Text / Levin - The abridged version of the film review was published in the "Beijing Youth Daily"
"007: Skyfall Murder" and "The Grandmaster" feel too similar, the former has always made literary films The first commercial action film of British director Sam Mendes, which is the first commercial kung fu film of Chinese director Wong Kar Wai, who has always made literary films. The former strives to integrate tradition and modernity, which not only pleases young audiences, but also attracts traditional fans; the latter strives to integrate martial arts history and personal emotions, which not only pleases fans of kung fu movies, but also attracts fans of Wong Kar Wai movies. The former weakens the traditional hot action scenes of the 007 series of movies, and instead strengthens the human emotions of 007. The latter also weakens the traditional master duel of kung fu movies, and instead strengthens the delicate emotions between the characters. However, although the two films have many advantages in terms of breakthroughs and innovations, they are somewhat chaotic and out of control from the overall point of view, and the pattern that should be atmospheric is relatively stingy. As for what kind of creative thinking is adopted in this film, let me listen to the author slowly.
Innovation: The old man will die, and the new man will come!
From the plot and character information revealed before the film was released, the audience can know that there are many new changes in the film. First of all, this is the last time Judi Dench will play Mrs. M, and "Voldemort" Ralph Fiennes will succeed her as the new director of MI6 (Britain's MI6). And Dr. Q will also make his first appearance in Daniel Craig's 007 movie, but this time it's no longer a geeky old man with countless novel agent gear, but a tech genius played by the British handsome Ben Whishaw. The villain is played by Javier Bardem. This film is also the first time for the 007 series to be filmed in mainland China, and Shanghai has become a new stage for 007 to show off his skills. In the film, these changes have indeed brought a lot of new ideas to the plot. Because of the failure of 007's action at the beginning of the film, the list of agents was leaked, and a senior government official played by Ralph Fiennes intervened in MI6's affairs and asked Mrs. M to resign and retire. Naturally, she was strongly rebounded by the self-respecting Mrs. M. The two form a pair of contradictions in the play. Dr. Q, played by Ben Whishaw, is obviously used to attract young audiences. His model-like handsome face and hairstyle are enough to make girls scream. As a tech genius, he spits out a series of computer terms, and his nimble fingers tap the keyboard. On the big screen, the attack and defense of hackers were staged, and the image of the handsome "tech house" instantly gained a firm foothold in the hearts of the audience. Moreover, in the process of chasing the enemy, Dr. Q and 007 formed a tacit partnership with 007. The eye-catching degree and important role of "Bond Boy" are obviously better than that of Bond Girl. The villain played by Javier Bardem is neither a war madman trying to destroy the world, nor a careerist chasing profits to create a crisis, but a crazy and pitiful guy whose personality is severely traumatized and whose psychological distortion is only for revenge. The Joker in Batman. This time, 007 wants to solve personal grievances, not a world crisis, and it is also an unprecedented new setting. The fantastic world of light and shadow provided by the neon lights of the Shanghai World Financial Center also makes the fight between 007 and the killer here produce a unique and strange beauty.
Although in terms of action style, Daniel Craig's first two 007 films have converged a lot from the exaggerated style of Pierce Brosnan's 007 films, gradually moving towards the tough and realistic style of the "Bourne Bourne" series Changes, but the film's innovation in this regard is more thorough. Except for the unstoppable and omnipotent action characteristics of traditional 007 in the chase of Istanbul, Turkey, 007 is ordinary for most of the time. After "Rebirth" returned to MI6, both skills and psychology were evaluated as "unqualified", and even the gun was not accurate. The confrontation with the villain was always controlled by others, and was calculated many times. It was not until the end that the extreme reversal was staged. It can be said that the final victory depends not on skill but willpower. The main selling point of the action scenes has also shifted from the big scenes to the tension of the plot. The action scenes where the villain makes a scene in London is a clear manifestation. From the moment he escaped from MI6 with a computer virus, he followed 007 in turns from the subway chase until the hearing. The gunfight emphasizes the twists and turns of the plot tension, and uses parallel editing to create a sense of looming crisis to mobilize the audience's emotions.
The change of action style is just the tip of the iceberg. The overall style of the film is to turn the traditional 007 film from an outward-looking type into an introverted one. The focus of the plot shifts from the traditional 007 traveling around the world to catch bad guys, to returning to the UK, pursuing 007 and the big villains. From the perspective of human nature, analyze the causal relationship of sin. 007 and the villain are like two sides of a coin, with a high degree of homogeneity but choosing diametrically opposite paths. Both had unfortunate childhoods, and both had an "Oedipus complex" relationship with Mrs. M. Both were abandoned by Mrs. M during their missions, but the villain completely fell into the dark side of human nature after experiencing all this, and used extreme revenge. behavior to achieve spiritual liberation. And 007, who also bears a heavy psychological burden, chose to face the past that he did not want to look back, thus bursting out the courage and belief of the Jedi rebirth. This "same path" setting obviously has complex connotations, suggesting that the difference between heroes and villains may be in one thought. The alienation of human nature and the dark side of human nature are also a major source of horror crisis. In addition, the image of 007 has changed from a "playboy" across the world to a "watchdog" who guards the security of the UK. MI6 led by Mrs. M is not a "conspiracy planner" who is doing shady deeds behind the scenes, but He was elevated to a patriot with a heroic heart, strong will, and silent dedication. This is also the first time that the 007 movie appeared to be such a "main theme".
Retro: return to England, pay tribute to the classics!
2012 is the 50th anniversary of the birth of the 007 film. In this commemorative year, the director of the 007 film was handed over to the Oscar-winning British director Sam Mendes, which made the film innovative and thorough. It's a retro look, and it can be called the 007 movie with the strongest British style in history. First of all, the shooting scenes are mainly in the United Kingdom, with old buildings in London fluttering with the Union Jack, old houses in the Scottish moors, old subway tunnels in London, and the new headquarters in the bunker during World War II after the MI6 headquarters was bombed. The solemn, elegant, deep and atmospheric atmosphere of this old-fashioned empire is not exuded everywhere, which makes this film extremely impressive in terms of scene texture.
In addition, 007 and its related people and things are also full of the taste of returning to tradition and paying tribute to the classics. The first two episodes of 007 starring Daniel Craig completely overturned the traditional image of "Playboy", making 007 a big lover, falling in love in "Casino Royale", and in "Quantum of Solace" Dedicated to revenge for the lover. On the other hand, it subverted the traditional image of a "gentleman's agent" and turned 007 into a "blue-collar agent" like Jason Bourne in the "Bourne Bourne" series. From the beginning of "Casino Royale", 007 was wearing all buttons Unbuttoned and crumpled shirts appeared, and the parkour chase was performed in disgrace. In this film, Sam Mendes clearly felt that the previous work had gone too far, and vowed to set things right. The "great love" of 007, which was strengthened in the first two episodes, is not mentioned in this film, as if the series has been restarted again, so that 007 can return to the state of sleeping beauty in the scene. The personal image has also returned to suits and leather shoes, and can continue to follow the tough-guy agent style of "Bournemouth", but the gentleman's demeanor must be retained. No matter how intense the fight and chase, the neat suit and neat hairstyle are not messed up at all. At the beginning of the film, the action scene 007 jumped into the train compartment through a forklift, and had time to tidy up his suit before continuing to chase. Even if Dr. Q didn't have the various spy equipment in the past, he at least gave 007 a high-tech fingerprint pistol and radio locator, which can be regarded as a traditional tribute.
As for other detailed tributes, there are also a lot of them, which will test the fans' "fans" of the 007 series of movies. For example, after giving 007 the equipment, Dr. Q said, "Do you still expect me to give you an explosive pen?" Obviously, he was making fun of the relevant plot in "007 Golden Eye". And 007 took Mrs. M to drive an Aston Martin DB5 from a warehouse. The origin can be traced back to 1964's "Goldfinger 007". Mrs. M satirized 007's sentence "You want to eject me Are you going?", which echoes the corresponding function of this car in "007 Gold Finger". The two retractable light machine guns under the headlight cover that did not work well in "007 Goldfinger" were also prominently displayed in this film, becoming the first shot of 007 ambushing the enemy at the Scottish castle.
Inadequate: posturing, the scene shrinks!
Although the film has spent a lot of thought on innovation and retro, showing the creative mentality of the director trying to make a difference, the author still wants to say that the effect is not good, especially for some of the characters and plot. The basic settings are overly contrived, ambiguous, and lacking in rationality, and the serious shrinkage of action scenes is intolerable. Pierce Brosnan's four-episode 007 films in the 1990s have established a brand image of top blockbusters in the hearts of global audiences. The tanks in "GoldenEye" rampaged Moscow, and the motorcycles and helicopters in "Tomorrow Empire". Chasing and fighting, the nuclear submarine war in "Dark Sun", not to mention the devastating space weapons in "Die Another Day", have all become the representatives of the big scenes of Hollywood action movies. Even the first two episodes of 007 starring Daniel Craig have obvious tendencies to strengthen the action and weaken the scene, but there is no shortage of Aston Martin's Guinness World Record volley flip for seven weeks, as well as hot scenes with constant explosions. And this film almost only played pure action, and lost the big scene. The most amazing scene in the whole film is the subway crashing through the tunnel, which is not ranked in the big scenes of the 007 movie. In addition to the big explosion, the final battle of the old castle was just the standard of an ordinary shootout film, and it was also the first time that the 007 movie lacked a powerful enough action climax.
Although the choice of Sam Mendes to direct this film can also give people a premonition that he will strengthen the literary drama and weaken the fighting drama, it is unexpected to shoot the literary drama so pretentious and mysterious. The first thing to question is why the villain is so powerful, it’s okay to do evil abroad and gain the upper hand, how can it still be so awesome to infiltrate the British mainland, blow up the MI6 headquarters, attack the hearing, and lead a brigade of gangsters to take out armed helicopters. Attacking the Scottish castle from the ground up... Please, this is not in a war-torn area or a small third world country, but the homeland of the British Empire. It is incredible that terrorists can come and go so freely! The plot didn't explain how the villain bombed the MI6 headquarters, and how to use a computer virus to escape from the new headquarters. The key is that after the attack, the hearing can be successfully driven away, and the trace is missing. As a result, 007 can only use the way to lead snakes out of the hole. When he appeared, the villain was too powerful. I felt that all the law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies in the United Kingdom were all over the top, completely falling behind, and they had no "state machine" strength at all! 007's trick of stealing Mrs. M privately in order to attract the villain is also very brainless. Apart from this extremely risky practice, is there no other way? Moreover, Dr. Q can clearly determine the location of 007 through the tracker. When the villain appeared and launched an attack, he did not send reinforcements to encircle and suppress it. He just let 007 and others fight alone. Did they all learn from the Hong Kong shootout film, and only after the police car was fired? come over?
The life experience and human nature of 007 and the villain also feel pretentious. At first, when the psychological assessor mentioned "Skyfall", it felt like touching 007's scars. Although the "Skyfall" manor of the 007 family was echoed later, he still didn't make it clear what kind of hidden pain was hidden in this place. He just mentioned it vaguely. His parents died when he was young. Why did his parents die, and what impact did it have on 007's young mind, which led to his later career as a secret agent. The villain's behavioral logic and psychological activities are also very strange. After a long time, he did so many things just to vent his "Oedipus complex" towards Mrs. M and his self-destructive tendencies after losing his mother's love. At the end, he intended to do the same. M's practice of perishing together is a clear manifestation of this mentality. Designing this kind of pure personal grievance without any entanglement of interests can only make the content of the film a little more fancy, and it is not reasonable enough to think about it. If there is no interest factor, why go crazy with him?
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