Film Review - Skyfall (2012)

Skyfall is the 23rd James Bond film and the 3rd film to star Daniel Craig in the role of Agent 007, the story here concerns a cyber attack on MI6 by a ghost from M's past, so it's up to Bond to put a stop to it.

I went into Skyfall with a sense of cautious optimism, I've really loved Craig in the role and even enjoyed Quantum of Solace despite that film having some of the worst action scenes I've ever seen from any film, so did this new Bond film return Craig's tenure to the form promised after Casino Royale in 2006?

Happily, yes it does though I also think it surpasses Royale and becomes my favourite of the three films Craig has made so far in the role, he seems much more assured, more confident and more physical than he did in Quantum where at times he seemed to be lost and confused as to where to go with the part.

But he's not alone here, Judi Dench, Albert Finney, Ralph Fiennes and Ben Wishaw all chip in good performances and the film is beautifully shot by Roger Deakins, his use of light and shade and locations is outstanding, I really hope he is considered to be the DP on the new Blade Runner film being planned as the look he created for this film is what that film needs.

Sam Mendes's direction is also quite good, keeping a steady eye on the action scenes and making sure the balance between them and the more dramatic moments is maintained so that one element doesn't overshadow the other, the film also has some very good editing by Stuart Baird, a very nice title song by Adele and a very good musical score by Thomas Newman who wisely avoids trying to sound like the late John Barry as David Arnold tended to do at times.

But sadly there is a fault here and that is the villain played here by Javier Bardem, don't get me wrong it's a good villain one of the better ones the series has had (and there have been some real duds in this series to be sure) and on the page I'm sure everyone thought this would be a real winner and it sure sounds that way when you think about it but on the page is one thing the execution is another and Bardem's performance does not deliver.

The main reason is that for much of the time he's on screen he comes across as a blend of the late Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker in the Dark Knight and his own performance as Anton Chigur in No Country for Old Men, I found there to be a little too much of the villainous cackling of the type Dr. Claw might do and not enough of the menace that the character needed to make him a standout villain in a series where those sort are few and far between.

And lastly I had this thought come to my mind as I watched the film and that was "I wish Timothy Dalton got to do a film like this one or a third film in general" as it took three films for both Roger Moore and Sean Connery to define their tenure's in the role and both Goldfinger in terms of Connery and The Spy who Loved Me in terms of Moore are seen as the best films those actors made during their time in the part.

Dalton sadly only made two films as 007 and his second Licence to Kill in 1989 proved divisive for audiences much like Craig's second film was and he needed a third film to set things right just as Moore did after the Man with the Golden Gun left the series in dire straits, sadly a bitter legal fight with MGM in the early 90's saw Dalton's planned third film be scrapped and in time it would end his tenure in the role so as a result he left audiences divided whereas a film like this or his third film planned for late 1991 (though my feeling is that it would've come out in 92 for the 30th anniversary of the series) just might have set things right but these things happen and happily Craig has continued along the path he began 25 years ago with the Living Daylights.

So all in all Skyfall delivers a worthwhile if minorly flawed film for the 50th anniversary of Bond and for me it was certainly worth the wait and worth seeing, 3 out of 5.