Sky Fall The First Boooooooooond Movie

Image taken from http://www.smashcaptures.com/

After watching the movie on the way back home, I was giving it a hard thought on how I should title my blog.  There were lots  about this movie which is different than the other bonds (I will come to that shortly) but there was on thing that stood out in my mind – It is just a long movie for a Hollywood film… I think it was like 2.5 hours… But I must admit that although it was a long movie, the director has done justice to that time (except for certain aspects – will be covered in what I did not like about this movie)

Alright… Here you go… These are all the aspects I liked about the movie.

Story: The story took me by surprise… I was expecting yet another save the world story in which the bond fights either Chinese or Russians or perhaps Iranians (given the current world context) as usual. But this one was totally different. It was about one of their own ex secret services agent wanting to take revenge against the British secret services for being left behind and let to suffer in the hands of the enemy.

Screen Play – For a movie of 2.5 hours, there were very little or no flaws in the screen play. Thats tough

The Bond himself – Daniel Craig to me is by ‘The Best Bond’ ever Period! I dont think anyone else could have played this role better than him. In the previous Bond movies he lacked the suttle humor that usually other bonds have… But in this one he has take care of that.

The Bad Guy – Javier Bardum. Oh man… This guys performance is simply outstanding. In the character besides being Ex MI6, he is also Gay… He has brought the Villan role with Gay characteristics quite brilliantly. As a matter of fact in the scenes when he was there along with the bond, he had made a better impact I should say. One thing that stood out was the first opening dialog he gives when he meets the Bond. It looked like a long dialog (telling a story) in a single frame shot.

The Mom – Judy Dench – She is a great actress. There is nothing new about that. But particularly in this movie, she has been quite extraordinary with the emotional scenes.

Helen McCrory as Clair – I have to say this. Though she is in the movie for a very short time she has played the role of a ‘abused girl friend’ brilliantly. The scene when the Bond talks to her and asks her to take him to the bad guy, her expressions brilliant. With a need a keep a smile on her face and at the sametime wants the Bond to kill the bad guy because how much she has been abused was really good..

Having spoken particularly about the cast, here are some other really cool things about the movie.

The chase sequence – I mean this is a given for any bond movie, a gripping chase sequence. Although the first chase sequence in this movie is not quite as thrilling as the one in Casino Royale, it was still worth the money… Particularly the mortor cycle chase on the roof top and the stunts on top of the train were very well done

Seeing the Bond fail – On many occasions, the story has let the Bond fail consciously. That has just added more reality to the movie unlike other Bond movies in the past.

Now that we have heard a lot of good things about the movie, there are a few not so good things about the movie as well (in my opinion ofcourse).

Music/Background score – I would only give an average score for the music/re-recording. Its not the best. Some of the scenes could have had a better impact with better background scores

Bond & ‘the woman’ – Its the bond’s tradition to sleep with a stranger woman. Well this one is no different. I felt that except that the director wanted to go with the tradition, there was no reason to show in the movie a scene when the Bond sleeps with this woman.

Long Climax:

Although the plot of the climax was good, it was way too long. The director could have ended the climax when the bad guy is killed atleast 10 mins sooner with no impact to the movie.

The Dupe’s: It is obvious that some stunt scenes may not be possible by the hero himself. I felt that there were a couple of scenes when it was evident that they have used a dupe and it is not Daniel Craig. It may have been ok in some other movies. But not in a Bond movie pls…

Well.. Thats all I had to say about the movie… I will give a 7 out of 10 score for this one..

Its worth the wait (I mean waiting for when the movie would end 😉 ), worth the money.. Pls do watch in theaters.

Would love to hear your thoughts on my review. Let me know what you think. Cheers!

The Dark Knight Rises – A thorough entertainer

The trilogy could not have had a better ending. This one was a thorough entertainer. You name it, the movie has it… Great director, cast, background scoring, screen play, and amazing use of technology, imagination, and I can go on.. Frankly all credit to Christopher Nolan for his direction. After a not so entertaining Batman movie (1st in the sequel) he has bounced back with fantastic direction on 2nd and 3rd…

Some highlights on the cast:

Christian Bale as the Batman has done perfect justice to the role of the Batman as he has done in the past. His physic and looks makes a perfect combination of Bruce Wyne and the Batman.

Tom Hardy as Bane – The bad guy with the mask. The well built Tom was perfect for the role. Also the slow dialog delivery makes his character have a special bad guy. I think the director has consciously chosen to do this and has been quite successful in that attempt. But it is a good thing that Tom Hardy has a mask on for this movie to be Bane. Otherwise his face does not fit the description of a bad guy at all. So good decision to go with the mask.

Michael Caine playing the role of Alfred has actually done better in this movie than the previous Batman. In the previous one, he is more of an advisor and nothing more. In this movie there are a lot more emotional conversations with Bruce Wayne which he has done really well.

Morgan Freeman – Needless to say. He has done his little cameo role very well.

The ladies of the movie Anne Hathaway and Marion Cotillard have been presented very well. Special mention about Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle a petty thief, with an attitude has done really well and done justice to her role.

The movie itself:

The plot of the movie is very simple – While Bruce Wayne (the Batman) has been away into a self exile for 8 years and the Gotham city seems to be under control without any organized crime. But there are efforts going on to create fear and destroy the city. Batman comes back and saves the city.

Right from the beginning  to the end, except for the one twist on who the actual person who leads the bad people, there is absolutely no surprises. Atleast to me most of it was predictable. But yet, the screen play has been stunning to keep the interest despite being straight forward.

Things that I thought could have been done better:

a) The initial flight chase sequence and bad guys escaping which was almost like a James Bond or Mission impossible type stuff. I thought it could have been short or may be done differently.

b) Some dialogs from the Batman was very predictable and typical hero type dialogs. Although in the flow of the movie it did not sound too bad. But for a guy like Christopher Nolan, he could have paid some attention to removing stuff like that.

c) The football ground scene. With the whole ground behind the kickoff return guy going done, and bombs going off on all sides, the kickoff return guy seems to realize that everything behind him is gone only after he stops running… It sounded funny but did not seem intelligent at all…

There were a few other small blips in the screen play that I noticed but getting into the details might give away the story…  but those could be ignored as well.

What I really liked about the movie:

a) The fancy super toys that the Batman uses.. 🙂 Ofcourse the motorcycle and the hover craft that he uses were absolutely amazing.

b) The director’s imagination: Some of the things that he has shown are fantastic. Especially the motor super cycle chase sequence. When he wants to turn the opposite direction, the way the wheels turn and he gets back is absolute jaw dropping. I loved that scene. Infact it happens twice in the movie. Dont forget to watch that.

c) Music (background score) is mind blowing. There was not a single scene where the music director Hans Zimmer has not left his mark. Every scene had a perfectly balanced scores. I loved this.

d) Last but not least, most part of the movie was shot in Pittsburgh. I was actually in Pittsburgh when the movie was shot… To see all that in the actual movie was very heartening. After all Pittsburgh is my extended home town… 😉

I know this review comes a little late but these are just my thoughts without telling the actual story.  I would give 8 out of 10 for this movie.

Hope you like my comments and are helpful. Do leave a comment if you liked it.