The Sky Refuses to Fall on James Bond

As many have undoubtedly heard, 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of James Bond, the most durable of modern movie characters.  Agent 007 has disappeared and returned with various styles and new faces over the decades.  Finally, after a lengthy four year hiatus caused mostly by bankruptcy issues for its studio MGM, Bond has exploded back into multiplexes in time to grab its share of the winter box office.

In short, Skyfall is the year's best blockbuster, easily surpassing anything Hollywood offered audiences last summer.  Perhaps more impressive, it's also the most thrilling Bond adventure since Sean Connery donned the suit some forty-eight years ago in Goldfinger.  The film successfully looks to the future while reintroducing the past, no small feat.  The transition is seamless and will bring smiles to many viewers whose memories will be stirred and shaken.  And yet, Skyfall is not merely a trip down memory lane.  If judged only as a solo action vehicle, it is relentless and features one of the most memorable movie villains in some time.

Daniel Craig, now firmly established as Bond for the 21st century, does a lot of running and hanging in Skyfall.  Despite being a required staple of the franchise, the opening pre-credits chase through Istanbul is not superfluous, ending with a dramatic decision by M (Judi Dench) that will stun some viewers.  The main story picks up months later, as M sends Bond on a mission to locate a stolen hard drive containing decrypted names of British MI6 field agents.  If the primary objective sounds like it was lifted straight from Mission Impossible, the ramifications are considerably higher here.  Credit must go to writers Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and John Logan, who've used a simple starting point to contrast todays technological threats with the comparatively primitive megalomaniacal evildoers of decades past. The depth of this script reveals both Bond and M to be dinosaurs in an age when power can be transferred with one click on a laptop.

As momentum flags slightly around the one hour mark, Bond is taken by boat to a deserted island ruled by Silva.  Sporting bleached-blonde hair and Miami nightclub attire, Silva is played with flamboyance by Javier Bardem.  Had the Spanish actor not won an Oscar playing an equally disturbed psychopath five years ago in No Country For Old Men, I suspect he'd be in line for a nomination here.  Silva's goals are far more intimate than the average Bond adversary, his methods inspired by intellect.  The middle act of Skyfall, beginning with Silva's introduction and closing with a getaway in Bond's famed Aston Martin DB5, represents the films highpoint.

With Skyfall, director Sam Mendes has cemented his status as one of the most versatile directors at work today.  After captivating audiences with his Oscar-winning dysfunctional dramedy American Beauty (1999), Mendes tackled other genres: the star heavy mob tale Road to Perdition, the introspective war drama Jarhead, the 50s era marriage tragedy Revolutionary Road, and the delightful road trip romcom Away We Go.  Yet, he's remained consistent across productions of varying sizes.  His films always look the part, both in design and execution.  When I think back to Road to Perdition, neither the gunplay nor Paul Newman's forceful final performance stand out oddly enough.  Rather, I remember the towering structures of downtown Chicago and the climactic dialogue-free massacre in the rain. In Skyfall there's a brilliantly constructed sequence when Bond shadows his prey up a Shanghai skyscraper, the city skyline in the background.  Heavy shadows and eye-popping colors permeate the atmosphere, making the resulting fight scene unlike any I've seen in years.

The other calling card so prevalent in Mendes' work is the theme of family.  Throughout his filmography, personal relationships have dictated character motivations regardless of scope.  Audiences may be surprised by the final act of Skyfall, a title that ultimately refers to something far more personal than any other in the series.  Connery would be pleased with the location. As M becomes the focal point of a battle between two "sons," we learn the hows and whys of Bond's upbringing and are introduced to Kincade, played by Albert Finney in an wonderful extended cameo.

By films end familiar characters are firmly reestablished, including Q and Moneypenny.  Ralph Fiennes will be on hand for future installments as an MI6 higher-up.  Bond has his Walther PPK, and is equally comfortable with a knife.  And the rousing original theme marks a triumphant return, reminding viewers that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Flight: When Good Films Are Ruined By Deceptive Trailers

Imagine if after the sensational train wreck in The Fugitive, Harrison Ford had slowed down, skipped the chase, and spent the next two hours agonizing over regret and drinking himself into a stupor at his grandfather's farm house.  Sounds pretty depressing right?  Of course you won't see a quote like this in any newspaper or commercial, but it represents a fairly accurate description of what audiences can expect from Denzel Washington's latest effort.

Don't see Flight.  That's what my gut tells me.  At least not if you're looking for escapism after a long, grinding week at the office.  It won't make you feel better.  Your popcorn will taste a little more bitter, your beverage a little less sweet.  And if you're like me, you'll walk out of the theater wondering if you bought the correct ticket.

You're scratching your head aren't you?  That new Denzel Washington movie about the pilot who lands the plane upside down and saves almost everyone on board?  Don't worry, I haven't spoiled anything.  This was all in the misleading trailer (more on that later).  Most critics are praising the drama, while singling out the astonishing plane crash that set the story in motion.  No argument there.  The crash and turbulent decent leading to it represented the films high point.  Those scenes were in fact so effective in creating tension that I wish the whole film had taken place inside the cockpit.  Director Robert Zemeckis has long offered spectacular onscreen images (the Delorean taking flight in Back to the Future, the equally horrific plane crash in Cast Away).  He also knows how to blend drama with visual effects better than anyone.  His other credits have included Who Framed Roger Rabbit & Forrest Gump.  But this was the first time after viewing any of his films that I wished I'd done something else with my time.

Am I being unfair?  I spoke to my parents, who also took this Flight last weekend.  My mom liked it and claimed it to be pretty much what she expected going in, which surprised me.  I'm rarely caught this off guard, at least when it comes to movies.  So I watched the original trailer on youtube, then watched it again.  I stand by my criticism and argue that the trailer carefully tiptoed around the focal point of the story.

The preview was breezy and seemingly uplifting, featuring charismatic personalities like Washington and John Goodman strolling through corridors in sunglasses without a care in the world.  The opening tune was Joe Cocker's unmistakably upbeat "Feelin' Alright."  The only other song, The Rolling Stones classic "Gimme Shelter," appeared to transition towards slightly more adult material while maintaining a similar tone.  Don Cheadle briefly mentioned that alcohol was found in the pilot's system when the plane crashed.  There was no mention of cocaine use of course.  One character referenced the pilot possibly going to jail.  They emphasized that nobody else on earth could've landed the plane the way Denzel's character did.  They showed him being swarmed by media.  They posed the question of whether this pilot was a hero, although the actual film disposed this notion emphatically.  They suggested a climactic trial eclipsing anything that made the final cut.  Finally, the pilot's heroin addicted girlfriend was nowhere to be seen, despite having significantly more screen time than anybody besides Washington himself.      

In fairness, these were marketing decisions that probably had little to do with the creative team behind Flight.  After all, how many of us would run out to see a 138 minute film that was 80% about alcoholism?  But it must be mentioned that this was the third consecutive trailer for a live action Zemeckis film that caused controversy.  Back in 2000 both of his major releases, What Lies Beneath & Cast Away, were attacked by moviegoers complaining that their trailers blatantly ruined the key surprises for those films (Ford was a bad guy in the former, Tom Hanks escaped the island in the latter).  In spite of this, both films ended up being huge successes at the box office.  Similarly, Flight now seems destined for a prolonged run through the holidays after opening to a stronger than expected 25 million this weekend.  But did audiences get what they wanted?  It'll be interesting to see if the film continues to thrive once word spreads.

I'd happily take blame for my own faulty assumptions given the director's track record had the trailer not convinced me otherwise.  I was reminded of Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can, a presumably more jovial effort from a hugely popular filmmaker whose blockbusters at their core often featured more serious themes.  Instead Flight went the other way and is by far the darkest film on Zemeckis' resume.  The subject matter appears to stem from personal experience, though I'm only speculating.  Much of the behavior exhibited by Washington's character seemed carefully modulated, probably the result of tragedy seen firsthand by the film's star, director, and writer (John Gatins).    

Flight was a good film, in some ways very good.  Washington seems a lock to receive his sixth academy award nomination for his leading work here.  I wouldn't even be shocked if the film finds itself in the 2012 best picture race, though it wouldn't get my vote.  It's an R-rated adult drama filled with sadness and moral ambiguity.  But it wasn't much fun and may leave you exiting the theater feeling worse than when you went in.  If that's not your idea of a satisfying weekend afternoon, I suggest you save your money for this Fridays newest James Bond outing.  If nothing else, you'll know what to expect.