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| "Ah, Britannia, never change...or should you?" |
This shouldn't be news, but the Bond franchise has been doing reboots right for 50 years. The travesty is that most movie studios don't adhere to their basic "monkey see, monkey-do" nature and follow the lead of one of the most successful film franchises in history. With billions in box office receipts, the Bond franchise is clearly doing something right in maintaining its franchise. Meanwhile, the studios, particularly those in charge of comic properties like Spider-Man and Superman, are rebooting franchises to diminishing returns (adjusted for inflation, yes, but still diminishing).
With Skyfall, the Bond franchise nearly perfects the soft reboot. Rather than reinventing the wheel from scratch and tossing it at audiences, Skyfall organically, thoughtfully introduces a new era to the Bond franchise while honoring the staid legacy of the series. Without revealing too much, the denouement of Skyfall reinvigorates Bond's supporting cast and gives the Crown's top agent renewed focus as he darts forth into an age of espionage that is far muddier than it has ever been. Skyfall effectively and ably does for the Bond franchise what Amazing Spider-Man and Superman Returns should have done for their respective franchises. It makes the old new again without sacrificing the craft in its storytelling, much of which is due to Sam Mendes' able direction and a plot that is, thankfully, less byzantine than Quantum of Solace.
Interestingly, Skyfall apes the structure of the sequel to one of the most successful reboots in years, Nolan's The Dark Knight--confirmed explicitly by director Sam Mendes--to create an entry that is highly effective as a point of entry for new and old audiences alike. Skyfall succeeds as much because of its easy-to-follow plot as the amazing villian at its core. Bond 23 is built around Javier Bardem's Silva, who is every inch the anti-Bond, and his vendetta against M, a point that was broached with 006 in Goldeneye. Silva is effete and desperately opposed to physical activity, yet he is cunning and seemingly ten steps ahead of Bond, M (the ever reliable Judi Dench), the audience, and much like Heath Ledger's Joker, the plot. Just as the Joker was a walking plot monkey wrench that sent the franchise into the stratosphere, Silva is one of the key draws in an entry that has already broke box office records around the world by sticking to the basics, both in terms of story and mythos, and easing the audience into transition rather than foisting it upon them.
Transition is a cornerstone of the Bond franchise, and it is one that has been ably managed by the Broccoli family to mostly positive effect. To date there have been six actors to play the role, and rarely, if ever, has the revolving casting door ever prevented the audience from connecting with the character. Sure, there's some occasional grumbling from the outliers when anybody who isn't Sean Connery takes the role--especially poor Daniel Craig, who was apparently too thuggish and blond to receive 00 status--but generally most of the audience rolls with the punch and accepts the Bond of the moment. Contrast the generally positive public response to the changing face of Bond with the outcry from critics and fans about the new Spider-Man/Peter Parker, Andrew Garfield. Many critics felt he was too smarky and harsh to embody Peter Parker's earnest everyman qualities, while others were convinced his aggressive geekiness would sink the franchise. It didn't, but the fact that Sony made kind of a big deal about a new Spider-Man may have had a lot to do with those responses. Conversely, nobody is complaining about the Bond franchise being derailed after Daniel Craig took the mantle. In fact, most have applauded the change in direction. It is a testament to the Bond series, and its producers, willingness to move forward without making a ridiculous amount of hubub. Instead, the Broccolis keep calm and carry on, as does the series. As a result, the James Bond of Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and Skyfall is your father's Bond, yet he is not, and few moviegoers have a problem with it.
SPOILER ALERT
Skyfall capitalizes on this ever-forward movement by installing new faces in old roles with amazing finese. Most folks know that there is a new Q this time around, but Mendes manages to introduce a new M and Moneypenny, not to mention an arch-villian, in a way that personally and profoundly connects them to Bond and the mythology of the series. Essentially, Skyfall becomes an origin story, albeit the origin of an era rather than a character, plopped right into the middle of a franchise. What's inherently brilliant about this new origin story is that it was unadvertised. There are faint clues that most smart viewers will pick up on early, but truthfully, there is very little made of the transition. It happens, and we are invested because we experience the transition rather than being told to simply accept the new status quo. There's also a reverence in Skyfall that acknowledges the past as it transitions to the future, complete with pretty on-the-nose nods like the return of the DB5 Aston Martin and a pit of komodo dragons. Yet, Mendes does not harp on this reverence the way Bryan Singer did in the undeservedly assailed Superman Returns. By nodding to continuity but not making it critical to the storytelling, Mendes embraces the loose approach to continuity that has defined the series but without making the narrative a slave to continuity.
This is a lesson that movie studios that deal with comic properties and long-running franchises are learning the hard way: respect history, but don't be enslaved by it. The other half of the lesson--the part the studios aren't quite grasping--is that reboots, or transitional entries, needn't exist outside of narrative. In fact, organically integrating soft reboots, as opposed to hard reboots that radically reorient a series, into a strong narrative, which it goes without saying should be paramount, can help ease audiences into a transition and garner a greater appreciation for the changes. With franchise filmmaking becoming Hollywood's primary focus these days, it is imperative that they become as good at executing reboots as possible, and the best way to do that is to incorporate reboots into transitional narratives that can stand independently as solid works of art while moving the mythology of a franchise forward.
Ideally, Hollywood would abandon franchise moviemaking and focus on creating original stories that move us. However, with the landscape resting under a cloud of rationalized fear, there is little chance Hollywood will wholeheartedly embrace a return to making tentpoles and potential blockbusters based on wholly original ideas anytime in the very near future. That said, it may be best to brace for the continued onslaught of reboots and franchise watering that is bound to greet us at our local cinemas by encouraging the studios to be a bit more thoughtful and artful when introducing these glorified cash grabs. Hopefully, the assured success of Skyfall will show Hollywood that it is possible to reboot without rehashing and alienating audiences, all while crafting a solid, engaging narrative that spins a good yarn while pushing a mythology ever towards the breach.
