007 in SKYFALL

Well it is finally official, the new James Bond film is officially entitled "SkyFall".  Perhaps we are to derive some "Chicken Little" metaphor from this enigmatic title as in, "the sky is falling".  The brief but official description of the plot is that some deep dark secret is revealed about "M" played by Judi Dench and it could lead to the collapse of MI6 as we know it.  It'll up to 007 to pull out all the stops to save the agency (ministry?) even while all confidence is lost in M and all of she has built is shaken to its core.

The director of the film is Sam Mendes which seems as an odd choice at first but since we are dealing with a crisis of confidence in M and how Daniel Craig's James Bond is supposed to deal with it I suppose it makes good sense.  Mendes has directed movies such as "Revolutionary Road", "American Beauty" and "Road to Perdition" all of which explore the human condition when faced with the ultimate crisis in faith.  Mendes is known for investigating how people deal with issues of deep seated trust that are fractured and their foundations laid bare and broken.

The other big news, at least for myself, is the official addition of Berenice Marlohe to the cast.  This has been widely speculated on in the past but confirmation of which came maddeningly slow.  I wrote of the aforementioned speculation here.  I'm not aware how heavy the French accent of Ms. Marlohe is but I was actually hoping she would be Bond's female equal in MI6 and a Double O agent herself.   However, if the accent is too heavy I would imagine that would to difficult to pass off as convincing as she would have to be veddy English to work for that agency.

Speaking of opposite numbers and equals of Bond I would like to see the character played by Javier Bardem fill such a role also.  He has been billed and speculated upon as being Bonds nemesis.  But I would rather see him as Bond's adversary from another agency either friendly or unfriendly.  It has become too cliche to see  such characters always as the evil genius that is intellectually calculating but not the physical, emotional and resourceful equals to 007.  Let's hope Bardem's character is given the chance to give Bond a run for his money in every category.

Lastly, Mr. Craig looks a bit haggard in the publicity shots doesn't he?  I 'm sure the demands of international travel and a whirlwind schedule has taken its toll on him.  Or maybe its the reviews for "Cowboys and Aliens".  Either way its time to hit the gym Danny the world of 007 awaits.