As good as Bond gets. Bardem's villain is Lector calibre.

Rating: 7/10 (26 June 2013)

Although I've never been a fan of the Bond series, I was anticipating Skyfall a lot. I knocked Casino Royale when it came out, having only seen the mediocre Brosnan films and writing off the whole series, but I gave it a chance before Quantum of Solace was released and to my surprise I enjoyed it greatly. Nothing perfect, but a cinematic film with a blockbuster kick. I was excited for Quantum. I wouldn't exactly call it a let down as I had no expectations but it was still quite the big mess. I like how Marc Forster dips his toes into different genres but I hope he crosses action off his list and works on more intimate and creative films again. So now we have Sam Mendes, another director with an interesting range though he is way more reliable. It wasn't until the stunning promotional photographs when I was finally excited for Skyfall. After the disappointing Summer this year, which climaxed early with The Avengers being the most enjoyable experience, I was hoping Skyfall would satisfy that hunger.
I'd love to say that it did, but I may have had unfair expectations. It is a great action film and it's great to see a film with patience to soak in the gravity of the situations without going too ridiculous but since it was so held back in that regard, it lacked a vital kick I was hoping it would have. The action scenes are quite exciting, but they're not of the same scale as The Dark Knight which I was hoping for. The biggest surprise though was Javier Bardem who I was afraid would be far too campy and look silly among a serious film and while he was quite a camp character, I underestimated Bardem's skills as an actor, and his character is almost up to a Joker or Hannibal Lector calibre. The strong points of the film are probably the introduction scenes of each of the new characters which is quite a shame as I wanted a balls to the walls action movie. Deakins' cinematography did pay off too, especially in the chilling/scorching third act. It's more English than the other Craig films but it feels like English for the world rather than English for the English. Skyfall is the gritty counterpart to Casino Royale and they're pretty much on a par. I guess this is as good as Bond gets.
7/10