Skyfall: A James Bond Film from the perspective of someone who's only seen Dr. No

This is my first real post. I'm not going to dwell on that, let's just jump in. Spoilers may follow.

Skyfall is the second James Bond film I've ever seen. The first was Dr. No, and that was also the first Bond film ever to grace theaters. Now, in the intervening period, there have been more Bond movies than there have been years in my life. Of those, I have seen the first, and the most recent. One might think that there's some context I'm missing, but apparently only the last two movies bear any relation to this one. I watched the film and was able to figure out pretty quickly what was going on, so I feel I got the full experience or close to it without them.

The most obvious difference in the two films was in the characters. James Bond, once Sean Connery (of Celebrity Jeopardy fame), is now someone called Daniel Craig. This new Bond lives in 2012, like us, instead of the 1960s, like Janis Joplin.

1962

 

2012

2052

 

 

 

 

 

Also new is that M, 007's boss, is now a woman. Q, Bond's tech support-ish figure who gives him a gun and does computer stuff, is some kid. I don't remember this guy being in Dr. No.

Back then nerds were considered unfit for theaters.

M's secretary, Miss Moneypenney, is now Naomi Harris, and is a field agent. She shoots Bond at the start of the film, presumably to get her back behind a desk as quickly as possible.
The closest thing 007 has to a love interest is a woman called Sévérine, who apparently works with the villain until she betrays him, or something. The long and short of it is that she and Bond fuck then the villain shoots her. Nobody seems to care and the film doesn't dwell on it.

The villain is another computer guy, but played by Javier Bardem. His name is Silva. He has a grudge against M so steals a hard drive with the identities of some MI6 agents. They start to make a big deal out of his techiness, and it sort of relates to a conversation Bond has with Q about the effectiveness of physical vs cyber warfare, but they don't really go anywhere with it. It's a shame because it would have been interesting.

Easily the best part of the film was the climax. M was assaulted by Silva in some sort of court martial, so Bond extracts her to his childhood home in Scotland (the titular Skyfall, which is a really cool name). There they meet Kincade, the old Scottish gamekeeper. He was the best character in the film.

When he's got his rifle you'd better get the fuck off his turf

.

Bond, M, and the unbelievably cool Kincade (I'm not even joking this guy kicks ass) prepare for Silva's inevitable arrival by laying traps and assembling an arsenal. Silva comes with a small army and a helicopter. There's a lengthy battle sequence (during which Kincade shoots three guys then says "Welcome to Scotland"), then Bond blows up the estate. Soon M, Kincade, and Silva are alone at a chapel on the grounds. Silva thinks Bond dead, as after the blast he fell into a freezing lake. Bond had, however, survived. Silva attempts to get M to shoot herself and Silva simultaneously (apparently he just wanted a suicide pact). Bond arrives at the last minute and harpoons Silva. After he dies, it becomes apparent that M had been critically wounded in the fighting. She dies in his arms.
This is the part that irritates me. In the end, both Silva and M are dead. Isn't that what Silva wanted? You could argue that the villain won.

Regardless, MI6 is saved, and some bureaucrat takes M's place, making M once again a dude. Moneypenney becomes his secretary once again. Kincade's still alive too, so fuck yeah.

Skyfall is a good movie, even if it had some flaws, and deserves a watch if you've got a couple of hours free.