Bond is back, ladies and gentlemen. Bond is back.
More importantly, Daniel Craig is back in “Skyfall” as ‘007,’ his third time playing the iconic figure of cinema. He was phenomenal in his first two efforts as Bond, and this time around is no different. Craig gets his third chance to play the coolest human alive and he once again nails it. It’s an enthralling performance.
The film opens on Bond having a bad day. He gets shot and plummets off of a bridge, and is assumed dead. Since it happens in the first 10 minutes, we know that isn’t the case.
On top of that, a hard drive containing all of the secret identities of the MI6 field agents is lost, putting M’s job and reputation in peril. Reprising her role as M, Judi Dench cuts deep with buried emotion and wit.
Skyfall follows up the last Bond film, 2008’s “Quantum of Solace,” in exactly the right fashion: by pretending it never existed. “Solace” wasn’t a bad film — it just was disjointed and lacked reason to exist.
Skyfall suffers from no such issues.
Helmed by Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes, Skyfall is visual poetry. And the amount of things it does right is staggering.
The action and stunts are spectacular, the villain is mesmerizing, and the emotional depth is nearly unheard of for a Bond film.
As the computer-hacking and suavely savage bad guy, Javier Bardem is terrific. The Oscar-winner is nearly as award-worthy here as he was when he won for his haunting performance in 2007’s “No Country For Old Men.”
Equal parts satisfying and unsettling, Skyfall is one heck of a film. Can a James Bond movie be one of the best of the year? You betcha.