SkyFall

A clear and unequivocal improvement over the reprehensible Quantum of Solace, SkyFall follows Daniel Craig’s James Bond as he attempts to stop a brutal adversary (Javier Bardem’s Silva) bent on destroying M’s (Judi Dench) life and reputation. Filmmaker Sam Mendes does a superb job of getting the James Bond series back on track right from the get-go, as the movie kicks off with a breathlessly paced and thoroughly exciting pre-credits sequence that ranks as the best of its type since the Pierce Brosnan era. From there, however, SkyFall settles into a first half that is, more often than not, sluggish and overly serious, with the ensuing lack of momentum compounded by an ongoing emphasis on palpably needless sequences and interludes (eg Bond is forced to pass a series of tests before he can join the fray). It’s not surprising to note, too, that Craig’s competent yet charmless turn as the world’s most famous secret agent remains an ongoing problem, as the actor is simply never able to become 007 to the same degree as such superior predecessors as Brosnan and, of course, Sean Connery. (Ben Whishaw’s hopelessly underwhelming take on Q fares far worse, admittedly.) There reaches a very specific point, however, at which SkyFall begins to morph into a decidedly above-average James Bond adventure (ie a fantastic chase sequence detailing Bond’s pursuit of Silva in the London Underground), with the movie’s exciting and fast-paced second half ultimately compensating, to a certain extent, for the lackluster nature of almost everything that came before. The end result is a terminally uneven entry that nevertheless feels like a step in the right direction, and it is, given the revelations of the final few minutes, impossible not to hope that the series will finally return to its traditional roots in the next installment.

*** out of ****