Skyfall

Like most 30-somethings, James Bond was an ever present figure in my cinematic life. My dad and I would often watch them on a Sunday afternoon and no Christmas Day was complete without a Bond film to fall asleep to after lunch. Despite this, my interest in Bond is fairly limited, he didn’t seem a particularly ‘real’ character and you always knew that no matter what happened, he would be fine.

My personal favourite Bond was Roger Moore as I felt he brought a fantastic sense of comedy to the role. I lost interest when Timothy Dalton took up the challenge and although I know I’ve watched Pierce Brosnan versions, I couldn’t tell you anything about them.

I was persuaded to watch Casino Royale a while ago and immediately saw the massive improvement which was down to the popularity of the excellent Bourne films. The bar had been raised and Casino Royale more than met the challenge. Daniel Craig had made Bond more human, the story was more interesting and the film was visually very appealing.

Most people would agree that Quantum of Solace was a bitter disappointment, the film made little sense and the franchise looked tired and past it’s best. Moving onto 2012 and the franchise was celebrating 50 years since the release of the first Bond film and the pressure was on Sam Mendes to bring the film back to its former glory.

So Skyfall is a different, but very familiar kind of Bond. He is older, more careworn and is very aware of his increasing age. We find out more about his background and his complex relationship with M (Judi Dench) which shows him in a different light. Bond doesn't have quite the same swagger, the same confidence he had in previous films. I think that this a deliberate attempt by the film makers to show Bond with flaws and weaknesses and it was an excellent way of deconstructing and almost rebuilding Bond that everyone knows.

The story is typical Bond and is so quite unashamedly. There is a fantastic villain in Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) who is a former MI6 agent who holds a grudge against M. The plot is fairly simple and involves beautifully choreographed fight scenes and the necessary explosions. There is, of course, the usual close calls and a brilliant twist near the end that will make most viewers gasp. The film is very well made, fast-moving and holds the attention well.

Although I'm not a massive fan of Bond, the job has been very well done here. It was interesting that so much of the film was set in the UK although I couldn't really see the point of the China section (yes, money I know). But for a 50th anniversary film and all the pressures that creates, it met the challenge.

Some people have been saying that this is the film of the year. I don’t agree at all. This is a great, well-made film but there are no boundaries being broken here, nothing original or ground-breaking. This is a Bond film, albeit a very good one, but it is just a Bond film.

Verdict: A fantastically cinematic film with standout performances from Bardem, Dench and Craig. Although I didn’t think that the film had evolved as much as it could have done, I can completely understand why they wanted to create a film celebrating the 50 years of Bond. I am left wondering where the franchise can go now, the constant references to Bond’s age throughout the film would indicate that maybe the next film would be less action-based which would be a shame in my opinion.