SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THE MOVIE YET!
Skyfall, the latest of the 007 James Bond series, marks the franchise's 50th year anniversary.
Director Sam Mendes succeeds in connecting the classic Bond with today's Bond! The movie surely marks a big shift from the older versions of the franchise; sometimes to the positive and sometimes (in my opinion) to the negative.
To start with, and ever since the franchise's reboot, this Bond (Daniel Craig) seems to be vulnerable to life threatening situations and injuries! We do believe he can actually die! Eve (a co-field operative) who is on a mission with Bond during the pre-credits opening sequence accidentally shoots Bond (after receiving strict instructions from M to take the shot) resulting in what appears to be his death-plunge!
Without keeping the audience in suspense, the movie quickly brings back a survived fragile Bond, who feels betrayed by MI6, and M in particular; and thus, choosing to remain in self-exile while he is announced dead to the world! It is only when Bond learns of the attacks targeting MI6 that he decides to come out of hiding and report back to duty.
Raoul Silva, as you learn through the movie, is an ex-MI6 operative who was captured during an assignment and was never rescued by MI6. You learn later from M that she traded him in to save 6 other agents; clearly that didn't sink in well with Silva. This is why, the plot of the movie was more focused on Silva instilling fear in people and M in particular (that's why he bombed the MI6 headquarters knowing she isn't there) and later put all his efforts to finding her in order to attempt to kill her. Bond's mission, in such a plot, becomes more of a protector of M rather than retrieving or penetrating enemy's headquarter's for the purpose of sabotaging the enemy's master plan (a Bond classic plot).
Without spoiling much of the fun, I will suffice with the above for now and introducing what I think should have been the alternative plot of the movie (this humbly comes from an amateur movie freak who has no experience in script writing) :)
Alternative plot (my opinion)
I would definitely reconsider the entire concept of how Bond theoretically dies and later resurrects. I believe it would have served the plot better if Bond indeed failed on his opening sequence mission of retrieving the list of MI6 undercover agents; but not by the shot taken by Eve rather than by a shrewd getaway by the villain, who in my opinion should have been Silva from the get-go!
Bond would have then had a hint on Silva's identity and would have confirmed it when he reports back to MI6, by confirming his hunch from M that Silva is indeed an ex-MI6 operative who went rogue. As a result of Bond's failed mission, Silva succeeds in bombing the MI6 headquarters and the release of the first 5 names on the list. With honor at stake, M assigns Bond with a mission to discover Silva's hideout and retrieve the list at all costs!
After discovering that Silva is taking refuge in the island, Bond and Eve set off to retrieve the list only to be met with the challenge of overcoming Silva's army. They barely succeed only to be completely stopped by Silva who shoots Bond and pushing the audience to believe that he actually might have died. Eve would have succeeded in getting away but reports, in despair, that Bond had indeed died!
The plot shifts focus now on Silva who makes his preparations to kill M publicly and attempts to push general consensus that MI6 is now obsolete. With pressure rising, M finds herself in a position to defend the existence of MI6 in front of the minister; but her rationale falls on deaf ears!
Silva now is at his strongest, and with the list he has in hand, decides to continue pursuing MI6 operatives one by one (including M). This forces MI6 to go underground to the bunkers built from the days of Churchill.
Meanwhile, we learn that the gorgeous Berenice Marlohe would then have found Bond and rescued him as she believes he is her way out of the life she currently lives under Silva's captivity. Fragile and destroyed, and with no MI6 support, he retreats to his home in Scotland believing that he is now obsolete. Once he learns of the dissolving of MI6 and the targeting of its operatives, he realizes that M is still in danger and he may be the only one who can rescue her.
Motivated by a past in which he believes that he is the cause of the death of his own parents, and by a caretaker who helps him overcome his fears of failure and who motivates him to go and fight for what he stands for (in this case M, his surrogate-like mother); Bond rebuilds himself to become stronger by learning from the mistakes and using the wisdom of the past; something Silva could not do.
On a parallel timeline, Silva succeeds to get closer and closer to M until he is forced, unexpectedly, to one last battle with Bond. I keep the finale here open to your interpretations on who lives and who dies and how that happens but you get the picture by now :)
Skyfall opened at the UAE box offices on October 26, 2012 and is available in all movie theaters. It is highly recommended to watch it in IMAX.
Skyfall, the latest of the 007 James Bond series, marks the franchise's 50th year anniversary.
Director Sam Mendes succeeds in connecting the classic Bond with today's Bond! The movie surely marks a big shift from the older versions of the franchise; sometimes to the positive and sometimes (in my opinion) to the negative.
To start with, and ever since the franchise's reboot, this Bond (Daniel Craig) seems to be vulnerable to life threatening situations and injuries! We do believe he can actually die! Eve (a co-field operative) who is on a mission with Bond during the pre-credits opening sequence accidentally shoots Bond (after receiving strict instructions from M to take the shot) resulting in what appears to be his death-plunge!
Without keeping the audience in suspense, the movie quickly brings back a survived fragile Bond, who feels betrayed by MI6, and M in particular; and thus, choosing to remain in self-exile while he is announced dead to the world! It is only when Bond learns of the attacks targeting MI6 that he decides to come out of hiding and report back to duty.
Raoul Silva, as you learn through the movie, is an ex-MI6 operative who was captured during an assignment and was never rescued by MI6. You learn later from M that she traded him in to save 6 other agents; clearly that didn't sink in well with Silva. This is why, the plot of the movie was more focused on Silva instilling fear in people and M in particular (that's why he bombed the MI6 headquarters knowing she isn't there) and later put all his efforts to finding her in order to attempt to kill her. Bond's mission, in such a plot, becomes more of a protector of M rather than retrieving or penetrating enemy's headquarter's for the purpose of sabotaging the enemy's master plan (a Bond classic plot).
Without spoiling much of the fun, I will suffice with the above for now and introducing what I think should have been the alternative plot of the movie (this humbly comes from an amateur movie freak who has no experience in script writing) :)
Alternative plot (my opinion)
I would definitely reconsider the entire concept of how Bond theoretically dies and later resurrects. I believe it would have served the plot better if Bond indeed failed on his opening sequence mission of retrieving the list of MI6 undercover agents; but not by the shot taken by Eve rather than by a shrewd getaway by the villain, who in my opinion should have been Silva from the get-go!
Bond would have then had a hint on Silva's identity and would have confirmed it when he reports back to MI6, by confirming his hunch from M that Silva is indeed an ex-MI6 operative who went rogue. As a result of Bond's failed mission, Silva succeeds in bombing the MI6 headquarters and the release of the first 5 names on the list. With honor at stake, M assigns Bond with a mission to discover Silva's hideout and retrieve the list at all costs!
After discovering that Silva is taking refuge in the island, Bond and Eve set off to retrieve the list only to be met with the challenge of overcoming Silva's army. They barely succeed only to be completely stopped by Silva who shoots Bond and pushing the audience to believe that he actually might have died. Eve would have succeeded in getting away but reports, in despair, that Bond had indeed died!
The plot shifts focus now on Silva who makes his preparations to kill M publicly and attempts to push general consensus that MI6 is now obsolete. With pressure rising, M finds herself in a position to defend the existence of MI6 in front of the minister; but her rationale falls on deaf ears!
Silva now is at his strongest, and with the list he has in hand, decides to continue pursuing MI6 operatives one by one (including M). This forces MI6 to go underground to the bunkers built from the days of Churchill.
Meanwhile, we learn that the gorgeous Berenice Marlohe would then have found Bond and rescued him as she believes he is her way out of the life she currently lives under Silva's captivity. Fragile and destroyed, and with no MI6 support, he retreats to his home in Scotland believing that he is now obsolete. Once he learns of the dissolving of MI6 and the targeting of its operatives, he realizes that M is still in danger and he may be the only one who can rescue her.
Motivated by a past in which he believes that he is the cause of the death of his own parents, and by a caretaker who helps him overcome his fears of failure and who motivates him to go and fight for what he stands for (in this case M, his surrogate-like mother); Bond rebuilds himself to become stronger by learning from the mistakes and using the wisdom of the past; something Silva could not do.
On a parallel timeline, Silva succeeds to get closer and closer to M until he is forced, unexpectedly, to one last battle with Bond. I keep the finale here open to your interpretations on who lives and who dies and how that happens but you get the picture by now :)
Skyfall opened at the UAE box offices on October 26, 2012 and is available in all movie theaters. It is highly recommended to watch it in IMAX.
Hi Rami,
ReplyDeleteWe met at the Fridge. I couldn't help eavesdropping on ur conversation as some of the views u were expressing regarding Kalubela really registered with me too. I must say , I like your altered plot on skyfall as well. Anyways, keep writing , and as promised I will continue reading your blog. :)
Tamara
Hi Tamara!
ReplyDeleteThanks soo much for your kind and encouraging words and I am happy to know that my 2 cents worth of opinion actually make sense with others :)
I will try my best to stay interesting in my writings! I really thank u a lot for taking the time to read my posts!
Truly, it was a pleasure meeting u!