The James Bond movie Roger Ebert loved: “Triumphantly reinvents 007”
There’s an old saying – “They don’t build statues of critics”. However, if you head to the Virginia Theatre in Champaign, Illinois, you’ll find a very fetching statue of the great Roger Ebert.
Long-time reviewer-in-residence at the Chicago Sun-Times and co-host of At the Movies with Gene Siskel, Ebert revolutionised film criticism by making it more accessible. He believed that discussions and analysis weren’t just for those with film degrees. They should be for everyone. His welcoming wit and acid tongue kept him at the top of his game for decades, and he is still widely regarded as one of (if not the) greatest critics of all time.
Being a champion of the ‘common man’, Ebert cast judgment on all the big blockbusters of his day. He got his start in 1967, meaning that he was around pretty close to the start of one of the biggest franchises in cinema history – James Bond. As you would expect with a series that changes constantly, Ebert’s opinion on 007 varied wildly over the years.
He was a fan of Pierce Brosnan’s take on the superspy, never giving any of his outings below a three (Ebert rated things out of four and used half-stars, just go with it). He liked Goldfinger, giving it a space on his fabled ‘Great Movies’ list, and he absolutely detested Quantum of Solace. When it came to that film’s sequel, however, the thumbs-up-giver couldn’t get enough.
Ebert titled his review of Skyfall ‘The best Bond in years’ and wasted no time explaining why he was such a big fan. “Skyfall triumphantly reinvents 007 in one of the best Bonds ever,” he wrote. “This is a full-blooded, joyous, intelligent celebration of a beloved cultural icon.” He went on to praise the movie’s opening scene, which broke from the traditional Bond intro, as well as the performances of Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, and Javier Bardem. He urged viewers who hadn’t seen a Bond film in a while to rejoin the series here and finished off by saying that this half-century anniversary celebration had put the titular hero “back on his feet and ready for another 50 years.”
Skyfall pits Craig’s Bond against the mysterious Raoul Silva, a former intelligence agent with a vendetta against his old boss M. With Sam Mendes at the helm (which could have ended up either fucking way), the movie explored various elements of the franchise that had previously been untouched. Bond returns to his childhood, his personal relationship with M is tested like never before, and there’s even a moment that hints that this icon of hypermasculinity might actually be queer.
The movie received praise across the board, with many critics sharing Ebert’s opinions. It became the first Bond movie to gross over one billion dollars worldwide and is still the highest-grossing film in the series, even when adjusted for inflation.
On a bittersweet note, Skyfall would be the final Bond movie released during Ebert’s lifetime, leaving his lasting impression of Bond as one that, on the whole, disappointed him. In a way, it’s quite fitting that, after decades of following the series, he got to witness what many believed to be its pinnacle. A fitting farewell for one of cinema’s greatest goddamn champions.
