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Skyfall

Skyfall

2012
When Bond's latest assignment goes gravely wrong, agents around the world are exposed and MI6 headquarters is attacked. While M faces challenges to her authority and position from Gareth Mallory, the new Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, it's up to Bond, aided only by field agent Eve, to locate the mastermind behind the attack.
Ratings:
Brad Score: 6.8/10
Internet Score: 7.3/10
Director:
Sam Mendes
Cast:
Ralph Fiennes, Javier Bardem, Albert Finney, Bérénice Marlohe, Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Rory Kinnear, Ola Rapace
Genres:
Thriller Action Adventure

My notes

Say what you will about the plot of the film being nonsense, but Sam Mendes knows how to light a scene. The use of darkness in this film, occasionally papering over some questionable fight choreography, looks absolutely amazing on OLED from a 4k UHD.

And yes, the plot is nonsense masquerading as brilliance. The bad guy hacker, who was also a field agent, is always one step ahead on a plot for revenge having been betrayed by M when he was a good guy agent and maybe hacker? To be fair, the script does try to balance this out by mirroring a similar scenario with Bond, where M orders Moneypenny to take a shot only to hit Bond.

But Bond spends 3 months drinking that off. Silva:
Becomes the world's greatest hacker
Hacks an island
Steals a list of agents
Hacks MI6
Blows up MI6 with hacking
Tricks Bond into capturing him
Tricks MI6 into moving into an underground location
Manages to get hearing on MI6
Escapes from a locked cell (how? Don't ask!)
Tricks Bond into chasing him
Collapses a train
Hides as a cop
Breaks into the hearing that he tricked into happening
Freezes on the trigger

This is a fantastic example of why 'and then…' plotting is so empty.
But man, the visual contrast and lighting.

This one also my favorite Easter Egg of the new series. Q is drinking from a Scrabble coffee mug. I didn't see which letter mug he was drinking from, but 1. I think we already know and 2. only showing the back of the mug makes me like it more.

Watched Jan. 10, 2026 via UHD — rated 6.8/10
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