I'm just back from SKYFALL, Do you agree Bardem was a classic villain?

2

Comments

  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139

    It amazes me that one little change with the GB causes so much stir.

    When I first heard about this, I obviously hadn't seen the movie and I was livid but after seeing the movie, the opening made me forget all about the gb and to be honest, having it at the end for this movie makes sense and made more sense than it did in QoS.

    Anyway, Silva is as weird as Scaramanga & Blofeld in the novels.

    Wholly agree with this.



  • The night before I went to see SF I watched NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN...I thought Bardems performance in SF was just as extraordinary. A superb performance and definately one of my favourite villains...
  • I couldn't stand Silva. He just seemed to be a hairdresser having a bad day.

    The best bond villians were "likeable" and "clever". Going around London/Scotland trying to put a bullet in M and shooting everyone else in sight was just thuggish.

    Shooting severine?? Why??


    Maybe dying his hair blonde didn't help either. Silva's entrance just made me want to burst out laughing, not in a good way.
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    edited October 2012 Posts: 11,139
    @RyanKint, I don't agree with your assessment and I think you could do with a second viewing, this time paying closer attention; particularly after Silva unties Bond from the chair.
  • Posts: 12,506
    RyanKint wrote:
    I couldn't stand Silva. He just seemed to be a hairdresser having a bad day.

    The best bond villians were "likeable" and "clever". Going around London/Scotland trying to put a bullet in M and shooting everyone else in sight was just thuggish.

    Shooting severine?? Why??


    Maybe dying his hair blonde didn't help either. Silva's entrance just made me want to burst out laughing, not in a good way.

    You may well be in the minority here my friend? I thought Bardem was superb and alot of other people did too. However? I accept that some will not like his take on a Bond villain.
  • Posts: 84
    Ryan, for Bardem to deliver that monologue as he walked towards Bond was artistically brilliant....

    Why did he shoot Severine.... Because he's a nutter with no compassion? She had outlived her usefulness to him? She had shown weakness towards Bond when he's a threat to Silva? Maybe all three? And more!

  • I liked him, he was entertaining but the way I look at it, he's introduced, he gets caught, he escapes and tries to kill M, then the final showdown. He doesn't actually do a lot or really have much to do in the film. Its all wig and teeth. I think Bardem did it just to finally stop Craig from cornering him at Hollywood parties. I wonder who he'll nab next?
  • Silva was wonderful. Loved his theatrical nature amides his dark, tortured soul. Up there along side Sanchez.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    I liked him, he was entertaining but the way I look at it, he's introduced, he gets caught, he escapes and tries to kill M, then the final showdown. He doesn't actually do a lot or really have much to do in the film.

    Much as I loved Javier its difficult to really argue with that assessment. I've only seen itonce and really need to see it again but I'm strating to think the plot was little bit simplistic.
  • Posts: 11,189
    He was very good indeed but not sure if he 'stole' the film. Craig's line about it 'not being his first time' when they meet in that warehouse got big laughs in both screenings I've attended.

    I do love his entrance and the way it's filmed.
  • zb007zb007 UK
    Posts: 85
    [quote="DOUBLEONOEL"Its all wig and teeth.[/quote]

    When he took his teeth out i thought that was really freaky :-&
  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,418
    I'm just back from SKYFALL, Do you agree Bardem was a classic villain?

    Yes. Considerably.

    His introduction was pure Fleming.
  • edited October 2012 Posts: 172
    After Sanchez and Zorin (My personal favourites) I thought Mr. Bardem ranked very highly. He had Charisma and humour. Great to see the audience for the film was a good mix of youth and classic fans like me (I'm 36) and their were lots of laughs at The Grants VUE in Croydon.

    Bardem did a fine job with what he got and I actually see a resemblence of him between Columbo & Apostis both from FYEO. not saying he is exactly the same look as them two but close.

    For Bond 24 villain I would like to see British actor Gareth Marks as a contender. He was brilliant as the villain Jean Daniel in BBC series BUGS 1996-1998.


  • JamesCraigJamesCraig Ancient Rome
    Posts: 3,497
    Does anyone agree that Bardem has something "dangerous" about him no matter what part he plays?

    Not saying that he's not versatile, but still... And I can easily see that ladies like him.
  • JamesCraigJamesCraig Ancient Rome
    edited October 2012 Posts: 3,497
    I liked him, he was entertaining but the way I look at it, he's introduced, he gets caught, he escapes and tries to kill M, then the final showdown. He doesn't actually do a lot or really have much to do in the film.

    Much as I loved Javier its difficult to really argue with that assessment. I've only seen itonce and really need to see it again but I'm strating to think the plot was little bit simplistic.

    Simplistic? Maybe. But if it was a bit more complicated, it would've been "oh noes, I kant understand dis movie. Bond should be liek cool action heroes."

    Many good Bonds have simple stories, like Dr No.
  • zb007 wrote:
    [quote="DOUBLEONOEL"Its all wig and teeth.

    When he took his teeth out i thought that was really freaky :-& [/quote]

    I had no idea what was going on when he did that, it was quite revolting. And I was waiting for him to do it again at the end of the film. A friend of mine who saw that bit said that many people in the cinema started saying 'Jaws' thinking it was him.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    I love Silva's character. This guy has a simple story to tell: revenge. In a way it's the first time a Bond villain is basically all about revenge: clean and pure. One might argue that SPECTRE was into some form of revenge with FRWL, but that was just a secondary thing for them. Trevelyan was all about revenge but the idea got pushed aside by his control over the goldeneye satellite and his bank theft. Elektra wanted something that could also be called revenge but with a pinch of salt. Even Moon had political revenge of some sort on his mind, but hardly worth the term. So, Silva's the very first to just go for revenge and I love that. It's clean and simple, told in a pure and concise way.

    To be fair, I think Craig's gotten some interesting villains so far. LeChiffre's plot was brilliant but then also direct testimony to Fleming's creative writing. I like Greene as well, more of a real life baddie than some would like to admit but a scary little berserker with and axe if you think about it. :) And as for Silva, wow! His mannerism, crazy sense of humour and just his persistence! True: I can see elements stripped from past 24 baddies, but I'm liking his every scene. IMO, 3 for 3 in the villain department of the Craig era!
  • edited October 2012 Posts: 97
    [quote="DOUBLEONOEL I had no idea what was going on when he did that, it was quite revolting. And I was waiting for him to do it again at the end of the film. [/quote]

    So was I!
  • Posts: 8
    Yup - I thought Silva was an awesome villain. Loving the whole "siblings fighting for mothers approval" motif :)
  • He must have the best intro for a main baddie ever? I'm struggling to think of a better one.
    That one take shot of him approaching bond is excellent.
    The whole scene is just pure gold.
    Yep I'd go out on a limb and say he's my fave at the moment.
  • Hands down my favourite Bond villain dare I say it... ever.
    An ACTUAL villain compared to whatever Dominic Greene was supposed to be (on a side note, does anyone else agree that Greene's henchman Elvis was the most pointless character ever?)

    That introduction! The approach from the elevator right up to the screen talking about rats in one continuous shot. Absolute cinematic genius! Loved it.
  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,418
    DarthDimi wrote:
    I love Silva's character. This guy has a simple story to tell: revenge. In a way it's the first time a Bond villain is basically all about revenge: clean and pure. One might argue that SPECTRE was into some form of revenge with FRWL, but that was just a secondary thing for them. Trevelyan was all about revenge but the idea got pushed aside by his control over the goldeneye satellite and his bank theft. Elektra wanted something that could also be called revenge but with a pinch of salt. Even Moon had political revenge of some sort on his mind, but hardly worth the term. So, Silva's the very first to just go for revenge and I love that. It's clean and simple, told in a pure and concise way.

    To be fair, I think Craig's gotten some interesting villains so far. LeChiffre's plot was brilliant but then also direct testimony to Fleming's creative writing. I like Greene as well, more of a real life baddie than some would like to admit but a scary little berserker with and axe if you think about it. :) And as for Silva, wow! His mannerism, crazy sense of humour and just his persistence! True: I can see elements stripped from past 24 baddies, but I'm liking his every scene. IMO, 3 for 3 in the villain department of the Craig era!

    Here, here. Le Chiffre is a particular favorite of mine. I do like his opening line from CR;

    "I believe in a reasonable rate of returns". Plus one feels rather sorry for him, what with him being terrorised by Obanna and then shot.

    Despite being a original story, Silva's introduction reeked of Fleming.


  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    Gert Frobe's GF is still my favourite villain of all time.
  • JamesCraigJamesCraig Ancient Rome
    edited October 2012 Posts: 3,497
    Lechiffre fits CR perfectly. And he IS just a "simple" pawn.

    His bluffing + reaction when Bond re-appears at the table are two of my favorite scenes in CR. The latter, especially "that last hand", is even one of my top Bond moments.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    JamesCraig wrote:
    Lechiffre fits CR perfectly. And he IS just a "simple" pawn.

    His bluffing + reaction when Bond re-appears at the table are two of my favorite scenes in CR. The latter, especially "that last hand", is even one of my top Bond moments.

    To say nothing bad of Greene or Silva, it's important to remember that LeChiffre comes from a vastly different source, THE source by all means: Ian Fleming. In the writing of CR, they took from the novel what was useful and left other things out. Even then, LeChiffre is literary brilliance personified. That's how good Fleming really was, which begs the question when they will finally bring in the unused material of YOLT (a lot of the novel), TMWTGG (most of the novel) and MR (the entire novel).

  • Posts: 37
    He's certainly a memorable villain. I particularly enjoyed the way he made Bond feel uncomfortable when Bond was tied to the chair. Overall, I enjoyed his campness but I felt it was a little bit of a try-harded attempt to match the quirkiness of the Joker. Nothing wrong with that of course.
  • JamesCraigJamesCraig Ancient Rome
    Posts: 3,497
    Silva is not quirky imho.

  • Posts: 37
    JamesCraig wrote:
    Silva is not quirky imho.
    His camp demeanor didn't come off as quirky to you?
  • JamesCraigJamesCraig Ancient Rome
    Posts: 3,497
    No. Felt zero sympathy too.

    And they were trying to match the quirkiness of the Joker? I must've missed that.
  • Posts: 9
    Bardem was excellent and creepy, perfect Bond-villiain. Definitely a mix of Zorin, Trevelyan, a little bit of Jaws, and perhaps Batmans Joker, but most of al a complete new sort of villain for Bond. I honestly thought the entrance was perfectly acted, a little theatrical, but hey, this is Bond, so it has to be a little over the edge.

    I thought it was a pity that we did not saw a good fight between Bond and Silva in the end. That was one of the things I missed in Skyfall. We did not get the chance to see how well Bardem was in physical fights. Only a little bit.
Sign In or Register to comment.