Trailer Tuesday: Skyfall

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It took a while but James Bond will soon be back on the big screen in Skyfall, marking the 23rd official film outing for Ian Fleming's debonair, martini-loving British spy, as well as the 50th anniversary of the beloved cinematic franchise.

With development delayed by MGM's bankruptcy woes, it's been 4 years since the dud Quantum of Solace (my review) debuted, undoing a portion of the excitement and general audience goodwill generated by 2006 franchise reboot Casino Royale (my review).

With Casino and Quantum's 2-part storyline wrapped up, Skyfall offers a new tale: a disinterested James Bond (Daniel Craig) goes off the grid after a disastrous mission with junior MI6 agent Eve (Naomie Harris). Bond is forced to come out of hiding though when the Secret Service's headquarters are bombed, the identities of all its agents revealed and MI6 head M (Judi Dench) hauled in for review. Villainous Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) is responsible, and he has a deep personal vendetta against M. Meanwhile, Bérénice Marlohe is the femme fatale Bond girl while Ralph Fiennes joins the cast as a high-ranking British official.


Skyfall also reintroduces Bond's quartermaster Q into the rebooted 007 cinematic universe. This time around the gadget wrangler has been interpreted as a nerdy whizz-kid, and played by Ben (Perfume) Whishaw.

For the record, Skyfall is helmed by Sam Mendes, who seems to be a better fit for the Bond franchise than Quantum of Solace's Marc Forster. The reason for this? Theatre-director-turned-movie-maker Mendes has overseen a couple of energetic pieces of genre fare (e.g. Road to Perdition, also starring Daniel Craig) along with thought-provoking, character-driven dramas like American Beauty and Revolutionary Road. Skyfall looks to be strongly plot-orientated, and would definitely benefit from the touch of a director who can confidently handle both emotion and action. And judging by the trailer, Skyfall delivers in both departments. Bond's nonchalant landing inside a mangled train carriage is worth the price of admission alone!

Skyfall releases on 26 October in the UK (and most of Europe), 9 November in the US, and on 30 November in South Africa. Overseas the film will also be screening at IMAX cinemas.

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