Skyfall, the most recent installment in the James Bond franchise, hit theaters last weekend with fewer kills, fewer martinis and fewer conquests than Daniel Craig’s previous performances — and with about forty extra minutes of screen time.
It might possibly be Craig’s best Bond film yet.
Directed by low-profile (and Academy Award-winning) Sam Mendes, Skyfall defied every expectation Bond fans held for the movie.
The over-the-top chase scenes from Casino Royale were largely absent.
The gritty violence so prevalent in both of Craig’s previous films was incredibly subdued.
And while the women were stunning, Bond seemed to be sleepwalking in each encounter with them, focused solely on what he describes as “that pathetic love of country.”
Quantum of Solace haters will see the change they sought in spades. The old school skeptics who cling to Sean Connery and deplore the casting of Mr. Craig should have a hard time finding fault with Skyfall.
It’s easy to figure out the movie’s premise from the trailer: Bond is killed early in the story… or so the audience is led to believe.
After rising from the grave, 007 is promptly called to quell a threat to the people of Her Majesty and the world: a mysterious madman who hacks national security firewalls with the same inexplicable eagerness audiences saw from Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight.
Speaking of Batman, critics will surely find it brings the quality film detail and raw character study that The Dark Knight Rises lacked.
Bond isn’t out for pride as he was in Casino Royale, nor for vengeance like in Quantum of Solace. This time around, Bond is out to protect the Crown and, most importantly, his boss/undeclared surrogate mother, M (Judy Dench).
Skyfall is a firestorm of fierce patriotism, as is every Bond movie.
Bond and M are undercut at every turn due to a political witch hunt spearheaded by the assistant to the Prime Minister, Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes).
To no one’s surprise, Oscar winner Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) easily steals the show.
His portrayal of a former MI6-operative-turned-blonde-maniac-who’s-out-for-blood, undermining British intelligence from his private island with the ruthless regard only a neglected genius can harbor, proves a worthy foe for Bond.
His bloody vendetta against M is seriously disturbing — if you can make it through the first hour of the movie, cursing its (comparably) tedious progress and wondering when the hell the villain will finally appear.
But once Skyfall takes off, it doesn’t stop.
Bond barely has time to bone two broads in the first half, and suddenly he’s running for his life, as well as those of M, the Prime Minister, and all of London… despite relentless opposition from the Crown.
If anyone wondered where the real Bond was in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, you’ll find out now. He’s bruised, beaten, and bloody brilliant.
His savage adversary blows away any lingering memory of the depravity of Quantum of Solace, Dominic Greene.
