Skyfall

So far, Skyfall is the most successful James Bond film ever. It's the second-highest grossing UK film in history and is among the highest-grossing films of all time. It's been praised left and right, winning awards and accolades and widespread critical acclaim. I like to think of it as one of the most stylish Bond films, as well. Between Sam Mendes's direction and Roger Deakins's cinematography, this film is beautiful just to look at.

I thought Casino Royale—the film that rebooted the franchise with Daniel Craig as Bond—was fantastic. Loved it. The next film, Quantum of Solace, not so much. It was a near miss. Then along came Skyfall. Roger Ebert said, "I don't know what I expected in Bond No. 23, but certainly not an experience this invigorating."

The story begins, as it usually does, already in progress. Bond is on a mission to retrieve a computer hard drive that contains a list of undercover agents, the exposure of which could leave MI6 vulnerable. The chase begins in Istanbul, with Bond pursuing Patrice (Ola Rapace), the man who has stolen the list. What starts out as a car chase becomes a rooftop pursuit via motorcycle, and eventually transitions to the roof of a train. The mission is being monitored in real time by M (Judi Dench, excellent as always), who must make a critical snap decision which inadvertently leads to Bond getting shot. Is it a spoiler to reveal that Bond doesn't die? It's been twelve years since Skyfall was released and Craig has played the character in two more films.

(I have to mention the opening title sequence. Not only is it wonderfully evocative of the story as a whole, but it also features one of the best Bond title songs ever, performed by the incomparable Adele. It's the first song from a Bond film to win the Academy Award for Best Song. Well-deserved, if you ask me.)

While Bond lays low, allowing the world at large to think he's dead, M is warned by her new boss, Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), that she and MI6 will have to answer for the list that was lost during her watch. An explosion at MI6 soon after makes it clear that whoever has the list is a serious threat and seems to be targeting M.

Once he gets wind of the explosion, Bond returns to London. Because he's been presumed dead for three months, M informs him that he'll have to retake the tests to hang on to his double-O status. During this stretch of the story, not only do we delve a little deeper into the relationship between Bond and M (which is really the core of the movie), we also meet the new Q (Ben Whishaw), appearing for the first time in this newer run of Bond films. As befits our technological age, Q is something of a computer whiz. Indeed, a look around the "new" MI6, especially the "Q branch," reveals people tapping away at computer keyboards in a space dotted with digital screens.

After Bond is declared ready for active service, he zips off to Shanghai to find Patrice. They end up having one of the most interesting fights I've ever seen, from a cinematic point of view. Most of the fight appears to be in one take, in silhouette, against a backdrop of giant glowing digital jellyfish on the adjacent skyscraper. Patrice doesn't reveal any information, but Bond finds a clue and heads to a casino in Macau.

At the casino, Bond meets the silky Severine (Berenice Marlohe), who agrees to take Bond to meet her employer. Only later do we realize how effectively the villain has been established mostly through dialogue, especially Severine's description (or non-description) of him. It's her behavior that gives us a sense of dread, building up to the appearance of an antagonist we haven't even seen for nearly half the movie.

When Bond finally meets Silva (Javier Bardem), we get one of the great movie entrances. Silva is given an eerie introductory speech (written by John Logan), all delivered in a single shot as he slowly walks toward the camera. He will eventually reveal more layers, yet we already see him as a twisted, frightening, memorable villain.

I find that I don't want to describe much more of the plot. The unfolding of the story is part of the fun of watching Skyfall. But there are other elements worth highlighting.

I love that Mendes and the writers made the choice to go old-school. They are correct to point out that having clever gadgets in a Bond film becomes increasingly difficult when everybody in the audience has an equally amazing device in their pockets. How does one compete? By going back to the basics. I found this to be an incredibly satisfying approach. For those who would argue otherwise, do they want a James Bond film that appears to be set in our world, or are they hoping it'll turn into science fiction? (It sometimes sort of does, anyway.)

As an audience member, the ending of the film raises the question: How do you replace Judi Dench? Well, you can't, but you cast as bloody good an actor as you can. Since her first appearance as M, Dame Judi appeared in Bond films over a period of 20 years. As I mentioned before, her relationship to Daniel Craig's Bond is really at the heart of these films. She is unforgettable, one of the best actors in the world.

The reveals of the new Q and the new Miss Moneypenny made me smile. I thought they were done rather well. But the reveal of Bond's Aston Martin actually made my eyes wet. I'm not much of a car guy, but the reveal of the car, accompanied by the original Monty Norman theme, creates an awesome, nostalgic moment.

Speaking of music, Thomas Newman's score for this movie is incredible. After leaving the movie theater, I went and bought my first soundtrack of a James Bond film. Newman had not been known for action films, but he proved to be supremely adept at it, modulating pace and energy at all the right times, and making good use of the old Bond themes in all kinds of places in the score.

There are other appearances in the movie that I haven't mentioned, all of which add wonderful character moments to the story and help deepen Bond's backstory. (We never learn very much—just enough to keep us intrigued.) Quantum of Solace had moments that worked, but not nearly as many as Casino Royale. With Skyfall we're back on track, and it's nice to see Bond in another movie that fires on all cylinders.

And then there's Daniel Craig. I refuse to debate who is the "best" James Bond, but Craig is my favorite. Each actor who has played the role has brought a different sensibility to it and highlighted different aspects of the character. Craig's take on the character clicked with me better than any other, that's all. Best of all, he plays Bond as a real human, with real emotions and physical limitations, not as a robot or superhero. I can't relate much to 007, the secret agent, although I can relate, even just a little, to James Bond the man. And that leaves me, maybe not shaken, but definitely stirred. (Forgive me; I had to do it.)