Movie first.
In my opinion, this is the best Bond movie ever. I understand there are some Sean Connery films that are very good, but I am not fond of the kitschy style. I am fond of Sean Connery, but ohmygod, I like Daniel Craig even more. And this movie is well done. It starts with an amazing chase scene with an unexpected twist. The tone of the movie quiets for a minute, as it must, then ramps right back up.
More time is given to other great characters in this film - M has more lines, and more Judi Dench is a good thing. Ralph Fiennes is introduced, and has a decent small role. We finally meet Moneypenny, and she's going to be a favorite. I have loved Naomie Harris since 28 Days Later, and now she has a series! Well done.
And the biggie - Javier Bardem as the villain. I feel the director, Sam Mendes, hit the ball out of the park with this movie for several reasons. As mentioned, we got more of the characters we love - and they're well acted with real roles. Second, what a villain! Has this sentence ever been said before? Bardem should get a Best Supporting nomination for his role here. In a Bond film. No shit. I cannot express how disturbing and creepy and sad and mesmerizing Bardem is as Silva, a disaffected spy. And what Mendes did? We meet Bardem halfway through the film, and he has a decent amount of screen time.
Third - there are a lot of historical Bond references here. As this franchise is now an institution, this is nice for the audience. Fourth - I liked the ending! Points three and four combine and Bond takes us "back in time" for the finale. There are plenty of explosions (don't worry), but this isn't a standard action flick ending as you would see in a Michael Bay film. (Or as we saw in Quantum of Solace.)
And for the fun stuff - Daniel Craig looks hot throughout the entire film. He spends almost the entire movie in a suit (sometimes a tux), and wardrobe departments around the world must love this guy. He wears clothes like no other man I've ever seen anywhere. In Skyfall he fights, jumps on top of a train, wrestles with Bardem, all while looking good. They put him in a bizarre sweatsuit at M16 and he still looks amazing. Let's take a minute on Dead Turkey day to be thankful for that.
The cars are awesome. Albert Finney is in the film. I wasn't expecting Skyfall to be what it was - I was surprised! Their are serious suggestions that Bond is too old for the job, and he proves them wrong - always satisfying.
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