Shortly after the release of Quantum of Solace in 2008, a third Bond film starring Daniel Craig was announced. At Hugh Jackman’s Christmas party in late 2008, Daniel Craig encountered his Road to Perdition director Sam Mendes and drunkenly offered him the job of director. Mendes was hesitant, but Craig’s enthusiasm rubbed off on him. After a successful meeting with the producers in which they discussed the direction of the story, Mendes signed on. Development officially began in early 2009 but was stalled due to MGM’s financial troubles. When MGM exited bankruptcy in December 2010, development resumed. Mendes remained committed to the film throughout MGM’s financial woes and brought on cinematographer Roger Deakins, whom he had worked with on Jarhead and Revolutionary Road.
British writer Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen) was the first writer attached to the project. However, he departed when MGM’s financial problems stalled the film. Morgan based his script on an original idea and claimed the final script retained a lot of his ideas. This was disputed by Mendes, who claimed they discarded Morgan’s draft when he joined the project. Morgan also co-wrote a treatment with Neal Purvis and Robert Wade called Once Upon a Spy. That script followed M being blackmailed by a Russian oligarch, a former KGB agent with whom she had an affair while stationed in West Berlin during the Cold War. The script would have ended with Bond being forced to kill M. Mendes disliked the script but wanted to keep M’s death. Purvis and Wade wrote a new draft titled Nothing Is Forever, which introduced the villain Silva and the bureaucrats looking to discredit M. Still, Mendes was unhappy with the third act and brought in John Logan. Logan kept the majority of the duo’s script but changed the third act to take place in Scotland. Logan later said the collaborative process between him, Mendes, and the writers was one of the best experiences of his career.
The main cast was announced at a press conference held at the Corinthia Hotel in London on November 3, 2011, fifty years after Sean Connery was announced as the first James Bond (Bond’s fiftieth anniversary would be heavily publicized over the next year). Judi Dench was announced to be returning as M, but Skyfall added a slew of new characters. Javier Bardem was cast as the cyberterrorist Silva after being lobbied hard by Mendes to accept the part; Mendes saw potential for Silva to become an iconic character in the Bond canon. Ralph Fiennes was cast as Gareth Mallory, a former lieutenant colonel in the British Army and now Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee. Naomie Harris was cast as Eve, a fellow MI6 agent, and Ben Whishaw in an undisclosed role. Media speculation arose that they had been cast as Moneypenny and Q, respectively. The crew remained silent, but this was confirmed during the film. Next to be cast was Albert Finney as the cantankerous gamekeeper of Skyfall, Kincade. The producers flirted with the notion of casting Sean Connery in the role as a nod to the series’ fiftieth anniversary, though this idea was dropped early on. The producers worried it might be seen as stunt casting and take the audience out of the film. The role would ultimately be Finney’s final performance before his death in 2019. The film’s title was also revealed at the panel, marking the first Bond film not to use the title of a novel or short story by Ian Fleming.
Filming began in November 2011 in London and wrapped in May 2012. Other filming locations included Istanbul and China. Deakins shot the film on Arri Alexa cameras before the decision was made to convert the footage to IMAX format during post-production. Deakins was initially upset with the decision, but after seeing test footage, he was ultimately satisfied with the image quality. This would be the first Bond film to be shot in IMAX. Mendes brought along composer Thomas Newman, whom he had worked with on American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Jarhead, and Revolutionary Road. Keeping up with the tradition of recruiting a well-known musical artist, Adele was chosen to record the theme song.
The film opened in the U.S. on November 8, 2012, and was an immediate critical and financial success. The entire cast was praised — particularly Bardem, Dench, and Whishaw. The combination of action, character, humor, and style was appreciated by fans. The film became the highest-grossing Bond film at the box office, earning $1.1 billion, surpassing the $1.047 billion (adjusted for inflation) earned by Thunderball. It was also the first film in the franchise to gross over one billion dollars. At the Academy Awards, the film was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Cinematography (a franchise first) and Best Original Score. It won Best Song (another franchise first, though previous themes had been nominated) and Best Sound Editing (tied with Zero Dark Thirty). Skyfall became the only Bond film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Producers Guild of America Awards. At the BAFTAs, the film won Best British Film and Best Film Music. Additionally, Javier Bardem and Judi Dench were nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress, respectively.
This, to me, is the pinnacle of Bond films. It’s the perfect marriage of story, characters, and action. For starters, the story is highly compelling, engrossing even. It has the added advantage that I could actually follow the plot without Wikipedia’s assistance — unlike Quantum of Solace. I think it was perfectly cast. Despite not having seen many of the original films, I like Naomie Harris as an actress and thought she was excellent as Eve (her surname isn’t revealed until the end). Ben Whishaw was a breath of fresh air as Q. I know he was played by an older gentleman in the previous films, but seeing him portrayed as a young whiz kid was a good choice by the filmmakers. While Bond films have never shied away from humor, I found Q to be perhaps the most humorous character to date. This is evidenced when Bond distrusts Q because “he still has his spots,” and Q retorts that he can do more damage from his laptop in his kitchen before his first cup of Earl Grey in the morning than Bond can do in a whole year in the field. Ralph Fiennes is excellent, as always, as Mallory. When he’s introduced, you’re not sure what to think. He’s forcing M into retirement, but as the story moves along and you see his true character, you can’t help but appreciate him more.
Of course, the most memorable addition to the cast is Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva. As Silva, Bardem is like a chameleon. He morphs into this intelligent, vengeful, and manipulative enigma of a man. He can give you the creeps at times, but he’s so playful and vindictive that, as an audience member, it’s hard to turn away. He rivals Le Chiffre as the best villain in Craig’s Bond series, but I would still give Silva the edge. With Le Chiffre, nothing is personal. He’s a man who makes money on terrorism. With Silva, everything is personal. He will stop at nothing to exact revenge on the woman he believes wronged him, M. He has nothing against Bond and even points out similarities (“last two rats standing”), but he will not hesitate to destroy Bond to get to M. Another thing that speaks volumes about both the character and Bardem’s performance is that when you finally realize why he wants revenge, you empathize with him. It also makes you think. M did turn her back on him, and he suffered dearly because of it. Is he justified in what he’s doing? In the long run, probably not, but you can at least understand where he’s coming from. If you mention Skyfall to anybody who’s seen the movie — myself included — I bet the first image that pops into your head is Javier Bardem as Silva. I find that impressive because, believe it or not, he doesn’t actually appear until an hour and twelve minutes into the film — basically half of the runtime. That’s quite an impression.
Though he does sleep with Eve, I’ve heard the argument made that M is Skyfall’s “Bond Girl.” You know what? I can see it. Bond and M share an intense relationship in this film. It’s not romantic, but it’s built on trust, necessity, and respect. Both of them are in the same boat. Mallory and the Prime Minister are trying to force M out. Her age and ability are questioned. Bond, after “dying” and returning to the field after a few months away, struggles to pass both his mental and physical field tests. Regardless, M clears him for duty, mentioning that he passed by the skin of his teeth — though Silva later informs Bond that he failed his tests. Age has finally become an issue for Bond. Some say he’s over the hill. Like Mallory tells him, “It’s a young man’s game.” Their relationship grows even stronger when Bond must protect her — she’s quite literally the only person he can trust. To keep her safe, Bond takes M to a place he never wanted to visit again: Skyfall. I interpret that as vulnerability on Bond’s part. He’s letting M into the place he lived after his parents died — a place that symbolizes his lost innocence. After all, as M says, “Orphans make the best recruits.” The last point I’ll make about their relationship is that Bond spends M’s final moments with her. She literally dies in his arms.
There’s a lot I love about this film, but my absolute favorite part is the last 45 minutes when Bond and M arrive at Skyfall. You get to meet the ornery gamekeeper, Kincade, played delightfully by Albert Finney. Through Kincade and the estate itself, we learn more about Bond — about how he hid in an underground priest hole for days after learning of his parents’ deaths. As Kincade tells M, “He went in as a boy and came out two days later as a man.” The whole battle at Skyfall, using only gunpowder, dynamite, nails, and other household items, just amps me up. I get such an adrenaline rush from it all. The gunplay, the booby traps, the nails in the light sockets, the hand grenades, the blowing up of the house — pardon my language, but it’s fucking awesome. It’s like Home Alone on steroids. Then, when Silva arrives at the estate blasting music from the helicopter, Apocalypse Now style, it’s the perfect entrance for the character. Of course, there’s the scene when Bond is chasing Silva across a frozen lake, and he grabs the machine gun of one of Silva’s goons and shoots out the ice to avoid being shot by Silva. Silva, in disbelief, continues after M while Bond and the goon struggle in the ice water, culminating in Bond killing him and firing a flare.
“Of course. It had to be here,” Silva says with a smile as he finally gets M alone in the chapel. He notices she’s bleeding and essentially dying. He puts on a caring persona, leaning over her and pulling out a gun. He lines his head up with hers and puts the gun to both their heads. He tries to convince her to pull the trigger. “One bullet to free us both,” he tells her. In some sick way, he thinks this will free him — he can die having achieved his mission. Before the trigger can be pulled, Silva collapses and yells in pain before dying, a knife in his back and 007 at the doorway. “Last rat standing,” Bond tells Silva as he dies. As Kincade mentioned earlier while propping up a knife, “Sometimes the old ways are the best.” In typical M fashion, she quips, “Where the hell have you been?” “Sorry. I was in some deep water,” Bond replies, before she collapses in his arms. This chapel scene manages to be both exciting and emotional. The cherry on top of all this is when Bond returns to work and Mallory gives him an assignment. “With pleasure, M. With pleasure.” It’s a great way to end the film and introduce Mallory as the new M.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention some technical aspects. The score was great. I may not have seen every Bond film, but I’ve listened to every theme. Adele’s theme is up there for me. Her powerful vocals remind me of Shirley Bassey. This was a deserving win. I have to talk about Roger Deakins, who I believe to be one of the greatest living cinematographers. At this point, Deakins was having a Diane Warren-like time at the Oscars. He had been a staple since his first nomination back in 1995 for The Shawshank Redemption but hadn’t won. It would take fourteen nominations before he would finally win for Blade Runner 2049. There’s a reason this is the first and only Bond film to earn a cinematography nomination — it’s beautifully shot and stylized. This film marked his tenth nomination, though he lost to Life of Pi. He would go on to win for a different Sam Mendes film, 1917, and earn his most recent nomination (as of this writing) for another Mendes film, Empire of Light.I cannot stress this enough: Skyfall is my absolute favorite Bond film. With largely the same creative team in place, it’s unfortunate they couldn’t follow up with another film like it. Instead, they followed up with a bit of a dud: Spectre.
