Bond-ing

There’s nothing like a twist in the road when you’ve become used to a particular terrain. Sometimes, we must deviate from the roadmap to find our true self — or find a new direction.

The latest James Bond movie Skyfall, the 23rd in the Bond series and the one that made its debut on the 50th year of Bond in the movies, pops out like a fork in the road because it isn’t quite the Bond movie you expect.

I asked four people yesterday who had yet to see Skyfall what they expected of it, based on its title. An airplane drama, one ventured. Action on a tall building, said another. Action in the skies, guessed another.

Well, none of them was correct. The title of the movie is surprisingly misleading. I myself had visions of parachutes, hot-air balloons and skydiving.

In a rare Bond-ing activity, my husband, adult son and I watched Skyfall last Sunday at the Powerplant Mall cinema and found a movie that bridges generations with its engaging combination of action, technology and good-old fashioned drama. This is a Bond movie even women will appreciate, and not just because of Daniel Craig’s ruggedly handsome good looks. It is also a man’s movie because of the duels that breathlessly take place throughout the film.

I’m not a techie like my husband and son, but found no reason to suspend disbelief at Skyfall, directed by Sam Mendes. It’s so real, more like a combination of Bourne Identity and an adult Home Alone (I kid thee not), not a sci-fi-action flick with scenes that you know happen only in the movies. Instead, Skyfall has doses of the human factor — loyalty, insecurity, envy, revenge, commitment.

I won’t tell you what Skyfall really means, or how the movie ends — but of course! But this I can say, the movie attempts to be better than previous Bond films with its storyline, not with the latest gadget or incredible stunt. Otherwise, it would be just like an updated version of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s True Lies, which really takes one’s breath away with mind-boggling stunts. But don’t think Skyfall is devoid of gadgets and gizmos and hair-raisers.

 It’s just that it “rediscovers” good old reliables like a hunting rifle, a pocket knife, dynamite and booby traps. At the fourth quarter of the movie, Agent 007 is just like an adult version of Kevin (in Home Alone) who fortifies his abode with whatever is available in it against a wily enemy. He goes back to basics, and somehow we learn, that just like James Bond, the best weapon in our arsenal is our creativity. Bond fells a formidable opponent with the most basic of weapons.

Daniel Craig with Skyfall co-stars Naomie Harris (left) and Berenice Marlohe. AP

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Skyfall is about resurrection and redemption. Bond disappears to his “death” after he is mistakenly wounded by friendly fire while he is slugging it out with a gunman atop a moving train in Istanbul. MI6 thinks he has died, and M (Judi Dench) releases his obituary.  Bond somehow survives his fall and sinks into the depths of decadence in a life filled with sex, booze and drugs. But he “resurrects” when the headquarters of MI6 are attacked, killing six of his colleagues and bringing the relevance and leadership of M into serious doubt. Again, even the MI6 goes back to basics — from a swanky high-rise building, it moves its headquarters to a bunker once used by Winston Churchill.

Bond surfaces, a virtual shadow of his old self. His resurrection could be M’s redemption. He tries to redeem them both (mentor and protégé) by taking on the enemy, an ex-MI6 agent named “Silva” (Javier Bardem) who turned against the agency because he felt M betrayed him. Silva has the software containing the names of all agents embedded in terrorist organizations, and he releases their names five at a time, resulting in many deaths, and many more to come.

It is said that Bardem had the script of Skyfall translated into Spanish so he would understand his character better. And how! He had his hair dyed blonde and his soul dyed evil. I could barely imagine him as Julia Roberts’ wholesome lover in Eat, Pray, Love.

Skyfall redefines what a hero really is. He isn’t all brawn or bluster though he boasts of both. He is moved by emotions, but emotions don’t get the better of him. He truly seeks to save the world at the expense of his own life, and endeavors to save those who matter to him.

Bond loves women and a good martini, but they don’t define him. He defines himself by being more than just a gun for hire. He defines himself by being hard (Craig in Skyfall is granite), but human.

For twists and turns and unexpected endings, the sky’s the limit in Skyfall.

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This writer with her favorite James Bond, Pierce Brosnan, in late 2000.

The first Bond movie, Dr. No, starring Sean Connery first hit the silver screen in 1962.  Since then, there have been 23 James Bond movies and six James Bonds — Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. My favorite is Pierce Brosnan, because I interviewed him in Kuala Lumpur in late 2000 upon the invitation of Omega and found him warm and truly handsome. I remember he spoke in a low husky voice, almost a whisper, which made it almost imperative for the interviewer to move closer to him. (“The better to hear you, my dear!”)

Moore is the longest continually serving of all the Bonds, having starred in seven films in 12 years. Daniel Craig made his first Bond movie in 2006 and has signed up for two more. Next to Brosnan, Craig is my favorite.

Who is yours?

(You may e-mail me at [email protected].)