Really Good But With Some Major Flaws

Rating: 7/10 (9 December 2014)

Daniel Craig is by far my second favorite Bond (after Sean Connery) so I was ready to like this film. A lot of Skyfall is fun to watch, including an opening chase scene that is on par with the best of the Bond films. Mendes takes full advantage of some stunning scenery, Judi Dench is perfectly cast as M and Craig is captivating and sexy as a ruthlessly efficient agent who is also finding it harder to keep up the pace. I also enjoyed a straightforward plot that was not a lot of work to keep track of, freeing my attention to enjoy the characters and action. On the other hand, Mendes made a chase scene that is thoroughly boring. The guy being chased runs through a room, next shot is Bond running through the same room. The lack of tension in this scene was beyond laughable, and had me rolling my eyes. And there were multiple events that left me scratching my head. A character bypasses a golden opportunity to finish someone off, or they stop the action to pontificate, instead of just getting on with it. A prisoner makes an escape but how they get out is not explained. A shootout consists of an assailant who defeats multiple officers while standing out in the open, seemingly impervious to bullets. Some of this bungling can be blamed on the writing, but it still could have been salvaged with some exciting action, and that was often missing. Please don't let Sam Mendes direct another Bond film.