(spoilers ahead)
Have you noticed how nearly all spy or superhero movies have to make the stakes as high as possible? Nuclear bombs, global chaos, entire cities on the brink of destruction. And each one has to outdo its predecessor.
Skyfall is refreshingly simple in this regard. Sure, it has the typical tropes of the action/spy genre: explosions, an
evil villain, car chases, ridiculous stunts. But the stakes of the plot are so remotely trivial that they could almost seem comical: the villain’s entire goal is to extract revenge on a 78 year old woman. Strangely enough, it works!
I didn’t feel any less committed to the characters or the story because Bond was struggling to protect a geriatric instead of an entire country. Actually, it made the story feel more personal, as Judi Dench’s character, “M,” was often portrayed as Bond’s surrogate mother.
When millions of lives hang in the balance, we movie-goers are supremely confident that the hero will save the day. The nuclear bomb never detonates. But when he’s just trying to protect an old lady? Check out the film for yourself to see...
Have you noticed how nearly all spy or superhero movies have to make the stakes as high as possible? Nuclear bombs, global chaos, entire cities on the brink of destruction. And each one has to outdo its predecessor.
Skyfall is refreshingly simple in this regard. Sure, it has the typical tropes of the action/spy genre: explosions, an
evil villain, car chases, ridiculous stunts. But the stakes of the plot are so remotely trivial that they could almost seem comical: the villain’s entire goal is to extract revenge on a 78 year old woman. Strangely enough, it works!
I didn’t feel any less committed to the characters or the story because Bond was struggling to protect a geriatric instead of an entire country. Actually, it made the story feel more personal, as Judi Dench’s character, “M,” was often portrayed as Bond’s surrogate mother.
When millions of lives hang in the balance, we movie-goers are supremely confident that the hero will save the day. The nuclear bomb never detonates. But when he’s just trying to protect an old lady? Check out the film for yourself to see...