Let the Skyfall

Rating: 10/10 (1 December 2012)

In the first shot, a man, out of focus and mostly hidden in the darkness, walks into the frame at the end of a long hallway, and the soundtrack blasts the first two, but only the first two, notes of the instantly recognizable James Bond theme song- which always makes me giggle, because I know that I'm in for a long, great ride with this film.
In the film's pretitle sequence, Bond is badly injured, and falls from a great height, and is then presumed dead by the British government, mirroring the ending of Ian Fleming's novel, You Only Live Twice.
Even after M. had nearly had Bond killed due to her rash orders, he still feels loyal to her, as news of a cyber attack in London brings him out of several months'worth of semi-retirement in Turkey, where he is met with a frigid response by M. upon his return.
After being re-briefed and brought back into active duty (in a sequence echoing the beginning of Fleming's final novel, The Man With The Golden Gun) Bond follows a trail of breadcrumbs and learns of the nutjob's plot to disgrace and kill M., in retaliation for something she did in her past. After several innocent people are killed in the crossfire, Bond basically kidnaps M., and takes her "to somewhere we'll have the advantage. Where it's just us and him.", "back in time," to Skyfall.
Skyfall. A grotesque looking structure. A two story rock house, turned black from decades of mould and mildew, enveloped in a thick fog in the Scottish Highlands, in the middle of a five square mile open field. Where Bond was born and raised. He hasn't been there in decades, not since his parents (Andrew and Monique Delacroix Bond) died, and are buried there. The open area is the perfect location, where no one can approach unnoticed, they have to come out into plain view, and no other innocent people can be injured or killed in the crossfire.
After an elaborate, yet somehow smaller scale, and almost intimate, climactic battle at Bond's childhood home, M. dies of injuries sustained in the end. Bond's presence did little to affect the outcome, yet the plot centres around him, Ian Fleming's antihero.
I never liked Judy Dench as M., but her death is very moving, very sad. The filmmakers managed to elicit sympathy from me about a character's death that I did not like. Furthermore, Bond was moved to tears over her death, where as M. seemed merely annoyed by Bond's possible death at the start of the film.
A small cast of main characters gives this film a more intimate vibe, as does the villain's plot of revenge, rather than world domination. Also memorable in that the villain has no gimmicky henchmen in his employ.
After destroying Skyfall, his childhood home, and subsequently killing the villain, Bond finally appears happy. Bond had to kill the past in order to be happy in the present.
Fans of Ian Fleming's literary character will recognise many references to the ending of Fleming's You Only Live Twice, and the beginning of The Man With The Golden Gun, revealing more about Bond's past than all of the previous films in this series, like his parents' (Andrew and Monique De La Croix) death when Bond was a child; he was then raised by his aunt, Charmain.
Coincidentally, my family died when I was the same age as Bond. I also have my childhood home, which I have not been to in years. The very thought of returning there, even to that area, greatly depresses me. Bond's parents are buried at the church on Skyfall, my dog (who I loved more than my family) is buried on the property. To further the coincidence, my backyard even faces a large church.
I saw this film in cinemas more than 40 or 45 times, and I never grew tired of it, nor do I even notice the two and a half hours long runtime. Best Bond film ever, and my favourite movie of all time.