As was promised with the unveiling of last week’s teaser poster for Skyfall, an actual trailer for the third movie featuring Daniel Craig as iconic secret agent 007 (in the 23rd James Bond film) is now online.
It turns out the first official theatrical promo for Skyfall is indeed the same cryptic teaser that screened at CinemaCon last month (at the time of writing this) – and the key words here really are “cryptic” and “teaser.”
The last time Craig graced the big screen as Bond, it was in 2008 with Quantum of Solace. Although that film is not considered the worst in the series, it also left many a longtime 007 fan grumbling; the effects of the writers strike – and director Marc Forster’s inexperience with staging action set pieces – were readily apparent in the final product (something even Craig has admitted). It did not help that Solace picks up immediately after the conclusion to the beloved franchise rejuvenator, Casino Royale – welcoming even more (unflattering) comparisons between Craig’s first and second turns as Bond.
Skyfall has the benefit of a smoother production schedule, a cast that includes acting heavyweights like Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes – and a director in Oscar-winner Sam Mendes, who, if nothing else, appears to have a strong grasp on the proper scale of the action required for a good Bond flick.
The teaser trailer features glimpses of the numerous scenic locales visited by Bond throughout the course of Skyfall‘s running time (Shanghai, Istanbul, London) – interspersed with footage of 007 playing an enigmatic word association game, with Fiennes’ mystery character and 007’s boss M (Dame Judi Dench) watching the unusual “interrogation” from afar. As mentioned before: it’s an overall cryptic tease of events to come, but also one that effectively alludes to the darker (and more personal) nature of Bond’s new mission – wherein his loyalties are put to the test, as he confronts a threat from M’s past.
Based on this early Skyfall footage, Mendes and his production team appear to have crafted one of the most picturesque Bond films ever. [Insert joke about Daniel Craig, Naomie Harris and/or Bérénice Marlohe here.] Hopefully, the actual movie will boast the same sophisticated visual style and atmosphere as that featured here – providing good reason for Craig’s term as Bond to continue for several more years.
Skyfall will open in theaters around Europe a couple weeks prior to its U.S. launch date on November 9th, 2012.
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