Skyfall

This is one of the best Bond movies I have ever seen. The story is superbly put together and has some interesting twists, the action is well done and contains none of the shaky cam which plagued the last film. The actors all do a great job. Some might still be put off by Daniel Craig's rough version of Bond, but I like it and he even has a few good old fashioned one-liners here. I wasn't sure about Javier Bardem as the villain at first. I thought he was a tad too flamboyant but eventually he grew on me, plus he had a very interesting backstory and as you might have guessed already, Judi Dench is fantastic as usual as M and she even has more to do in the story this time arround. This is not a completely formulaic Bond movie. Craig's bond is still more emotional than Connery or Moore ever were and for the first time we get some relatively detailed descriptions of his childhood. And something happens to Bond in the start of the movie that affects him for the rest of the film. But despite all that there are tons of James Bond trademarks like the martini, the introduction and even Q. Some might not like this new very young version of Q but I found him to be funny and very likable. They will never top Desmond Llewelyn's original performance, and instead of making a cheap Llewelyn clone, they make a completely different character which I think is the only right thing to do. This is not only a great Bond movie but just a downright great film.

We've waited four years since "Quantum Of Solace", but 50 years after "Dr No" started the longest and most successful franchise in movie history comes the 23rd James Bond film and the third starring Daniel Craig as 007. I was 14 years old when I attended the spy's first cinematic outing; over the next couple of years, I read all 14 Ian Fleming novels; and, over the last half a century, I have gone along to the theatre to see each new film as soon as it was released.

What was new with "Skyfall" is that I managed to see it a week before its general release at a special viewing for cast and crew when all mobiles were taken off us, all of us were searched, and everyone sat through the credits before applauding a brilliant team effort.

The sense of excitement was rewarded by a superb movie. A cracking opening is followed by a powerful song from Adele which is followed by a storyline that is genuinely distinctive from other Bond movies: more intelligible and more intelligent.

Instead of the archetypal villain as someone crazed by megalomania, we have an adversary, subtly played by a blond Javier Bardem, who is motivated not just by power and wealth but by a very personal sense of vengeance. Instead of a Bond who easily outwits all foes, we have an agent with some obvious vulnerabilities, both physical and psychological, who does not always get his way. Instead of the usual two Bond girls, effectively we have three: French actress Bérénice Marlohe in her first English-speaking part, British actress Naomie Harris in what will prove to be a break-out role, and the redoubtable 77 year old Judi Dench playing M for the seventh time in 17 years.

The film is a triumph for British director Sam Mendes, making his first British movie after such more serious successes as "American Beauty", "Road To Perdition" and"Revolutionary Road". I was shaken and stirred.

I'm having a hard time expressing myself when it comes to this movie. It was a great movie all in all, but I feel like there's something missing.

Javier Bardem played the villain fantastically, the way he spoke and acted gave you chills and made you believe that there was something beneath his facade. (I don't think it's worth mentioning that Daniel Craigs acting was good, that has already been acknowledged).

After almost two hours in, I felt that I had so many questions unanswered and I started to worry how the movie was going to answer all of them in just half an hour. But I wasn't disappointed. Yet I was still hoping for something more, in a way.

There was just bits missing that would have made the film so much more better (even though it was great). For example getting to know more about Raoul Silvas life would have given him a stronger role in the movie. But I believe that the thing that i was the most disappointed about was Q. Bringing the character back after a few years sure brings peoples hopes up. And I was really expecting the cool gadgets that we've seen in the earlier movies. It was always fantastic to see the awesome stuff that a 007 got access to that made the spy life seem so cool. But in this movie I feel like they under-did his role a bit. A gun responding to fingerprints is cool, but the last time we saw Q, Bond got an invisible car with rocket launchers and a ring that could break glass. Sure they try to make the movies more realistic today, but I still feel that giving him a bigger role would have brought the movie up a bit.

Although I don't want to complain to much. The movie was great, go see it, you will like it and its a bit darker side than the previous films.

"He knows us. He's one of us. He comes from the same place as Bond, a place you say doesn't exist, the shadows." The world's greatest secret agent is back, but is the need for an agent outdated in today's modern world? After MI-6 is attacked and M (Dench) is brought under scrutiny by the government Bond (Craig) alone is left to find out who is behind the attack while M is trying to both help Bond and defend the need for an agency that has been compromised. I know that a review is really not needed here, being the 23rd Bond movie either you will watch it or not. I am a huge fan of the series and was really looking forward to this after hearing this is the best Bond movie yet. I have really loved the Craig movies but for some reason they never had the feel of a Bond movie to me, I wasn't sure what was missing but they didn't have the same feel. Knowing that they were re-booting the series I was lenient and with this one the re-boot is complete. This had much more of a feel of a classic Bond movie and by the end I was excited to see the next one. I got chills watching a few times and especially at the end. This had possibly the best opening and ending to a Bond movie ever. I could go on and on about this but I will just say if you love Bond you will love this, if you have never seen one then this one will make you a fan. Overall, From Russia With Love is my favorite Bond movie but this a very close second, and I think may be more re-watchable. I wanted to watch this one again as soon as the movie was over. I give this a very high A.

Having watched every James Bond film on the big silver screen since The Spy Who Loved Me in 1977.

It was almost surreal to see Skyfall being made by an Oscar winning director, go on to win Oscars and become one of the top grossing films of all time. The billion dollar Bond.

To think back in 1989, Licence to Kill could not compete with the likes of Batman, Indiana Jones or Lethal Weapon 2 in the US box office.

Bond is presumed dead after a mission goes wrong in Istanbul as he tries to retrieve a hard drive containing a list of top agents. M is under pressure especially as it seems she is being targeted by an anonymous cyber terrorist who turns out to be a rogue agent Silva (Javier Bardem) who was once M's most effective spy.

Skyfall celebrated 50 years of the Bond films in the cinemas. It also takes liberties with the messy timeline of the film series. Daniel Craig's novice spy from Casino Royale is now a disillusioned veteran, at one point told to call it a day.

The film re-introduces some familiar characters after being away for a few films, a younger more hi-tech Q and a new Miss Moneypenny. There is also a new M hovering in the background. The film also references earlier Bond movies as part of its golden anniversary celebrations.

Although the film contains international locations, breathtaking action, some sumptuous cinematography from Roger Deakins, it flags a bit in the middle when it needed an additional action sequence.

What director Sam Mendes does bring is some character moments and making effective use of Judi Dench as she recites some Tennyson.

Unusually for a Bond film, this must be the only occasion where the villain actually achieved all of his objectives!