Skyfall: A Review

One can't help but think of A Series Of Unfortunate Events, for more than one reason, when watching the new 007 blockbuster, Skyfall.  Daniel Craig and Judi Dench play a complex version of employer and employee in what must be the world's most intriguing and formidable foreign intelligence agency.

Being shot by your own co-worker and falling off a moving train only to tumble into a gorge which holds a foaming river culminating in a rapid waterfall is just a part of Daniel Craig's very bad day.  Any day that  begins with the death of your partner has only one direction to go, but in true 007fashion, more peril awaits. There are damsels in distress and dragons to fight in Shanghai, among other things.

Bad guy Javier Bardem plays a close second to best villian ever (it's hard to beat Heath Legend's Joker in Dark Knight).  Yet, even more fascinating than a day in the life of 007 is creative directors  fantasmagorically brilliant opener, featuring graphics and music that still linger in the memory, long after the gunfights, fistfights, and explosions are over. The Lemony Snicket credit roll, another work of brilliance, had the same feel.

So as not to spoil it for you, I will only divulge that the ending is another very bad day for 007 in more ways than one. Still, why does it leave you with the feeling that you somehow envy his life?

And his first name? James. Still one of the most popular boy's names of all time. Coincidence? I think not.