《新鐵金剛：智破天凶城》(Skyfall)

“..We are not now that strength which in old days

Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”

A poem quoted by M at the committee hearing before the Prime Minister and officials, and many others: the media, the watchdog groups and the general public.

A perfect portrait of Britain, the once powerful kingdom now ailing at its own rightful corner. But the lines at the same time carry the anti-terrorism sentiment the world is now familiar with.

The committee hearing scene, or anything so bureaucratic, is not the standard setting you would expect to see in a 007 film. Sam Mendes’《Skyfall》, I believe, is by far the most human, if not realistic, of the James Bond franchise, a step further from the two previous installments which have brought to James Bond mortal character - and mortal weaknesses.《Skyfall》brings us back MI6 and reminds us what it and James Bond exist for: homeland security, instead of fighting for mankind against mysterious organisation and enemies who are either too greedy or plain sinister - which should be the duties of superheroes.

To do their job, Bond (Daniel Craig) and his fellow agents disarm the enemies with firepower not beyond our understanding, as Q (Ben Whishaw), Bond’s new quartermaster, quips: “Were you expecting an exploding pen?” And to get their job done, good civil servants on taxpayer’s payroll paid their lives, a sorrowful truth that M (Judi Dench) has better understanding than anyone else when standing helplessly before the eight coffins of her lost agents beneath the national flag.

 

 

The threats in《Skyfall》do not begin in exotic tropical forest or ruined city of former Soviet bloc and end up against the whole world, but they lurk in common places such as underground stations and crowded streets of the capital city where you and us have access to everyday as part of our living. The threats are so eminent and convincing, a feeling surely shared by MI6, after its headquarters was demolished into a heap of ruins.

The antagonist in the film, Silva (Javier Bardem), or Tiago Rodriguez being his real name, is a former agent who was once M’s most trusted and is now a man deemed dead unknown to his country, and he swore revenge to the constitution and M, the woman who he calls Bad Mommy. Silva’s revenge, which challenges the security agency and puts national safety on the brink of destruction, not only a display of his wits but a desperate accusation against M’s decision of giving him up to his own faults, is madness driven and ultimately leads to self-destruction.

There are of course elements that distinguish the 007 film from generic spy films: Women and Sex, so superfluous as one can rightly expect. The encounter in Macau, the (intentionally) indistinguishable places and people of which hardly resemble Macau (or anywhere in the world), while laughable, adds to the consistent classiness, or prodigalness, of a 007 film. I thought casino or ball is a necessity in the world of 007. Isn’t it?

Bond is as bold and reckless as in the two prior installments of the series, ballooning the national bills payable to foreign governments along his missions. Whishaw’s Q is an interesting addition, whose outlook reminds you of Mark Zuckerberg, or any geeky college student-entrepreneur (this is a handsome one though). You cannot really blame Bond for doubting Q: “Because you still have spots.”

A little surprise comes at the end of the film, where Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), chairman of the intelligence and security committee who once stood in the way of MI6 and was a bureaucrat in Bond’s eyes, takes up the vital role and together with Bond, continues to finish M’s unfinished, and unfinishable, job.