Bond…James Bond

James Bond is back with SKYFALL. Yes I am talking about the new movie in the James Bond movie line up – SKYFALL. James Bond is known for his 3G’s – Gadgets, Girls and Guns has always entertained the audience on these 3 fronts. Many reviews have come after the movie. Many have felt disappointed for this movie does not have much of Bond’s trademark 3 G’s. If you got to understand this movie a little background about the Bond story is definitely needed. An avid James Bond follower would definitely know this.

About the actor

For a die-hard Bond fan if you have followed all the Bond franchisee religiously you would definitely be entertained and happy to know that Daniel Craig has played the role of a maturing James Bond here. As a heads up to those who read this, all the Bond series featuring Daniel Craig as James Bond shows how the James Bond we know was made. Simply putting it this way – Daniel Craig played the role of James Bond in the making. If you got this fact right then you would definitely enjoy the movie. Let’s talk about the movie now.

Sky fall

The past of M is back to haunt her and the entire MI6 is under attack – its agents who have infiltrated are being exposed – MI6 building is bombed. Can James Bond come to the rescue and restore MI6’s glory back?

The movie begins with Bond trying to meet one of the MI6 agents who was murdered. His laptop is severely damaged and hard disk stolen which contains information about all the secret service agents in hiding and those who have infiltrated the terrorist organizations. This leads to a chase, with Bond trying to catch the assassin with the help of another fellow agent Eve. MI6 is on the line and keeps feeding her with instructions. The assassin and Bond jump on a train and a fight begins. The MI6 agent who was with Bond gets herself ready to shoot the assassin, is however not sure of taking her shot as she is afraid that she may hit Bond. M orders her to take the shot and she hits Bond – who falls from the train into a river. The assassin waves at her thanking her for letting him escape with the hard disk. Bond is declared killed in action.

Back in London “M” is questioned by the Government and pressurized for a forced retirement, to which she declines stating that she would face the enquiry rather than quitting. The PM appoints Gareth Mallory –ex IRA to ensure a smooth transition. On her way to M gets to know that MI6 office is attacked by a computer hacker. The trace leads that the computer used to hack was none another than M’s own computer at her office. This is followed by a blast in the MI6 office killing some agents. This completely shocks M.

Bond who survived the fall from the train is uses the opportunity to lead an incognito life. He learns of the attack on MI6 from a news broadcast. M after a long day at office returns home to find Bond at her home. Bond and M have a conversation, after which Bond is reassigned to work with MI6. Bond then arrives at the new make shift MI6 HQ, which was an underground barrack used by Churchill in WW. Mallory insists that Bond should first pass the regular tests to prove his fitness level. During one of the tests bond realizes that the shoulder injury he received from his fall from the train is excessive. He cuts the wound to remove some shrapnel’s and sends it for some tests. Bond in a meeting with M and Mallory is informed that he has passed the tests and is given the assignment to find about the latest mystery clouding MI6. Bond is informed that the same assassin who attacked Bond earlier is in Shanghai. Bond then meets the new Quartermaster – this is scene where James Bond as a character meets ‘Q’ for the first time. Q hands him his gadgets or toys as he calls them as usual. This time there are only 2 – a radio transmitter and a gun which only Bond can fire as it has been configured to his palm prints.

Bond leaves for Shanghai and tracks the assassin down. The assassin during one of his mission kills a man before involving in a scuffle with Bond. The assassin is killed by fall from the building before Bond gets to know who his employer was. Bond finds 2 things here – a chip from a Casino and observes a girl at the place where the target was assassinated. Bond goes to the Casino, with Eve present there. He cashes the chip only to run into the girl he saw earlier. He tries to befriend her – to learn her name is Severine. She warns Bond, that the only way to get her is to kill her employer and she would wait for him at her boat. Bond begins to leave but is attacked by the goons, whom he over powers together with Eve. Severine and Bond reach an island – their target destination, however are captured. Meanwhile M receives a message stating some MI6 agent’s secret identity will be revealed. The assassination videos of those agents are then released worldwide. Severine and Bond are taken to different locations. Here Bond meets the main antagonist – Raoul Silva. Bond learns that Silva was a former MI6 agent who went rogue and is responsible for all the recent attacks on MI6. Silva informs Bond that he (Bond) had failed all the tests, to be only passed by M overruling all the decisions. He then takes Bond for a test to showcase his skills. The target is Severine. Bond fails to hit the glass on her head; Silva does hit the target and also kills Severine. Silva begins to celebrate only to show Bond how incompetent he is. Bond seizes the opportunity to kill all of Silva’s men and mentioning to Silva that he has activated a Radio transponder. The military arrive and arrest Silva. It is revealed here that Bond failed the test on purpose to thrown Silva off guard as he had previously hacked MI6 and had all the access to MI6 computers. Silva is taken to London, all are happy to learn that the man behind the attack is captured. During his meeting with M, Silva reveals how M betrayed him for 6 other agents when he was the best. He tried to kill himself by using cyanide, only which did not kill him, but left him with scars on his face. Q tries to check what was in Silva’s computer. He connects the computer to the network only to learn that this was all part of Silva’s plan. Silva had bettered the technology created by Q and by connecting the computer to MI6 network he has killed the security system of MI6. His capture and coming to London was all part of Silva’s plan. Silva escapes using an underground and reaches a tube station. His men waiting there help him with a uniform. Q tries to track Silva, with Bond chasing him. Q finds that Silva has disguised as a Police officer. Bond chases Silva who throws him off the track with the bomb causing a local tube train to crash and Bond escaping before being hit.

Meanwhile M is facing an enquiry by the British Government involving the recent attacks on MI6 and her handling of the situation. Silva is on his way to kill her and reaches the building. A fight starts between Silva’s men and MI6. Mallory and Eve rescue all the government officials. Mallory is shot in the arm. Bond causes Silva and his men to retreat. Bond takes M away. He switches his car from M’s Jaguar to his classic Aston Martin (This was one of my favorite part of the movie and perfect tribute to the first Bond Movie as it was the same car used 50 years ago). Bond takes M to SKYFALL, his childhood home. Here he meets the game keeper. Silva’s men are all killed by Bond, M and the game keeper. Silva arrives in his chopper with more men. Bond sends M and the game keeper away from the house using the secret tunnel in the house that leads to the chapel. Silva drops some grenades in to the house. Bond then uses an existing Cylinder and a dynamite to bring down Silva’s chopper. He uses the tunnel to escape. Meanwhile, Silva notes a torch light far away to learn that M has escaped. He decides to follow them, but waits for Bond mid-way. He confronts Bond with his only man left on a frozen lake. Bond takes them off, by shooting the ice and killing Silva’s last man. Silva meanwhile makes his way to the chapel and forces his gun into M's hand where he begs her to kill them both. Bond reaches in time to kill Silva with a Knife only to learn that M has been wounded mortally. M dies in Bonds arm leaving behind an emotional Bond. Bond comes back to London, where Eve meets him on a roof top and hands him a statue of Bull dog that M left for him. They both formally introduce themselves. Eve introduces herself as Eve Money Penny and she is taking a desk job reiterating Bond’s earlier remarks that field duty is not meant for all. Bond reports for duty at MI6 with Mallory as the new M and getting his next assignment. The stage is now all set for Dr. No and the James Bond that we know.