Bond Month #23: The Best of them: My Final Review of the Month

Rating: 9/10 (31 October 2013)

Well my title says it all about Skyfall. This has to be the best of the Bond films,not just because it's kick ass and fun, but there's also a very good story and characters to go with it. After the debacle known as Quantum of Solace, this is the best return to form since Casino Royale in 2006.
The story this time around is very M-centric. Bond must track down a former agent, Raoul Silva, who is after M for betraying him years before. M is also being phased out as her methods are seen as both passé and dangerous to the agents in her organization, and she both has to fight Silva and the knowledge that the world is changing and that she can no longer keep up with it. Bond also has his own journey as he was presumably killed at the beginning of the film, he becomes out of shape and cynical, but still will protect his boss, who is the closest thing to his mother. We also learn about Bond's childhood at his father's mansion Skyfall, which is really interesting.
We get some of the best acting in this series and fresh faces to old favorites. Daniel Craig does his finest work as an actor in this one, making Bond three-dimensional once again. We get the new Q in the form of Ben Whishaw, whom I think easily fills in for the respected shoes of Desmond Llewelyn. Ralph Fiennes is a government agent Mallory, who becomes M later on. We get Naomie Harris as Eve (Moneypenny) who is unfortunately the one person who doesn't work for me, but oh well.
Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva. SPOT ON PERFECT CASTING. Silva is my favorite villain of the series, and has set the bar for future ones to come. He is calm and collected, never going over the top in what he does or says. He is also a bit effeminate, which makes him very unique, unlike the gay duo Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd from Diamonds are Foerever. He doesn't overplay it, which is why I mention it. He is also intimidating as hell, being given the best villain intro in movie history. It's a long shot that lasts for a long time until he finishes the story he tells us and Bond. So brilliant!
The director of this movie, Sam Mendes, actually brings a more refined look and feel to this series than even Martin Campbell (but both are on the same level in my opinion) He utilizes quiet dramatic moments with some very well filmed and fast paced action. But he also has the great Roger Deakins to shoot the film, and of course, the photography is beautiful. The one scene that I must single out as beautiful is when Bond fights a henchman in front of a blue light display and all you see is silhouette. It looks exactly like Maurice Binder shot it. Deakins should have won the Oscar for Cinematography on this one.
The action is amazing. And surprisingly, I didn't see much shaky cam, or it was so minimal that I didn't know there was any to be had. It has the best.
And I will mention one more aspect of this brilliant film. Adele's theme song. I haven't talked much about the theme songs in Bond because with the exception of maybe 6 of them, I don't care for them much. But when Adele wrote and sang this song, it added a level to greatness not a lot of people thought Bond would have. She deservedly won the Oscar for the song, nice work! This film is awesome. I have watched it many times, and I'm sure there will be many more in the future.
That concludes Bond month. I'm theflyace, and thanks for reading.
P.S. Prepare for my best-to-worst Bond films, villains, and actors lists in my profile.