Skyfall Movie (2012): Cast, Plot, Locations and Ending

The setup of Skyfall (2012) is that James Bond is shot during a chase in Istanbul, falls into a river and is presumed dead while MI6 and M come under attack. Directed by Sam Mendes, the film opens with Bond and a fellow agent named Eve chasing a mercenary called Patrice, who has stolen a hard drive listing undercover agents. The chase ends in a fight on a moving train, where M orders Eve to take a shot she cannot make cleanly, and Eve hits Bond.

Months later, MI6 headquarters is attacked and M is under pressure to retire. Bond, who had been in hiding, returns to service. That is the whole setup, and it is a sharp one: the hero starts the story officially dead, and the woman who sends him back into the field is the one being pushed out of her job.

The film is the 23rd entry in the official EON series and sits between Quantum of Solace and Spectre. It also arrived in the year marking 50 years since Dr. No in 1962, so the anniversary gave the production a sense of occasion.

In the full plot of Skyfall, Bond returns from presumed death to find Raoul Silva, a former MI6 agent who is hunting M, and the story ends with Silva's death and M's death at Bond's childhood home, Skyfall. It follows one question from the Turkish river to a burning house in the Scottish Highlands: who is coming for M?

After Bond is shot during the train fight in Turkey, Patrice escapes with the stolen list of undercover agents. Back in London, M faces an inquiry led by Gareth Mallory, who wants her to step down. A hacker then blows up part of the MI6 building, and Bond returns even though he fails his fitness tests. M sends him to find Patrice and the person who hired him.

The trail runs through Shanghai and Macau, where Bond meets Séverine, who takes him to a remote island. There Silva, a cyberterrorist who blames M for abandoning him, has Séverine killed. Bond captures him and brings him to London, but Silva escapes on purpose, because his real aim is to kill M, and Bond stops an attack on the inquiry.

Bond takes M to Skyfall, his childhood home in Scotland, and they set traps with the gamekeeper Kincade. Silva's men attack, and the house is destroyed. M is badly wounded in the fight. Silva follows them to a nearby chapel, and Bond kills him with a thrown knife. M dies in Bond's arms.

Skyfall had its UK premiere on 23 October 2012 at the Royal Albert Hall in London (also its world premiere), opened in UK theaters on 26 October 2012 (confirmed), and had its US release on 9 November 2012 (reported). The Australian release followed on 22 November 2012 (reported).

The London event was attended by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, and it benefited charities for serving and former members of the intelligence services. That charity link suits a franchise built around a fictional secret service.

The film is rated PG-13 in the US, 12A in the UK and M in Australia. It runs 143 minutes, so if you are planning an evening around it, leave room for a long sit.

In the ending of Skyfall, Raoul Silva dies at the chapel, M dies of her wounds, and MI6 is rebuilt around Gareth Mallory as the new M, Eve at a desk and a Bond ready to work.

To break the finale into steps: Bond takes M to Skyfall, his childhood home in Scotland, and they set traps with Kincade. Silva's men attack, the house is destroyed, and M is badly wounded. Silva follows them to a nearby chapel, where Bond kills him with a thrown knife. M then dies in Bond's arms.

Why does it matter? Silva's aim all along was to kill M, and his attack left her fatally wounded even though he died at the chapel. The villain's plan, in other words, partly succeeds. It also answers the film's opening. In Istanbul, M orders Eve to take a shot she cannot make cleanly, and Bond falls into the river. The decision to sacrifice an agent is the same kind of decision Silva blames her for, since he says she abandoned him. The story closes the loop by putting M's life in Bond's hands at Skyfall, where he cannot save her.

The aftermath shows where the series goes next. After M's funeral, Eve says she is leaving fieldwork for a desk job as secretary to Mallory. Mallory takes over as the new M, and Bond says he is ready to get back to work, which sets up a more traditional Bond team going forward. That is a change from the previous entry, Quantum of Solace, and it is the setup Sam Mendes inherited when his return for Spectre, again with John Logan writing, was confirmed in July 2013.

The film also came out in the year marking 50 years since Dr. No in 1962, and Mallory's takeover, Eve's desk and Bond's return to work read as a reset for the franchise's next stretch.

My opinion: the destroyed house suits a 50th anniversary film, because it lets the series burn the past and keep the habits it likes. There is no post credit scene, so the ending is the final word.

Skyfall was filmed in London, Turkey and Scotland, with studio sets built at Pinewood Studios in England. Director Sam Mendes named London, China, Turkey and Scotland as the story's locations when the title was announced on 4 November 2011.

The filming locations break down as follows:

• London, England: city scenes and the Underground.
• Istanbul, Turkey: the opening chase.
• Scottish Highlands, Scotland: the finale.
• Pinewood Studios, England: studio sets.

The spread shapes the film's rhythm. The story opens in a busy Turkish city, moves through the institutional London of the inquiry, and ends in an open Scottish landscape. The story is set partly in Shanghai and Macau, though the four places above are the ones with sourced filming details.

Skyfall carries several production facts that sit outside the plot, starting with its title announcement on 4 November 2011. The film was released in the year marking 50 years since Dr. No (1962).

Production also had a rough patch. Work on the film was suspended in April 2010 because of uncertainty over MGM's future.

On the money side, Skyfall earned $304 million domestically and $806 million internationally, for about $1.11 billion worldwide against a $200 million budget. For a series comparison, see the James Bond box office page.