“Skyfall,” the namesake of the new James Bond film and theme song sung by Adele, has become my go-to song for everything; I listen to it when driving, when running and when doing homework. The song, which is very similar in sound to Shirley Bassey’s “Goldfinger,” namesake of the Bond film released in January 1965. Either way, I feel as though this film might actually be worth watching.
Since Dr. No’s release in 1962, James Bond has been captivating audience members for the last 50 years, with appeal stretching across two to three generations and six different actors.
The [London] Times’s Kate Muir, a film critic, stated that, “From the moment the orchestral sound of Adele belts
out, sending a nostalgic shiver down the audience’s collective spine, we know this will be a triumphant return to classic Bond.”
As someone who grew up watching the Bond Films with my father, this critique makes me incredibly happy.
Personally, “Casino Royale” (2006) and “Quantum of Solace” (2008) were not worth watching. Of course, I watched them, but I was far from wowed. For me, they were the solutions to the film industry equation of “how can we make money?” They took something that people responded well to, and did a quick and thoughtless production, to come up with something they knew people would spend money to go see, just because it was James Bond.
Remember the times when you found yourself entranced by the classic Bond films? Bond is a good guy, fighting on the side of freedom and western values. He is competent, professional and knowledgeable. He manages to look good under difficult circumstances.
However, why do we still love him? Why do audiences still watch? For men, Bond is the epitome of what they want to be: smooth, dangerous and able to get any woman he wants. For women, we find ourselves attracted to his danger, his way of fighting evil and his way with women. Still, it’s the danger and allure that keep audiences watching.
The Hollywood Reporter website reviews the new film as “Dramatically gripping while still brandishing a droll undercurrent of humor, this beautifully made film will certainly be embraced as one of the best Bonds by loyal fans worldwide and leaves you wanting the next one to turn up sooner than four years from now.”
Bond watchers are looking forward to “Skyfall” for many reasons. Hopefully the film turns out to be as fantastic as I am hoping, as well as falling back into the roots of what James Bond films used to be. If Adele’s performance for the title song is any indication as to what to expect from this film, it will be one for the books and hopefully the
best Bond film that has been released in years.
My inner fan cannot wait for this film to be released. Hopefully it meets all of my expectations and does not let me down. All I really want, aside from a well-done film, is for the film to be much better than its two predecessors, and I wouldn’t mind going back to the era of “Goldfinger” and “Diamonds Are Forever.”