again (1983).  This film released the same year as Octopussy (1983).

SYNOPSIS:
Two test missiles were launched from a US military plane in England, but they randomly stopped responding and dropped into the ocean.  Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Max Von Sydow), supreme commander of SPECTRE, claims responsibility for stealing the nukes.  He requests 25% of the cost of annual oil purchases for each country in NATO to be donated to SPECTRE to keep him from using the nukes.  M (Edward Fox) is forced to re-activate the 00 agents, and he sends James Bond (Sean Connery) to the Bahamas to investigate a lead in Maximilian Largo (Klaus Maria Brandauer) and his girlfriend, Domino (Kim Basinger).

REVIEW:
Remember Kevin McClory from my Thunderball (1965) review?  The guy who sued Ian Fleming, the original James Bond author, and won the screenplay to Thunderball?  He finally managed to get his own movie produced using that screenplay.  Yes, he worked with EON Productions back in the day and got Thunderball (1965) made, but he wasn't allowed any control over it, just a writing credit in the film.  So, Never Say Never Again (1983) is essentially a remake of Thunderball (1965).

Why does it have this odd title?  Well, in my You Only Live Twice (1967) review, I mentioned that Sean Connery quit the role of James Bond, saying he'd never fill the role ever again.  After George Lazenby refused to continue as 007 after On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), the studio begged Sean Connery to come back for Diamonds Are Forever (1971) and he eventually agreed - for one more film - but again he said, never again!  Finally, when this film began production, he was asked to reprise his famous 007 role one more time.  Agreeing to the role yet again, his wife told him, "Never say never again."  McClory loved this phrase and it became the title of the film.  The original working title was, "James Bond of the Secret Service."

The film makes several references to James Bond getting on in years, from the 00 section being dismantled, Bond being sent to a health spa because he's getting old and slow, a porter commenting on how old Bond's car is, saying "They don't make them like this anymore," etc.  M seems to hate the 00 section, and especially hates Bond's cavalier attitude toward his job.  He claims he runs things differently than the previous M, a nod to the original M from the official Bond series.  Near the start of the film, Bond actually complains that he's stuck teaching instead of doing field work.

Still looking pretty good for a Bond in his 50s.

Bond visits Q (referred to as Algernon in this film), played by Alec McCowen.  Unlike the official Bond franchise, where Q is exasperated at Bond for constantly abusing his tech, Algernon actually seems to love Bond, fawning over him and his exploits, while complaining about loss of funding for Q-Branch.  He gives Bond a wristwatch with an embedded laser, as well as a pen that shoots an explosive round; although it's still being perfected.  Felix Leiter (Bernie Casey), Bond's CIA friend, tells Bond later that he was the first to use those pens in the field, and it blew up in his face!  Sure enough, when Bond uses it, the explosive round is delayed, almost causing Bond to be killed.  Finally, Algernon sends Bond a tricked-out motorbike later in the film, which he uses to pursue an agent of SPECTRE.

Bond about to use his pen to write a very binding contract...

The titular song was performed by Lani Hall, but not set to a title sequence like the official Bond films.  Instead, it played over the opening of the film, where Bond is infiltrating a base on a training operation.  Kevin McClory wanted to do the famous gunbarrel opening scene that the official Bond films do, but he wasn't legally allowed, so he splashed 007 across the screen as the film opened instead.  Here's the opening scene with its title song:

RECOMMENDATION:
This film was decent, and different enough from the original Thunderball (1965) that you might not realize it's a remake unless you remember a lot of details from that original film.  If you want to see Sean Connery fulfill the role of James Bond one last time, this is your chance.  Otherwise, it's basically set in an alternate universe from the official James Bond franchise, so you're not missing out by skipping this film.