Movie Recommendation: Bond is Back in "Skyfall"

Photo Credit: Columbia Pictures

The third time is the charm for Daniel Craig as James Bond. Skyfall is terrific entertainment and is one of the best Bond films I have seen, not to mention a vast improvement over the previous installment, Quantum of Solace. Director Sam Mendes relies on familiar spy themes, including dangerous pursuits, gun play, exotic locales and a dastardly villain to construct a memorable film that fits perfectly into the Bond legacy.

Skyfall wastes no time getting to the action. The opening scene features Bond and Eve Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) pursuing Patrice, a rogue who has stolen a hard drive containing classified information on undercover MI6 agents, which could threaten national security. While Bond and Patrice fight atop a moving train, Eve is ordered to shoot and hits Bond by accident. He is presumed dead, but is actually thinking about retirement until a former MI6 agent, Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), puts a plan into motion that he hopes will take out his former superior, M (Judi Dench), who is feeling pressure to resign after Bond's untimely "death." M declares that she will stay in her position until the job is done, but soon faces terrible obstacles that Silva has put in her path. Regardless, M remains steadfast and clears Bond for duty once he returns home, even though he fails all of his mental and physical evaluations.

Bond's first objective is to find the hard drive, eliminate Patrice, then locate Raoul Silva and return him to M for interrogation. Along the way, Bond finds romance, as well as plenty of danger, but appears to be at his best, despite recent setbacks. Eventually, he is captured by Silva, who reveals his ghastly backstory and appears smitten with Bond. However, Silva has a goal in mind, so he allows himself to be captured and taken back to MI6 headquarters, where he once again faces M and then proceeds to unleash a grand revenge scheme that culminates at Bond's childhood home, Skyfall. Bond, M and Skyfall's caretaker, Kincade (Albert Finney), find themselves doing battle with Silva and his many minions in a memorable and life changing showdown.

While Daniel Craig is the star of the film and continues to deliver physically impressive work, Judi Dench receives a great deal of screen time and she makes the most of it, as you would expect. Dench delivers a terrific performance as the aging, but still quite capable leader of MI6 and if she must leave her job, it will be on her terms. Another key component to Skyfall is Javier Bardem's portrayal of Raoul Silva, who is surely one of the great (and macabre) Bond villains of all time. Bardem has a gift for playing villains, which appears to be so far removed from his calm and peaceful public persona. The supporting cast, including the aforementioned Naomie Harris and Albert Finney, as well as the always superb Ralph Fiennes, as Gareth Mallory, M's superior, and the perfectly cast Ben Whishaw, as Q, the computer genius, conspire to make this one of the finest ensembles ever assembled for a James Bond film.

The screenplay by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan is clever, exciting, creative and pays homage to Bond's creator, Ian Fleming. The music, cinematography and special effects are also outstanding. My only complaint is that Skyfall may have been a bit too long, which is the result of a couple of scenes, including the one featuring a stand-off between Bond and Silva on the island, which seemed to meander around. Otherwise, Skyfall is a memorable, action packed and extremely well acted film that has already become a worldwide hit since its debut several weeks ago. Bond is, indeed, back.