SKYFALL - the dark knight rises

Bond. James Matha F**kin Bond. He's back with a shot of epinephrine to the proverbial forehead. 

The film will, of course, be of interest to any Bond fan, to any action fan and somewhat surprisingly, to any Ian Fleming fan. Even though Skyfall is not among his novels it somehow feels that it should have been. Still, you can easily enjoy Bond films without liking Fleming's books. Skyfall captures the quiet essence, the dapper, urbane Englishman, and the ruthless killer that is greatest super hero of literary espionage.  In fact, multiple moments in the film could be traced to narratives of super hero films of the past decade.

I found the 3rd installment, with Daniel Craig as the titular hero, the best rendition so far. I will admit that I didn't much care for the last two despite the critic and fan approval; for Casino Royal in particular. I can't quite put a finger on it, but I admit, that Bond movies are more suitable to my tastes when Roger Moore or Sean Connery are in the lead with stories that are far more inconceivable, yet jovial, concomitant with ridiculous action and world domination in mind. Skyfall continues the tradition, although, the film continues to poke fun at its own past with continuous self reflexive jabs. If they were less disparaging and more jocular in jest than I would be apt to accept the comment. It seems like filmmakers are saying 'Oh! Those silly old Bond movies, look how far we've come'. I suppose audiences today want more realistic dark action, who am I to say otherwise?

Skyfall is at once riveting action and slow paced drama. They decided to craft the story around M with a former agent out to kill her due to bad history between them. Not my favorite Bond concept but interestingly more personal than usual—complete with Bond origin story. I'm sure nearly everyone will like it, and rightly so, but alas, my subjectivity compels me, still, toward the forgotten Bond of old.  

Recommended Viewing: On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Goldeneye - Goldfinger

              Bob Scale: The Critic: 8.5   -   The Fan: 8.0

             MetaCritic: 81

 Rotten Tomatoes: 91

                    IMDB: 8.1

WRATH OF THE TITANS - aaahh!! monsters

Another mythical Hollywood epic is to be expected here. Although a usual sequel, it surprised me more than the original effort in 2010. I liked this film more, I liked Sam Worthington more and the special effects were better. 

The story comes from no extant Greek mythology text but takes bits and pieces of ideas and of course all the popular characters and thus comes to a satisfactory amalgamation of plot and endless action. There is no time for much dialogue because there are literally only about 10 minutes of rest from hyper-deranged action sequences -  subsequently the paucity of speech leaves something to be desired. Worthington reminded me a bit of his character in Terminator when I was first introduced to him and liked him - that is to say, for the first time in a while, his performance wasn't irritating.

The film comes jam packed with famous, mostly British, actors, even though many of them have short screen time. Ralph Fiennes plays his token bad guy well, however, a small surprise near the end, awaits the viewer. Also Bill Nighy as the designer of Tartaros (Hell) was a great character indeed and for me was the most interesting part of the story. I won't say who gets axed but I will say that it's slightly annoying that so many so called GODS die in this movie. I though God's were God's because they have the power to remain immortal. Whats up with that?

Recommended Viewing: Clash Of The Titans (1981) - Jason And The Argonauts - Hercules (1961)

              Bob Scale: Objective: 6.0   -   Subjective: 6.5

             MetaCritic: 37

 Rotten Tomatoes: 24

                      IMDB: 6.5