Review: Skyfall

It’s always such a heartbreak when you go into a movie thinking it cannot possibly be not good and then you end up being horribly disappointed. ‘Skyfall’ is not a bad movie, by far not – it’s entertaining with beautiful cinematography, a great director and a compelling cast but I just couldn’t shake off this feeling of being let down. I guess that happens when your expectations are too high.

Daniel Craig ‘s first outing as the famous spy was somewhat of a step away from the always slick and classy British Boy perfectly portrayed by Pierce Brosnan. This new Bond different – sure he still looked awesome but rather than take out the bad boys with one shot, he beats the crap out of them. He get’s down to business. This new Bond is dirty! The second outing of Daniel Craig – the much maligned ‘Quantum of Solace’ which I actually really liked – came closer to the old fashionable Bond. It also started to show some cracks in that beautiful shell – after losing the love of his life Bond seemed to be destroyed. And this was another step away from the ways because James Bond doesn’t have feelings.

So here we are at the third installment, this time with an oscar winning director at the helm of it and he did a pretty good job. The scenes feel great and he took his time with giving the leads time to evolve and develop. Maybe a little bit too much time – ‘Skyfall’ is 143 minutes long and once the introductions to the different players are over, you can certainly feel the time expanding like old gum. Once the movie shifts towards the eponymous ‘Skyfall’ we are no longer in a Bond movie but in a regular action movie that doesn’t resemble at all the grand old style. Maybe that’s what people really like about it – the difference. For me, James Bond is a friend of old times, a reminder of old style movies in a modern world. So I can’t really like this new way. One thing doesn’t change though – bad guys are too stupid to kill their enemy when they have the chance to do so.

Though there was one thing that blew me away and I fully expected it: Adele’s song! It not only brought back long-lost glamour of the great old James Bond soundtracks like Shirley Bassey’s ‘Diamonds are forever’ or ‘Moonraker’. It was pompous and breathtaking and I fully expect her to win the Oscar for this little gem.

So if you are (unlike me) up for change, then this new Bond is totally for you! Otherwise you might find it entertaining enough just to see Dame Judy Dench as M and a new Q in form of Ben Whishaw. For me, it was a good movie though not a good James Bond movie.

Trailerwatch: Skyfall

Finally it is here! The first teaser trailer for the much-anticipated 25th James Bond (in its 50th year). After some financial struggle it finally came to life with new director – Oscar Winner Sam Mendes. At first I wasn’t too sure about Daniel Craig as Special Agent 007 but he won me over.

So have a look at the first teaser:

Skyfall will be released on November 9th. Along with Daniel Craig Dame Judi Dench will also return as M. Furthermore the cast includes Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney, Naomie Harris, Bérénice Marlohe and Ben Whishaw.

I am very excited for this to hit screens!

Watch: New Skyfall Picture online

I really like fairy tales – always have and always will. When my Dad told me, that James Bond is a fairy tale for adults, I knew it was something for me.

When Daniel Craig first showed up on-screen as the new James Bond I wasn’t so sure about him, but by now I think he is one of the coolest (after Sir Sean Connery and Sir Roger Moore of course) and yes, that scene, descending from the sea….

Anyways, Craig currently works on his 3rd Bond Movie with new director Sam Mendes on board who I have high expectations in (though I really would like to see Matthew Vaughn tackle the super spy). After some money problems with MGM we are finally getting first images and today the official page released a new still.

Skyfall will be released on October 26th in the UK and we have yet to see a first trailer.

Review: X-Men: First Class

It is Comic Con week so to honor the genre of comics, I thought I tell you my thoughts on the latest X-Men Movie.

We’ve seen quite a lot of comic book movies but rarely did one have the actor power of Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen as Professor X and Magneto respectively. I enjoyed all 3 X-Men Movies but found the prequel “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” a bit boring and unnecessary. So when another prequel was announced I wasn’t too optimistic the cast pretty much sold me: long time favourites Kevin Bacon and James McAvoy as well as recent oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence and the up and coming Michael Fassbender. And boy was it good! Matthew Vaughn delivered a slick 60’s but not really 60’s style super hero movie and answering the question of what really happened at pig’s bay – though the really interesting story is between Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr and what made the men we got to know in the later X-Men movies.

As usual the baddies are surrounded by beautiful but a bit bland women. January Jones doesn’t stand a chance against a very entertaining Kevin Bacon though his German is crap. I also noticed that for being born in Heidelberg, Germany, Michael Fassbender speaks German with a strong English accent which I already noticed in “Inglorious Basterds”. Also according to a French friend, the French spoken in this movie wasn’t too great either so maybe next time just have them all speak English.

The quality of foreign languages was probably the only thing, that I found irritating about this movie. Other than that it was entertaining, heartfelt and great acting. The movie doesn’t take itself serious and the 60’s style editing was awesome. I do believe if Sam Mendes is done with the next James Bond (if it ever gets made that is) Matthew Vaughn would be a great director – he has the talent and the style for it.

And on a finishing note – any movie playing Take That in the end credits is a great movie in my eyes.