Review of Skyfall (2012) by Lofu_Agfy — 11 Nov 2020

Numerous Plot holes, contrivances, poor storytelling, character logic&motivation;.

1. The stolen agent list macguffin; Made famous in M:I then overused in films&TV shows; CharliesAngels2 etc - halfway through the film they just forgot about it.

2. Hacking magic! Hacking can be done well; goldeneye,swordfish,diehard4...Not just an easy contrived plot device. Can we have a proper explanation &the rules&limitations of Silva's hacking ability in this fiction? For all I know Silva can make satellites fall on people.

3. The irony of the 'can Bond operate in an internet world' theme...he failed twice and got M killed...so he can't?

4. How out of place the above theme is; Bond is mature but always current. His a walking encyclopedia (watch the start of any Connery/Moore film). In the last 2 films he was using advanced mobile phone tracking systems...adding hacking does not suddenly make Bond take on the 'modern' age. Are economics or funding civilwars outdated?

There was hacking&computers in 1995's Goldeneye..all of a sudden, NOW, there are no more shadows? Did MI6 stop evolving in the late eighties?

5.They have a meeting to discuss MI6? This was relevant in Batman, a vigilante was trying to inspire people- It was intertwined in the narrative&theme. Skyfall enquiry was just Sam Mendes ripping off Batman.

6. Silva's planned capture; Another overused device that was coincidently in Batman. So what did Silva achieve? A conversation with M? When this is revealed shouldn't we look back and have everything make sense? But, NO, I was left wondering why they tried to kill Bond twice in China.

7. Why was a hacker in a cell controlled by a computer? Why is Q so stupid he plugged in the laptop to the building? Why was the trap door on the inside of the first glass door? why was there a trap door? How did Silva evade an armed MI6 guard 20 meters from his cell?

8. Super calculating (hack crazy)Silva's plan at the end was a firefight? With a backup plan of another firefight?

9. So they figured out Silva was dressed as a cop and no-one told anyone? The irony of M defending herself (reading a poem) knowing her own ex agent was about to shoot up the place was lost on critics&writers alike.

10. Could Bond not take a Sim free phone or'radio' &call backup when Silva arrived at the end? Instead they had their Home Alone moment- even Macaulay Culkin eventually called the police.

11. Silva is supposed to mirror Bond. But compare Bond's 'betrayal' to Silva being handed over for torture... Some forced connection is made considering they never met before. Silva tells a story of 2rats so we know what we are supposed to think.

12. Bond's betrayal is M ordering Naomi to take a risky shot. Bond later tell's M he heard the order... why didn't he get out the way then? he just kept fighting like an idiot. &did Naomi only have 1 bullet?

13.You can't make Bond survive 2 gun shots and a fall like that. His already an established character. The Punisher&Bourne are special BECAUSE they survive. It can't happen to them again mid film/ mid franchise..

14. Bond follows an assassin&lets him kill innocent people! How is this in his character?! The previous 2 films already rebooted Bond to show WHY he doesn't let innocents die.

15. Naomi is a forced character..appearing randomly to remind us she still exists so we can think it's 'clever' when she becomes Moneypenny. Money penny gets demoted from field agent to secretary?!! not even analyst. If she is that hopeless why is she on the most important mission ever? I think Sam Mendes hates women.

16. Bond doesn't even blink when the girl he just bedded a few hours ago gets shot in cold blood. He identifies Severine as being sex trafficked&abused- He then just jumps in her shower. I had little problem with Bond tricking a woman into bed in live and let die- but the sky-fall scene should land him in the S-offenders list.

17.They traced the shrapnel in Bond's chest to a 'special'bullet that only 3 people use? His a 'ghost'...but we have his full flight manifesto. This is how they advanced the plot? wait a minute....didn't that bad guy shoot up half of turkey..? A contrivance& a plot hole in one plot device, that takes some doing.

18. One minute he can't shoot...10 seconds later he shoots everyone in a 360 arc? so what happened? oh we are just abandoning that theme mid- se..

The script makes no sense, the themes are inappropriate, Bond's character&decision making has been altered &they have confused mature with dinosaur. Die another Day was almost a Bond parody, but this one is simply a mess,&a betrayal of Bond.