Skyfall

Skyfall
Directed by	Sam Mendes
Produced by	Michael G. Wilson Barbara Broccoli
Starring	Daniel Craig Javier Bardem Ralph Fiennes Naomie Harris Bérénice Marlohe Albert Finney Judi Dench
Music by	Thomas Newman
Cinematography	Roger Deakins
Editing by	Stuart Baird Kate Baird
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Columbia Pictures
Release	26 October 2012
Running time	143 minutes
Country	United States United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$150–200 million
Gross revenue	$1,108,561,013
Preceded by	Quantum of Solace
Followed by	Spectre

Skyfall is the twenty-third James Bond film produced by Eon Productions. It was distributed by MGM and Sony Pictures Entertainment. It features Daniel Craig in his third performance as James Bond, and Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the film's antagonist. The film was directed by Sam Mendes and written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan.

The film centres on Bond investigating an attack on MI6; the attack is part of a plot by former MI6 operative Raoul Silva to humiliate, discredit and kill M as revenge against her for betraying him. The film sees the return of two recurring characters to the series after an absence of two films: Q, played by Ben Whishaw, and Eve Moneypenny, played by Naomie Harris. Skyfall is the last film of the series for Judi Dench, who played M, a role that she had played in the previous six films. The position is subsequently filled by Ralph Fiennes' character, Gareth Mallory.

Plot

MI6 agents James Bond (007) and Eve assist on a mission in Turkey in which an MI6 operative has been killed and a Solid State drive stolen. The drive contained details of all NATO agents operating undercover in terrorist organisations. Bond and Eve chase the assailant, the French mercenary Patrice, and attempt to recover the disk. During the chase, Bond is shot in the shoulder, but continues his pursuit, until he is shot from a train by Eve, who misjudged her shot as it was meant to hit Patrice. He is posted as "missing, presumed killed".

Five of the agents' names are released onto the Internet, with the promise of more the next week and the head of MI6, M, comes under political pressure to retire during a meeting with the Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, Gareth Mallory. On her return from the meeting, MI6 is hacked and an explosion occurs in the offices, killing a number of MI6 employees. On hearing the news of the attack, Bond returns to London. The shrapnel taken from his shoulder wound points to Patrice and Bond is sent to Shanghai, where it is known the mercenary will shortly arrive.

Bond finds and follows the Frenchman and witnesses him undertake an assassination, at which Bond also sees Sévérine. The two men fight and Patrice falls to his death before Bond can find out who his employer was. Searching the assassin's equipment Bond finds a gambling chip, which leads him to a casino, where he is paid €4 million for the kill. Sévérine warns Bond that he is about to be killed, but promises to help him if he will kill her employer. Bond beats his attackers—with help from Eve —and joins Sévérine on her boat. They travel to an island, but are taken prisoner by the crew and delivered to Sévérine's employer, Raoul Silva. Silva had previously worked with M and blamed her for his capture, torture and imprisonment by the Chinese. Silva kills Sévérine, but Bond overpowers his guards and captures Silva for return to the UK.

Back in the MI6 headquarters, Q attempts to decrypt Silva's laptop, but instead of accessing the computer successfully, the computer has been programmed to access the MI6 computer system and release Silva, enabling him to escape into the London Underground tunnel system. Pursued by Bond, Silva adopts the disguise of a policeman and attacks M during a public inquiry into her handling of the stolen hard drive. Bond arrives to join Mallory and Eve in fighting off Silva's attack, and M is hurried from the building by her aide, Bill Tanner. Bond drives M away from the scene in her car and, after exchanging it for his own Aston Martin DB5, drives her to his empty and remote childhood home in Scotland, Skyfall Lodge. He instructs Q to leave an electronic trail for Silva to follow, a decision supported by Mallory.

At Skyfall, Bond and M are met by Kincade, the gamekeeper to the Bond family estate. Bond tells them that Silva will attack the place with his henchmen. The trio are only lightly armed, but improvise a series of booby traps. When Silva arrives, Bond, M and Kincade fight off the first assault, although M is wounded in the process. Silva arrives by helicopter with a second wave and Bond sends M and Kincade off through a tunnel at the back of a priest hole to a chapel on the grounds. The second assault consists of firepower from the helicopter, with Silva throwing incendiary grenades into the building. Bond detonates a stick of dynamite with two gas canisters and retreats down the same tunnel as M and Kincade. The resulting blast causes the helicopter to crash, killing a number of Silva's men. Silva sees Kincade's torch beam and follow it. As they arrive at a frozen lake, Bond attacks Silva's sole remaining follower and the two fall through the ice, where Bond kills him. In the meantime Silva makes his way to the chapel and forces his gun into M's hand where he begs her to kill them both. Bond arrives and kills Silva, but M succumbs to her earlier wounds. Her position as head of MI6 is taken by Mallory, while Eve decides not to become a field agent, and reveals she will become M's secretary while revealing to Bond that her surname is Moneypenny.

Cast

James Bond
(Daniel Craig)

M
(Judi Dench)

Miss Moneypenny
(Naomie Harris)

Q
(Ben Whishaw)

Raoul Silva
(Javier Bardem)

Sévérine
(Berenice Marlohe)

Gareth Mallory
(Ralph Fiennes)

Patrice
(Ola Rapace)

Bill Tanner
(Rory Kinnear)

Kincade
(Albert Finney)

Clair Dowar
(Helen McCrory)

Doctor Hall
(Nicholas Woodeson)

• Daniel Craig as James Bond, agent 007.
• Judi Dench as M, the head of MI6 and Bond's superior.
• Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva (born Tiago Rodriguez), an ex-MI6 operative-turned-cyberterrorist.
• Ralph Fiennes as Gareth Mallory, Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, who assumes the role of M at the end of the film.
• Naomie Harris as Eve Moneypenny (who remains unnamed until the end of the film), an MI6 field agent.
• Bérénice Marlohe as Sévérine, Raoul Silva's associate.
• Albert Finney as Kincade, the gamekeeper of the Skyfall estate.
• Ben Whishaw as Q, the MI6 quartermaster
• Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner, the MI6 Chief of Staff.
• Ola Rapace as Patrice, a mercenary.

External links

• Skyfall at the Internet Movie Database

Javier Bardem films

Skyfall (2012)  ·

Ben Whishaw films

Skyfall (2012)  · Spectre (2015)