Oh, Mother! Not Voldemort!

Rating: 8/10 (10 November 2014)

Not content with doing in beloved Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Ralph Fiennes decides that everyone's favorite "M"--Dame Judi Dench--is an anachronism; since there's no one who can watch the watchers safely, the world would be safer without any watchers at all, he concludes. On the one hand, Fiennes' "Mallory" character is correct. On the other, he weasels his way into M's shoes. However, this James Bond outing literally returns to Agent 007's roots, reintroducing the "Q" role after a two-film absence, along with another "Miss Moneypenny" (who fires at Bond first, and flirts later). The "Bond. James Bond." line is revived, as well, and the Bond Martini is worked in more effectively than in QUANTUM OF SOLACE. For the first time, Daniel Craig is joking as James VI, with his ejection seat jibe at M particularly funny. SKYFALL spoofs London's version of the 9-11 attacks (when the "Tube" blew up in 3 1/2 spots (July 7, 2005), proving that the English are less thin-skinned than the Americans (even though Javier Bardem's "Silva" character shows they're still far behind in dentistry). They also employ less lethal suicide pills than those used by the Third Reich, resulting in about two dozen dead MI6 agents, along with countless random civilians. In SKYFALL, Bond cannot protect his lover (nothing new), but also loses his boss\foster mom, his ancestral home, his town house, and a classic car that Jay Leno would die for. Bottom line: terrorists take the cake here, and eat it, too!