In the previous two weeks we’ve taken a look at the responses to our Skyfall survey from people who rated the film negatively and neutrally, and so this time round it’s the turn of those who rated it positively.
The large majority of respondents rated Skyfall positively by far, with 384 saying it was either good, or the best James Bond film ever; that is an astounding 85% of all people who responded. Once again I want to take a look at what specifically they liked and disliked about Skyfall, but given the size of this group of respondents the results should provide a statistically valid sample, unlike the two other groups.
Particularly liked
- Plot/story/script (105 mentions, 27%)
- Return of old characters (73 mentions, 19%)
- Daniel Craig (51 mentions, 13%)
- Action (50 mentions, 13%)
- Aston Martin DB5 (44 mentions, 11%)
- The villain (42 mentions, 11%)
- Cinematography (26 mentions, 7%)
Particularly disliked
- Gunbarrel at the end (26 mentions, 7%)
- Lack of Bond girls (14 mentions, 4%)
As you might expect there were far more positive comments from this group, with very little consensus about dislikes. What is curious to note is that the percentage of responses from this group that mentioned the plot as being a positive factor (27%) almost exactly matches the figure responses that mentioned the plot as being a negative factor from the group that rated Skyfall negatively.
Selected quotes (some spoilers)
- The good use of character-led plots and the re-introduction of Q and Moneypenny. Also liked the villain… but please bring the gun barrel back to the very beginning of the film in future films….and bring back David Arnold for the incidental music!
- The score isn’t fantastic and is detrimental to some scenes in my opinion.
- The script/humour is spot on. It is an excellent cast… all excellent. Love Thomas Newman’s music.
- The story is good, the action was intense and it was deeply emotional.
- The action and the good storyline made it enjoyable all the way through and the big unexpected bit at the end.
- I love Bond and M’s relationship. I was pretty surprised that they killed her off.
- The link made with old films like the old Aston Martin!
- The mix of the present and past, and the cinematography! I wish they hadn’t killed off the girl so quickly
- A bit too much gratuitous violence and deaths of innocent people. Fleming’s Bond has more conscience and takes more care than the screen version. The ugly torture and death of the woman who had helped Bond and who he had so recently bedded was a nasty jolt.
- For Bond to get to the villain through the woman in the casino was a stretch.
- Only concern was that Dench got killed off from what seemed to be a prequel to some of the entries, especially the last three she appeared in with Brosnan.
- I particularly liked the way they included a lot of the ‘early Bond’ things like the Aston Martin. Craig’s portrayal of Bond seemed this time the closest to the novels. Not sure what the filmakers were trying to do with the Moneypenny character.
- Silva’s death is dull, unimaginative and anti-climatic.
- Lack of depth of the characterizations.
- Keep it a bit more real. A tube crashing into a tunnel would kill even James Bond.
- Classic Bond, close to Fleming’s books. Happy to see a Moneypenny back. Not much about Severine, compared to the hype. Felt like some pieces of the story was incomplete or missing.
- Only slight criticism was that the tube train crash felt a bit tacked on… I don’t think it added much to the film overall.
- Wanted to see more of the Bond Girl that was tied to the stake, I wanted her to be rescued.
- Just put the gun barrel scene back to the beginning.
- Gun barrel opening should be at the front, and the Bond girl Severine wasn’t as prominent as past girls have been.
- While I understood where they were going with it (paying homage to the early bond movies), I found the guns and gadgets in Bond’s car out of date in this update.
- The gunbarrel at the end. It has some sense here (unlike what happened in QOS), but I’d expected it to be at the beginning, and I hope this tradition of “placing the barrel wherever I like” ends here.
- Saw too many preview clips on the internet. Kind of ruined the pre-credits sequence for me…!
- The pre-title sequence felt over edited, the gun barrel was cartoonish, and a couple of Silva’s moments felt like The Joker.
- Playing with a timeline always leads to errors.
- The soundtrack is weak!
- Great balancing act between Bond from the novels, the classic Connery era and the new rebooted Bond of the Craig’s films…Beautiful to look at. Almost so beautiful, it was distracting. Odd continuity regarding the Aston Martin DB5. Hate the palm print gun, it was misguided in LTK and it’s both misguided & wasted in Skyfall… Craig’s 007 seems oddly missing from this film.
Also see:
1. Skyfall survey: what Bond fans really think of the new 007 film
2. Skyfall survey: likes and dislikes of fans who rated Skyfall poorly
3. Skyfall survey: likes and dislikes of fans who rated Skyfall neutrally
