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BLOG: Matty's Movies: 'Skyfall'

James Bond will leave you "shaken, not stirred" with his newest film... wait a minute, that makes no sense at all! "Skyfall" is a good movie. (Yeah, that'll work.)

Is Daniel Craig the best Bond ever? Let's figure it out. We've had at least six actors play secret agent 007 that I know of. There has been Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, George Lazenby, Pierce Brosnan, Sean Connery and currently Daniel Craig. Right off the bat I can tell you it isn't Lazenby because I don't even know who that is. It isn't Moore or Dalton either because, much like Lazenby, who the hell are they? (But at least I've heard of them.) Sad to say this because I like him, but it isn't Brosnan. Brosnan's dashing good looks and his "Rico Suave" style may fit for Bond, but all I see is his TV persona, Remmington Steele. (No relation to Lexington Steele.)

So for me, it comes down to Connery and Craig. Sean Connery is the picture of "cool." He's a brilliant actor, and back in the day I bet he was smooth with the ladies. He's a Hollywood heavy with some great films on his resume. He was bad (as in 'good') in "The Untouchables," and dynamite as a Russian defector in "The Hunt for Red October." But come on, who's cooler than Indiana Jones? That's right, Indiana Jones' dad! Playing him in "The Last Crusade" was a good call for him. It made me notice him.

And then there's Daniel Craig. He's somewhat new to my movie life, but over the past few years I've really grown to like his work. He was mesmorizing in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," and he was well acted in the film "Cowboy's and Aliens." (Unfortunately, I didn't like the movie.) But where he stole my Hollywood heart was in a film called "Defiance." It was a true story about three Jewish brothers trying to survive during the Holocaust. It was powerful and moving film.

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So who get's my "Best Bond Ever" award? Daniel Craig. But it's only because I've seen ONLY TWO James Bond movies ever in my life! The first one was "Quantum of Solace," (starring Craig) and this one, "Skyfall."

Sorry to all you other Bonds, but my heart belongs to Daniel.

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So let's review "Skyfall."

Agent 007's mission this time around is to capture a man who has stolen a list of names of spies working for MI6. (MI6 is the Brittish CIA.) Doesn't the plot sound kind of familiar? Isn't that the same plot that was used in the original "Mission Impossible"? I can clearly remember Ethan Hunt trying to get back the 'noc list' before it got into the wrong hands. Anyways, Bond fails and is presumed dead. A few months go by and Bond needs to get back to doing what he was supposed to do, so he shows up at Mom's, (better known as "M") played by that dame, Judi Dench. Some interesting things are going on between Bond and "M", but not interesting enough for me to tell you about.

Eventually Bond finds out who he's after and the game is on. The villian in this film is named Silva. It's a dull name. I would've rathered a cool name like Uglyteeth or Flatcheek or something like that, but it was just plain old Silva.

Javier Bardem plays Silva and he plays him well. He's a standout in this film. He sinks his gross, ugly teeth into this role and really captures "creepy" quite well. Bardem is a great actor in what I've seen from him. In real life he is a handsome man, but WOW they can sure make him ugly in movies. With "No Country for Old Men" and now this role as a psychotic blonde, I'm surprised any chick would date him. I guess money and fame make you pretty... I need money and fame real bad.

The story flows smoothly enough. And it's a good story that eventually brings you back to Bond's childhood home. This is where the climactic finale is shot. Much like the ONE OTHER Bond movie I've seen, it's a smash-bang-boom ending which I assume happens in all the other Bond movies that I haven't seen.

There are some other characters in this film I want to tell you about. "Q", the man with all the gadgets, is a young man now. "Q" had always been played by an old fogie, but I guess they wanted to update the character. He was played by Ben Whishaw.

Ralph Fiennes is a big-time actor who plays a big-wig in this film, but I found his character to be no big deal. 

Then there are the Bond girls. Bond's somewhat sidekick is a beautiful lady named Eve. You don't find out until the end what her last name is. SPOILER ALERT: If you don't want to know her last name stop reading this... NOW! It's Moneypenny! That's terrible, right? I like 'Honey Ryder' much better!

And the bad girl. The character's name is Severine. Boring... But her looks are not boring. She is a stunner who isn't in the film nearly long enough. Her name in real life is Berenice Marlohe. I wish her character's name was "Pussy Galore." I like that name much more than Severine. 

One thing I did notice about this film was that they blatantly stole a lot of lines and mannerisms from the old "Austin Powers" movies. I don't like it when people just hi-jack characters and storylines from other movies. I know for sure that Mike Myers put a TON of work into developing his plots and his characters, and to see another franchise just come along and straight up steal somebody else's hard work just appalls me. And this is why I will always like the "Austin Powers" films more than the "James Bond" movies.

Ok, so you want to know if I liked this movie? When I sat down some six hours ago to write this review, I did. But as I typed along, I realized that I didn't like it as much as I thought. I think I may have gotten caught up in all the hoopla of this film. You see, I didn't get to see it over the weekend. I went to see it Monday night. But I had kept up on all the publicity on the film. I read it had gotten great reviews across the board. I read that it made a killing at the box office. Almost $90 million on opening weekend, biggest Bond opening ever. And I heard it was the best Bond film ever. Sometimes all that great publicity can side-swipe even the best movie reviewer in the country. (If not the world.) But I came to my senses and have given you my honest, straight from the heart review.

I liked this film... Loved it? That may be a stretch... But I did like it, and it is worth seeing, especially for all you Bond fans out there. I can tell you, with conviction, this is the second best Bond film I've ever seen... I liked "Quantum of Solace" more.

So there you have it, the MWK review of the storied franchise known as "Bond... James Bond."

Kelley... Matty W. Kelley, Norwood Patch, reporting.

Fun Fact: The producer of this film's name is Barbara Broccoli. She is one of the entertainment industry's most successful female producers. She is the daugher of lenendary filmmaker, Cubby Broccoli. Which brings me to my second Fun Fact: 'CUBBY BROCCOLI' MAY BE THE BEST NAME EVER!!!

Fun Matty Fact: I went to The Old Colonial Cafe last week and the lady tending the bar named M.B. (Mary Beth) came right over to me and said, "Matty Kelley, you are the first thing I read when I go to the Patch on Thursdays! I love your articles!" I've always known she's a great lady, but to stroke my ego like that, well, it doesn't get any better than that for me! You are top-notch in my book M.B.! Thank you very much, and KEEP READING!

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