Despite its status as one of Daniel Craig’s most successfulJames Bondadventures, VFX artists noticed a mishandled VFX moment in the actor’s 2012 sequel that stood out among the spectacle.Craig first took on the role of 007 for 2006’sCasino Royale, a grittier, more grounded take on Ian Fleming’s gentleman spy that traded gadgets and technological schemes for a down-to-Earth, character-focused origin. Craig would reprise his role in four following sequels, concludinghis tenure as Bond in 2021’sNo Time to Die.
Despite the current acclaim for his performance, Craig’s James Bond casting was not greeted with unanimous acceptance. Craig was critiqued by both audiences and the press for not matching the typical physical appearance of 007, leading to front-page attacks from various newspapers upon his casting with disparaging titles, including “James Blonde” and “James Bland.” However,opinions soon changed afterCasino Royaledebuted, with appreciation only growing as each installment in his saga was released.
Skyfall Features A Glaring Continuity Error That Required A Quick Fix
There Is A Long-Standing Rumor Of A Filmmaking Oversight
Corridor CrewrevisitedSkyfallin the latest installment of their “VFX Artists React to Bad & Great CGi” series. They specifically delved into a rumor that Craig filmed a sequence donning a pair of gloves, despite the fact thatBond himself isn’t meant to be wearing anybecause of the weapon he was using. The team looked to the Shanghai sequence for any potential VFX shots hidden amid potential continuity errors. An excerpt of their discussion is below:
Wren:To clarify, what the whole thing is, there is this rumor that went around that Daniel Craig had these gloves that he really liked and he bought them on his day off. He convinced the director that he wanted to wear them in the scene, the director was like, “Yeah, sure, whatever.” They filmed the whole scene and then realized, “Wait…” But you’re using a glove, sotherefore by your own logic in the movie he shouldn’t be able to use that gun.But he uses it.
Paying close attention to shots where Bond is holding his gun, the crew looked for any potential scenes where the digital overlap for Craig’s bare hands is out of place. While they praised the handling of hiding Craig’s gloved hand with VFX in a highly-reflective environment, ultimately,behind-the-scenes footage confirmed that a CGI hand had been applied. Nevertheless, Wren was still left frustrated that, despite the effort to address past continuity, shots of the hand still made it into the movie’s final cut, explaining:
Wren:This is so dumb, I hate everything about this. It’s looking like maybe they did replace place his hands throughout this shot. I take issue with them not going all the way, the end of the sequence, when he grabs the dude’s hand and they still have the continuity error! That’s what I don’t like about this! What’s the point of putting in that effort?! That is something they can do as a pickup with any other two random actors, it doesn’t have to be your principal actor.
Our Take On The Skyfall VFX Mistake
It Doesn’t Diminish The Movie’s Strength
Despite Wren’s continuity gripes,Skyfallstill stands as one of the most noteworthy entriesinCraig’s James Bond tenure. The film holds several memorable sequences that show the franchise at its finest, from its opening train chase to the cat-and-mouse game throughout the London Underground.Skyfallbalances the Craig era’s grounded approach with the spectacle the franchise was known for. As such, itis a crowd-pleasing feature that has something for everyone.
11 Reasons Skyfall Is The Best James Bond Movie Of All Time
Skyfall is arguably the best movie in the James Bond franchise, and there are plenty of aspects to the film that support that argument.
Furthermore,Skyfallis also a personal story within Bond’s arcas he reckons with a dark mirror to himself: Silva (Javier Bardem), who has dedicated himself tobringing down M (Judi Dench). While later installments would retroactively incorporate Silva’s plot into a greater narrative, the feature’s focus on character still allows the sequel to stand alone. As such, despite any brief VFX and continuity blunders,Skyfallremains as a must-see for those wishing to get a glimpse of theJames Bondfranchise at its finest.
It also didn’t change positive reviews forSkyfallpraising its character development and espionage action, alongside the film’s impressive $1.109 billion box office against a $150-200 million budget.
While it can be frustrating when looking at the smaller details of particular scenes to see VFX being applied to Craig’s hands, it ultimately doesn’t take away from the narrative power of the story. It also didn’t changepositive reviews forSkyfallpraising its character development and espionage action, alongside the film’s impressive $1.109 billion box office against a $150-200 million budget.The film is still a huge highlight for the spy series as a whole, with small issues like the digital hand changes being only minor errors in the grand scope of the movie.
The Film Made A Huge Impact On The Franchise
The legacy ofSkyfallhas been a double-edged sword for the spy franchise, withcritical reception forSpectreandNo Time to Dienot reaching the heights of the 2012 entry. The movie’sdangerousJames Bondvillaincoupled with high-octane action sequences more than makes up for its filming mistake, even though Corridor Crew managed to uncover the truth behind the rumored error. Everything from the movie’s classicBondopening credits sceneto the climactic finale makes up for the mistake, while also setting a high bar of quality for the franchise it hasn’t quite reached since then.
As of writing, there have been 25James Bondmovies produced by Eon Productions.
It’s unclear how the franchise will move on from the Craig era, with recentupdates onBond 26indicating stalled production under Amazon’s stewardship. Even with some filming goofs like the gloves having to be edited out, it seemsthe era ofSkyfallis going to be well-regarded as one of the best stretches ofJames Bondthroughout the franchise’s history. Although the observation about his gloves points toward a small mistake in the film, there’s still plenty about it that makes it an important hallmark of the series larger legacy.
Skyfall
Cast
Skyfall is the twenty-third James Bond film, featuring Daniel Craig as 007. Released in 2012, the film follows Bond as he investigates an attack on MI6, guided by M, portrayed by Judi Dench, while contending with internal pressures and a new authority figure, Gareth Mallory, played by Ralph Fiennes.
