SKYFALL (2012) // James Bond Review and Whisky Pairing
"Skyfall" Plot
M's (Dame Judi Dench) past comes back to haunt her as an ex-agent (Javiar Bardem) plots revenge.
Whiskey Lore Review
Skyfall at #2 is just personal choice. Again, any of the Top 3 could be the best of the series. An incredible movie from start to finish, with a very good villain and free from the serial that had started with Casino and Quantum - although we are later led to believe Silva was part of SPECTRE. This is annoying to me because it feels contrived and makes Silva out to be a pawn, instead of the strong villain he was.
What I love about this movie is that it has a very unexpected Bond girl - M. She is the woman that Bond holds emotion for. She is the one who is his equal. She's obviously not a love interest, but she takes on the role of support for Bond and then woman in distress.Although like most of his secondary interests, he doesn't quite save her in the end.
There is so much style with a touch of humor mixed in with the action of this movie. Fall into the water, the fight with the lizard (where is Jabba the Hutt?) and the gun with paw print indicator ("good luck with that"), the shooting of the Macallan, grabbing the guns and showing off the latest thing from "Q" branch.
Then there are the different shade of Bond, the drinking game with the scorpion, the unshaven angry man, the wounded warrior, the martini drinking man comfortable in a casino. And the imagery is beautiful. The boat ride into Macaw is a favorite.
The script is great as well, along with the locations.
Best of the movie: Such an incredible opening scene. We meet Eve Moneypenny, even though we won't know it is her until the end of the movie, we go on a wild motorcycle race that ends up on top of a train, and finally with a shocking and yet graceful shot of Bond falling into the river below, which weaves beautifully into the best title sequence of the franchise and Adele's arguably best Bond theme.
Memorable moment: My favorite fight scene in the entire franchise is the one in Shanghai when Bond renews his fight with Silva's henchman in the room filled with reflecting glass. You lose perspective for a moment and then suddenly our hero is holding the henchman's arm as he dangles off the side of the building. Absolutely stunning cinematography.
Where it goes wrong: This movie had no categories below a 7 out of 10. That said, if it has a flaw that pushed it to #2, it is that it drags a bit during the scenes at Skyfall and watching the house get blown up and the DB5 riddled with bullets really isn't my favorite part of the film.
Paired Whisky: GlenDronach 15 Year Highland Single Malt Whisky
My second favorite whisky, GlenDronach 15 is the perfect balance of sweet fruit (PX cask) and dark fruit (Oloroso cask) with just the right amount of age. It is a Highland whisky but is honestly more of an ultimate Speyside sherry bomb.
Whiskey Lore Rank: #2 (Score 8.41) > Next Movie
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