A highly anticipated movie with its fair share of action, suspense and even love has hit the big screen for the third movie in the franchise’s recent history. The film pits characters of similar pasts against one another to battle to the death. If you are imagining the new “Twilight,” you are sadly mistaken. James Bond, starring Daniel Craig, is back on the big screen for the first time since 2008’s “Quantum of Solace” in the 23rd movie of the series, “Skyfall.”
Craig returns for his third appearance as the infamous MI6 Agent 007. The film opens with Bond in Istanbul tracking down a hard drive that contains a list of all the MI6 field operatives undercover across the world. The mission to obtain the drive is unsuccessful as Bond is shot and the hard drive ends up in the hands of cyber terrorist Silva, played by Javier Bardem, who is determined to take down his former acquaintance M, played by Judi Dench, and the rest of the British Intelligence Agency. After spending time in hiding, a tethered and out of shape Bond is called back into action to stop Silva and his motley crew of criminals. The new Bond not only pits Craig’s character against the emotionally unstable Silva, but also against the test of time as Bond battles with his age and injuries he’s sustained over his career.
Craig’s version of Bond, known for being grittier than former Bonds such as Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan, is again extremely fun to watch. The character of Bond continues to develop from the younger man who was seen in 2006’s “Casino Royale” to the mature, seasoned agent in “Skyfall.” The biggest part of Bond’s development is his relationship with M, the often cold, blunt head of MI6. Although M seems to disapprove of Bond’s actions in the previous films, she plays a more maternal role in this film. The developed relationship between M and Bond vastly differs from those of the past Bond films where the role of M was held by a male figure. However, even better is Bardem’s performance as the former MI6 agent Silva, whose dark past, sadistic methods and mastermind planning make him a formidable opponent for the seasoned Bond.
While acting is certainly significant to any movie, no Bond film would be complete without action, and there is certainly a ton of it. Possibly one of the greatest action sequences of any Bond film in recent memory takes place at Bond’s home of “Skyfall Estate” in Scotland, where we learn that Bond grew up as a child. Even better are the numerous homages made to the former Bond films throughout “Skyfall.” These include the return of Bond’s famous form of transportation in the 1964 Aston Martin and Bond’s gadget supplier Q, played by Ben Whishaw, who returns to play a greater role in the film. The more experienced Bond in “Skyfall” appears to be developing into the suave, martini-drinking James Bond of old, played by those such as Sean Connery. There are a multitude of other “Bondisms” throughout the new edition of 007, which Bond-lovers of all ages will appreciate.
“Skyfall” is a thrilling, action-packed film that harkens back to earlier Bond films, while still managing to feel modern and unique; as have the past two Craig movies. Fans of James Bond or action movies in general will certainly enjoy “Skyfall” and look forward to more Bond films in the future. It was recently released that Craig has signed up for two more Bond films, so we can look forward to at least a few more suspenseful and on-the-edge-of-your-seat films played by arguably the most badass Bond ever.