Skyfall

I love James Bond. Who doesn't? Yes it can be campy. Yes it can be cheesy. Yes, everyone hates Quantum of Solace. But there is something about this franchise that is classic to me and I will always love it, but even I was hesitant to see this movie. I thought the trailers for Skyfall looked amazing and I do love Daniel Craig as 007, but the last movie's failure kept me away from immediately returning to the series. Thankfully I was totally wrong. Not only is Skyfall an amazing movie, but I would say it's the best of the series. Yes, I just said that. Better than Goldfinger. Better than Goldeneye. Better than Casino Royale. 

First off, this is Craig's best performance yet as Bond. He still brings that dark and brooding sense that keeps him apart from the other Bonds, he has a bit of a sense of humor in this one. Hell, he actually smiled a couple times. I liked him more here as a person rather than a character than I did in the last two films.  Do I even need to praise Judi Dench? She's a great M, and I won't spoil anything on her arch in this movie. By the way: hey there Ralph Fiennes, I have a feeling we'll see more of you. I did have issues with Javier Bardem as the villain. I know he's meant to chew the scenery: he is a James Bond villain after all. But the rest of the movie tries to be serious, so having such the villain overact some much is distracting. Even so, I won't deny he wasn't creepy and effective in the end: just a slightly more subtle performance would have been better. As for the story, I liked it a lot. It wasn't anything special, but it worked for what it was and lead to a really enjoyable movie. I liked the concept of Bond having to return from the dead. He could have continued enjoying his life with CGI scorpions (okay, that part was stupid) and ignoring MI6, but he knew he had to return and find the will to keep going. It was essentially the same idea as The Dark Knight Rises, but the idea of the hero's comeback is a little more underplayed here.

Now here is where the movie really shines: in the action and the visual style. The fight in the skyscraper in Shanghai was one of the best fight scenes I've ever seen in a movie. From the pacing to the action to the photography to the tension, it was just flawless. The fight at Skyfall was huge and awesome: it was basically Home Alone without slapstick and a lot more guns (speaking of, it was great to see Q in this movie)

Skyfall is highly recommended. Even if you're not a fan of Bond, I still say it deserves a watch. From beginning to end this is one of the best action movies I've seen in years. Welcome back, Mr. Bond.