Skyfall

2012 was a great year for Britain as it welcomed the Olympics and during that opening ceremony there was a fun scene featuring James Bond and her majesty the Queen which further boosted the morale with games ready to get underway. Later that year would see the release of Sam Mendes' first attempt at directing Bond in Daniel Craig's third outing, Skyfall. Given everything that had come before that year, and also following Quantum of Solace's mixed reception, there was a lot of pressure for this to do well and deliver a wider crowd pleasing spectacle.

With Adele topping the charts, she got things off to a good start with her popular song that would run through the opening credits and when the first trailers landed, there was the first sigh of relief from fans as we saw what looked like a more accomplished Bond film. Craig still looked the part, even with a shorter haircut than before which continues to divide fans, the action looked exciting, Roger Deakins' work was already looking stunning as was Javier Bardem as the film's blonde villain. I remember feeling excited and it did not disappoint as it became a huge success. It prompted the question of which was better; Casino Royale or Skyfall? It's not easy to decide as both films continued to hold-up but now the buzz of the British Olympics are far behind us, what is this film like today?

Skyfall begins with Bond trying to prevent the release of a hard drive containing information about undercover agents, a plot line the film gradually pushes to the background, as he pursues Ola Rapace's baddie through Istanbul. Watching it again, the whole precredits sequence is absolutely thrilling as we see Bond forced to abandon a wounded agent, have a shootout in a market, ride a bike over the Grand Bazaar before a hand-to-hand fight on top of a train moments before he's accidentally shot-off by Naomi Harris' fellow agent. It's certainly not like the opening sequences of old but Mendes makes it work.

From here the story follows Bond returning to duty and sent on a trail to investigate the missing hard drive and a mysterious attack against MI6 where he eventually meets Bardem's villain. Mendes confirmed prior to the release that he wanted to reduce the action sequences and focus on the story which raised some eyebrows but today it works brilliantly. What action we have is great to watch, particularly that sniper fight scene with thanks Deakins operating on fine form, and is balanced fairly with a predominantly well placed story that makes full use of its cast that includes Judi Dench, Ben Whishaw's first appearance as Q and Ralph Fiennes. Here we really see Dench getting to shine as M who is truly this film's 'Bond Girl' and her work with Craig and Bardem, both on top form, make for a fitting final act which has drawn some criticism for being too much like Home Alone. I'd argue that while the final act does shift gears from the first two thirds of the story, it's great to see a director shaking things up and not following the cliched formula to end in the villain's base which keep things feeling fresh.

Even nearly eight years after it's release I can't fault Skyfall at all and continue to enjoy it with every viewing. Mendes confessed it's not an easy job to direct a Bond film but with this team he made one of the best that happily justified the four year gap and satisfied fans. We get a nice array of locations, the reintroduction of gadgets, the classic Aston Martin, a very sharply dressed leading man as Bond and a great screenplay which offers great moments of action, drama with a drop of humour to deliver a very fine Bond film. This is one that works for fans and newcomers alike which I can easily recommend watching again and again.

It would be three years until Craig returned, along with Mendes, with Spectre and I look forward to revisiting this soon.