unambigously a pleasurable movie-going experience

Rating: 10/10 (14 November 2012)

007 is after a hard-drive. In the opening a chase, one of those breathless ones that populate a lot of Bond films, ensues, but it being Bond he has to get a little flashy (but just a little) when it comes to a train: on top of it, with a bulldozer on it, and then a fight with the baddie right there. After a botched 'Take a shot!' order from M, Naomie Harris' agent sends Bond off the train and into... death(?) Or just a little vacation from Mum ('M', Judi Dench believable as ever, even more conviction as she gets older), who has to deal with this drive still missing, this explosive MacGuffin that calls to question what MI6 is actually *doing* in the first place? Are there 'shadows' anymore? Or are there just freaks with revenge plots that take years and meticulous planning to shape? But Bond is Bond (and word is Bond), so he returns. But will it all be the same?
A real "MOVIE" in big capital letters (much like The Avengers and The Cabin in the Woods earlier this year). A meaty thriller that takes itself seriously, but it never takes itself SO seriously that it becomes a film, which may be the key difference between this and the Dark Knight (which is what Mendes claims was the inspiration... or was it what he wanted to critique in a way? Skyfall acts as tribute to Bond, its own cohesive unit as a 007 entry, AND film-analysis of what makes Bond work compared to other blockbusters). Does it always make sense for 007 to make a quip after something tragic like a death of someone close to him? But, hey, it's another glass of scotch that shan't go to waste as well.
It's a solid plot, the visual pleasures via Roger Deakins where every shot, every unit in an action set piece, get even MORE gorgeous on repeat viewings (the entire Shangahi-tower sequence is so breathtaking because it''s about how we watch it, it calls attention to itself carefully but deliberately with many mirrored images, like a neon-lit fun-house ala Orson Welles, but with silhouettes and a thrilling Thomas Newman back-beat).
And while Javier Bardem slithers with gay joy here (both the gayness of a 1950's happy-go-lucky kid with a bunch of "radio" toys, and a vengeful man who may have been decent once but it's long gone in innuendo and grandiosity made flesh), Craig is also keenly subtle when he wants/needs to be, and it adds to him being such a bad motherf****r (look, seriously, it's right on that gun that only he can shoot). Not to mention Ben Whishaw earning his marks as the new 'Q' as a 'kid with spots', and Harris being Earthy, sensual, but can also hold her own when the action comes down. If anyone is given more humdrum work to do it's, oddly enough, Ralph Fiennes. That's alright - Skyfall needs one guy waiting in the wings to fully join the franchise.
Bond is resurrected once more, and his hobby is spine-tingling, and at the same time about what it's about: you love Bond, it's a treat, you're a newcomer, it's good storytelling about a story that isn't new but not tired, and for those who couldn't care less about Bond... well, at least watch the opening titles and every nano-second with Bardem. Please. Do it for Mom.