James Bond Skyfall or No Country for the Dark Knight???

            Let me just get this out of the way now, I am an avid James Bond fan but I am not a bond fanatic and Christopher Nolan is the director I most want to idolize my career after; I also have a fond affinity for Leo’s in the film industry being one myself. Now with that being said on to the analysis.

Skyfall is an amazing film, definitely the best of the current series. It has the absolute modern take and feel of Bond while still paying homage to the films of yore while still blazing new trails. Sam Mendes, the director of Skyfall, did not want to direct the film at first; but changed his mind after seeing what Christopher Nolan did with Batman’s character in the Dark Knight films. Mendes said, “In terms of what [Nolan] achieved, specifically ‘The Dark Knight,’ the second movie, what it achieved, which is something exceptional. It was a game changer for everybody…”

Knowing what Mendes had said I was definitely expecting a darker tone for the franchise but what I saw actually surprised me. I saw similarities in the film that automatically harkened me back to when I was sitting in the theater watching the Dark Knight for the first time. Such things as the fact that the villain was close to James Bond and had a personal connection with him through a mutual friend and someone he is sought to protect as in the Dark Knight Rises akin to Miranda Tate’s character. Another interesting part was how it connected real life fears and issues such as post 9/11 changes and regulations, as well as the debt and financial crisis and brought those issues into the film. The Dark Knight showed how the well to were just lining their pockets while giving so little to the poor and thinking it can go on like this forever, and in Skyfall , Bond’s director “M” was in front the  Prime Ministers Committee for acts of her department actually fueling terrorist acts against it’s agents. Mendes states that “We’re now in an industry where movies are very small or very big and there’s almost nothing in the middle and what Nolan proved was that you can make a huge movie that is thrilling and entertaining and has a lot to say about the world we live in. It felt like a movie that was about our world post-9/11, and played on our fears, and discussed our fears and why they existed and I thought that was incredibly brave and interesting.”  There were a couple other things I noticed and realized that are summed up very well online, here’s a link to the article I found: http://lnk.nu/ropeofsilicon.com/28p4/.

Now I’m not here pointing this out stating that Sam Mendes stole Chris Nolan’s work just that there is a formula that I noticed between the two films and it’s a formula that seems to work because Skyfall had the biggest Bond opening weekend ever with $88 million. Both directors are Leo’s and have very impressive resumes and have command in Hollywood despite having few films to each other their credits. I feel it speaks to their creativity and great minds think alike right? I just hope that my mind can be half as great as theirs, you know being a Leo and all…

Here is another great link to look at for more insight: http://lnk.nu/gawker.com/28p5