Certainly on par with casino Royale

Rating: 8/10 (31 October 2012)

Is this the best Bond film ever?
No. Is it the best Daniel Craig Bond film?
Harder to answer, I would say that it is certainly on par with the brilliant Casino Royale in many respects. It has less of the shockingly raw feel that Craig's first Bond film had but overall it seems that he has settled much more into the role. To see James Bond now still as the physical monster he is but also showing a humanity and character depth works hugely to Skyfall's advantage.
Director Sam Mendes shows just how much difference having an Oscar winning director at the helm can make. The film is visually stunning and yet it is the characters that form the main piece of the film. For each exotic location to show off, there is a quieter scene that adds to either Bond himself or another character.
But at it's core, it is a quintessential Bond film, from Adele's brilliant theme song to a creepy villains lair. At some points it is almost too eager to look after the past 50 years of Bond films, in some cases that is the cause of several laugh out loud moments, at other moments it feels a little blunt.
Speaking of villains, Javier Bardem is perfect as De Silva. A blond, reptilian wall of unpredictable power. His back story really gives the character a greater sense of fear and menace and towards the end, his single minded drive to complete a mission of his own gives the last act a great feeling of desperation and urgency.
The Bond girls in this film really do tend to take a back seat, Naomi Harris as Eve pops up every now and then and Berenice Marlohe (Severine) has very little screen time but both of them are strong characters in their own right. But, the real girl of the film is Judi Dench as M. Developed even further than in previous films, Sam Mendes really brings out the hard, callous edge that M needs to do her job whilst also highlighting her fondness for Bond. It's a really quite touching relationship and one that has only really been explored since Daniel Craig took over.
The action is great in the film too, less of the borderline superheroic chases of Casino Royale and more of a human feeling edge of both the fist and gun fights. One particular scene in Shanghai is utterly beautiful and fantastic to look at.
It's not perfect, by any stretch. There is a long running time for the film but I didn't notice much at all. What I did notice is that the third act, where the personal story starts to take the stage, slows the pacing of the film to a crawl compared with the jet setting shenanigans that fill the first two acts.
I suppose all in all, this was a damn fine film. And a bloody good Bond film. As I said, it lacks the 'Wow!' factor that Craig's debut film had but the whole thing is much more fluid, emotional and the characters are much more satisfying. Watch this if you haven't already.