Skyfall Review

After a four year absence facing financial troubles, Metro Goldwyn Meyer finally sends Fleming’s famous super-spy thundering back onto the big screen and not a moment too soon, considering the icon’s landmark achievement of fifty years in cinema this year. Daniel Craig returns for the third time, this time teaming up with director Sam Mendes to deliver another thoroughly impressive addition to the series.

Having cleaned his hands of both Quantum and Vesper Lynd in the previous film, Craig’s Bond sets about locating and putting a stop to the cyber-attacks plaguing MI6. After a failed operation to retrieve a stolen agency hard drive in which James is accidentally shot by his partner and presumed dead, he returns to the service to track down a man known as Raul Silva; a former agent who holds an intense and long-standing personal vendetta against M (Judi Dench). Bond’s search takes him to several areas including China and London (This is the fiftieth anniversary after all!) and finally ends up at Bond’s routes in the Scottish Highlands. In many ways this commemoration of Bond as well being the latest addition to the series aspires to a nostalgic trip down memory lane but brilliantly balances this out with a modern day issue that just about anyone who is familiar with the technology we have become so dependent on can immediately identify with. The return of Q (The youngest to date played by Ben Whishaw) sparks a particularly humorous meeting in an art museum is a welcome addition though the only thing that long term fans may be disappointed in is the lack of a true Bond girl that the British spy clings to for the whole duration of the film. However this break from tradition contributes to the ‘’back to basics’’ paired with the gritty, realistic portrayal of Bond in my opinion which allows the super spy to better focus on the situation at hand. Bond may play a large role as always but it is M who is often focused on through the film, as she struggles to contend with not only Silver’s relentless pursuit but the vying eyes of cyber security committees as well. The strain on the head of MI6 has never been higher which foreshadows the ultimate ending that harkens back to classic Bond while establishing the positions of new characters.

All the ingredients you’d expect of a great Bond cast are here; Daniel Craig has now fully settled in to the role of Britain’s best known secret agent, continuing to imbue the character with a fine balance of both strength and smoothness in every scene. This is counterbalanced by a consistent level of humour, some of the best moments involving Bond’s blunt insulting of M during a psychology session. In a change reminiscent to Goldeneye and Casino Royale the spy is paired up with Eve (Naomi Harris) a field agent who begins to lean towards office work. As a character Eve is rather under developed; don’t expect much in the way of intimacy between her and Bond, she instead plays her minor part in the opening action sequence, leaving the main focus to be placed on M. Judi Dench once again portrays the head of MI6, this time showing much more emotion from the terrors bearing down on her and the interactions with Bond reach near desperate levels as a pose to her harsh criticisms of past films; yet despite all this the rousing speech she provides in front of the cyber security committee proves that she’s still a strong,  capable and downright blunt character which is only added to by her involvement in the final battle at the film’s climax. Whishaw is capably humorous in the role of Q, adding some much needed depth to the shallow ‘’technology and gadget mastermind’’ of Bond movies past whereas Ralph Fiennes debut into the series as Chief Gareth Mallory, his no nonsense attitude and standing stature, lead up to the role he eventually takes on excellently. Lastly there’s Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) who is not necessarily a truly evil man as you may think, simply a misunderstood misfit who was tossed out of MI6 a broken man and wants revenge; this is made clear in a number of ways. Firstly his intent on punishing M seems endless, blowing up the MI6 headquarters, unleashing numerous cyber-attacks into networks and even causing chaos in the London Underground at one point. Secondly, we eventually learn Silva was horrifically disfigured in an accident caused by M’s misjudged decisions and lastly he possesses a small army ready to do his bidding that have spread all over the world much like the Quantum organisation in the previous film. These all add up to make Silva a highly developed and interesting villain that could well be the best of all the Craig Bond movies to date.

Skyfall truly does stand tall as one of the best Bond films of recent memory; Sam Mendes and crew should be commended for delivering a brilliant addition to the series, and the best 50^th anniversary commemoration any long term fan could ask for. 

Rating: 4/5 Stars