Bond's loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.
At the age of 50, there is no sign at all that Bond is finished yet.
“We don’t go in for exploding pens any more,” quips young Q (Ben Whishaw). Nor do audiences, which is why I suspect Skyfall will be a stratospheric hit.
Falls prey to a common failing of many 50th birthday bashes: it allows sentimentality to cloud its judgment and loosen its tongue. In so doing, it risks blowing James Bond's cover for good.
Craig is on cracking form as Bond, all rippling muscles and curling lip and Dame Judi Dench puts in an elegantly melancholy performance as M.
The Daniel Craig era comes of age with a ballsy Bond that takes brave chances and bold risks. Guess what? Turns out you can teach an old dog new tricks.
The story’s emphasis on personal dramas does detract from the picture’s purpose as an energetic action-thriller, gradually sapping momentum and suspense from the storyline, especially in a mishandled third act (the reason I gave it a rather harsh 3 stars in my initial review).
From references to past 007 movies to unexpected twists and top-grade action, Mendes’ movie feels like a well-wrapped birthday gift for Bond fans.
The good parts spring more readily to mind than bad, suggesting that Bond is at least back on the right track.
Skyfall is an accomplished action movie which allows Bond a little more psychological complexity and stronger emotional beats.
Skyfall is pretty much all you could want from a 21st Century Bond: cool but not camp, respectful of tradition but up to the moment, serious in its thrills and relatively complex in its characters but with the sense of fun that hasn’t always been evident lately. One thing’s certain: James Bond will return…
Skyfall is the kind of film that makes it easy to love Bond the way you probably did as a kid.
From the opening in Istanbul to the final siege shootout in the Scottish Highlands, this film is a supremely enjoyable and even sentimental spectacle, giving us an attractively human (though never humane) Bond. Despite the title, he is a hero who just keeps on defying gravity.
Mean and touchy-feely, Bond is back on track.
The year's best movie so far.
Skyfall fulfils its brief: a real show, proper excitement, executed with wit, colour and panache.
Daniel Craig makes 007 his own in this very British Bond adventure – perhaps the best in the series' 50-year history.
If you’re prepared to go along for the ride, it’s rewarding, tender and intense, pitched cleverly and sensitively alongside Bonds from the past five decades. For this, it is something to celebrate.
All hail though, to Craig. Together with Dench and several others in the new movie, he has given Bond some genuine acting heft and a few added layers. He can do the mortal superhero stuff, but he's pretty super at the acting lark too, making the character genuinely intriguing again. As intriguing as Connery? Decide for yourself.
Skyfall: The best James Bond film ever?
Skyfall: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench and Javier Bardem on banking a premium Bo
James Bond: nobody does it better
Sam Mendes happy to direct another Bond film if Skyfall is a hit
Daniel Craig: The man with the golden touch?
General release. Check local listings for show times.