Welcome Back, Mr. Bond

For me, the James Bond franchise had started to run out of gas.  The last two installments with Pierce Brosnan as 007 were just plain stupid.  After an absence of a few years, the secret agent returned in the body of actor Daniel Craig, who was just plain awful in his first two attempts to give life to the legendary Ian Fleming character.

But, regardless, I kept showing up at the theater because, well, because it's James Bond.

So, when I toddled out to see the newest chapter "Skyfall," I was expecting to enjoy nothing more than a large Diet Coke and a bag of Welch's Fruit Snacks.   Imagine my surprise when I wound up with a terrific movie to boot.  Indeed, "Skyfall" just might be the best Bond movie in two decades.

Yes, it is still Daniel Craig and he's so wooden that I expected to see in the end credits, "Mr. Craig's Assistant....Geppetto."  He certainly doesn't have the chops to give the character of James Bond the fine balance of menace and humor that we have come to enjoy from the likes of Sean Connery, Roger Moore, and, yes, even the always thespian-challenged Brosnan.  After all, in the cinematic world of today, every hero must be incredibly flawed with dark overtones.  Craig certainly does the latter well and one would argue that's what Ian Fleming had in mind anyway.   I just happen to like the light and airy Bond a little better.

That said, the cool aloofness essayed by Craig in "Skyfall" works for once.  It provides some complex layering to what just may be the simplest James Bond plotline in history.  You don't spend two plus hours trying to step over major holes in the story because there aren't many.  And this is why we finally get to enjoy a James Bond movie for what it is supposed to be.  A great popcorn movie.  Or, in my case, a great Fruit Snacks movie.

I now miss the standard Bond opening of the character walking onto the screen and shooting through a bullethole that then drips blood.  For some reason, director Sam Mendes chooses to give us that at the end of the film.  But, the always-expected action-laden opening sequence is provided and this one gleefully goes on for about twenty minutes.  You know the type.  A high-speed chase through some Middle Eastern village and you count the minutes before some fruit vendor will have this complete inventory spilling out onto the street.  Nevertheless, the sequence takes some wild turns with motorcycles being driven over rooftops and a tractor being steering on top of a speeding locomotive.  You are instantly pulled into the movie.  And they never let you go.

As I wrote earlier, the storyline here is a simple one.  A personal vendetta held against Bond's boss "M," played one more time by that damn, I mean, that Dame Judi Dench.  The villain, as played by Javier Bardem, trys to challenge Julian Assange of Wikileaks fame and is pretty creepy.  He winds up looking like a tow-headed Cantinflas.  Nevertheless, he's pretty hateful and that's just what you need to have if you want a thoroughly engaging James Bond movie.

As a result of the revenge plotline, Dench finally has a lot to do in this role.  Usually, she's relegated to describing the mission at the film's beginning and then wagging her finger at James by the movie's conclusion.  In "Skyfall," she's present throughout and it allows finally for some character development on her end.  Indeed, we learn that she is being considered for involuntary retirement and her possible replacement by Ralph Fiennes.  There have just been too many "cock ups" by her operational team.  And the fact that James Bond is a little older and slower hasn't helped.

Meanwhile, there are all the Bond touches we have come to expect.  For once, there's a not-so-hateful theme song.  This one's warbled by Adele and, if you close your eyes, you can hear Shirley Bassey.  "Skyfall" offers not one, but two sultry chicks.  Indeed, one of them has an interesting connection to the franchise which you learn about in the last five minutes.  Of course, there's also the standard fight in an elevator shaft, a battle with two neanderthals that features two dragons nearby, and a riveting pursuit through the London underground.

You never get a chance to rest in "Skyfall."  But who really wants to when you see a Bond movie?

There are no nifty gadgets in "Skyfall."  Actually, they make a point of that.  There is a new "Q" in this one and he looks like a twenty-year-old computer programmer for Microsoft.  In 2012, all the technical wizardry used by the secret agents are tied to computer screens and tracking devices.  "We don't really go in for those exploding pens anymore," Q tells a mystified Bond. 

Nevertheless, about 3/4 of the way into the film, the famed 1965 Aston Martin makes a surprise entry and the audience around me cheered.  As a matter of fact, Dench even gets a ride in it.  As she prattles on about something, Bond runs his finger over a control button.  "Don't think about ejecting me," M tells James.

It's that kind of history and humor that makes "Skyfall" seem more like a James Bond adventure from the 60s and the 70s.  The good old days.  And perhaps why I liked it so much.  I might not be the only one.  At its conclusion, the audience around me applauded.  That's a routine practice when you go to the movies in Hollywood.  I don't ever remember that happening when you see a film at the Clearview Cinema on Central Avenue in Yonkers.  We certainly weren't the only one who responded positively.  "Skyfall" made a boatload of cash over its opening weekend.  And, if I am guessing right, people will continue to get behind this new James Bond who's really a lot like the old James Bond.

Of course, the end credits feature the usual prediction. 

"James Bond Will Return."

And, for the first time in a long while, I am now waiting for that.

Dinner last night:  Sandwich and salad.