Movie Review: Skyfall

James Bond is such a storied and historic franchise that has been around for decades. It has been following a similar formula for a number of years to varying levels of success. This was a franchise that needed a change and Skyfall provides that. Skyfall is kind of the anti-Bond Bond movie. There was a different vibe and more of a flare for bigger action sequences, which I thought was refreshing. The action sequences are all done on an exciting grand-scale level and are really well-shot and executed. Another thing that separated this from other Bond movies was them showing Bond actually getting beat up. Bond gets outsmarted and gets the shit kicked out of him on a regular basis throughout this movie. The best thing about this movie though is the presence of a legitimate villain. Javier Bardem is a real nemesis for James Bond and he absolutely nails the role. His character, Raoul Silva,is a genius and his background with the MI-6 gives him an edge on Bond that challenges him as a character. Silva doesn't even enter the movie until an hour in, but his presence is so immense that you feel like he's in the entire movie. Bardem just lights up the screen every minute he's on it. I also liked that the romantic vibe from the last two was dropped. James Bond has an image of being a womanizer and I'm glad they went back to that in this movie. The larger emphasis on the romantic angle in the past two Bond films felt really forced and inorganic. Skyfall is definitely the best of the Daniel Craig Bond movies. This is a great action film that has brought some energy and originality to the franchise. I haven't seen enough of the Bond films to say this definitively, but Skyfall is the best James Bond movie I've seen.

4/5 Stars