Skyfall

I knew this was going to be a good ‘un when the first five minutes had me grinning like a fool idiot and biting my nails in anxiety practically at the same time.  And there may have been some gasping.  And then Adele’s compelling theme comes in and the awesome kept on rolling for the remainder of its approximately 2 ½ hour run time.  And I’m going to go ahead and say it.    And while I can’t be 100% about this as this installment has the advantage of being freshest in my mind and I have missed one or two Bond movies over its run (most notable, according to Mark Kermode, Her Majesty’s Secret Service) but I think this takes the title of best Bond movie.   And, perhaps more importantly it’s just a great movie period.

It delivers everything you expect from a Bond movie –a suave and clever Bond, the occasional zippy, somewhat corny one-liners, fantastical and exotic action set-pieces, a scenery chewing villain, and plenty of flirty sexy ladies.  So those patrons just in it for the Bond package will not in any way be disappointed.  In fact, the action set pieces are particularly stupendous and Bond gets an assist from a Komodo dragon of all things. 

What vaults this movie into the 5-star category is its simple but emotionally resonant plot. It is a very introspective film which is very appropriate for the franchises’ 50^th birthday.  It’s hard to talk about without giving too much away but much of the focus is one M’s tough and morally challenging job and how ruthlessly she does it.  It questions the very fiber of international espionage and there are moments of real physical and mental struggle for the normally unflappable Bond.  The cast is fantastic and juggles all the emotional weight and the “bondness” with ease.

Simply put, I loved it. Though I don’t know how they will ever top Skyfall, I can’t wait to see them try.