Review of Skyfall

Release Date - 2'nd November 2012

One Word which describes the film - Human Bond

Best  Dialogue –  
 “What did you expect, an exploding pen?
We don’t go in for that anymore.”  

Genre - Action 

Story -  Neal Purvis , Robert Wade , John Logan 

Direction -  Sam Mendes 

Producer –  Michael G. Wilson  , Barbara Broccoli 

Cast- Daniel Craig , Javier Bardem , Judi Dench

Budget - $150 Million (approx 800 crores)

James Bond is the longest-running film franchise in history. It’s been 50 years since Sean Connery first took up the mantle as MI6 secret agent, James Bond, in Dr. No (1962) . 

Skyfall  is  the first Bond film not to have an Ian Fleming title but it is every bit as 007 as ‘Dr. No’ or ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’. The film is not the formulaic, superficial action spy fantasy loaded with Bond girls, expensive cars and gadgets  but a slice of  reality , a Bond film that is haunted by the past and deals with that in,  explosive ways. What we witness here is the destruction of the old Bond mystique, and the creation of a new one. 
There's a shade of bitterness and a doom-laden undercurrent in the plot, which was to be expected perhaps from director Sam Mendes, who won an Oscar for American Beauty  .

In an interview Sam Mendes tells the BBC , "I've always thought that Bond, at his best, regenerates. For me, the challenge was to bring him and all the characters around him back in a totally different form. I love the way he has to re-emerge in a new world and justify his existence. That's really what the story's about."

In Skyfall, Bond's loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost. The plot revolves around the hunt for a stolen hard drive containing some very sensitive information    

The film includes many things which remind you of earlier Bond films-

An opening ballad, performed by Adele .
The return of gadget provider Q
The return of Miss Moneypenny ,secretary to M .
Judi Dench plays the role of M,head of MI6 for the seventh time .
An Aston Martin DB5, first seen in Goldfinger (1964) .

Other traditional elements include explosive mayhem and  exotic locations . From Istanbul to snazzy Shanghai, to a lighted Macau ,  to a busy subway in London ,to a morbid cold Scotland countryside - all are captured brilliantly by cinematographer Roger Deakins . ( The film was shot in London, Scotland , Surrey , Berkshire , China , Turkey & Japan. Check http://www.movie- locations.com/movies/s/Skyfall.html )

Craig’s portrayal of an ageing, disillusioned Bond is first-rate. He looks human as a man struggling with an ageing body .

Spanish actor Javier Bardem plays MI6 super agent gone unimaginably bad. Bardem announces his arrival as Silva when he walks from the back of a large room towards the camera reciting a parable about two rats; it’s grippingly awesome.

Judi Dench returns as head of MI6, M, and despite starring youthfully beautiful Naomie Harris and Bérénice Marlohe she takes the mantle as the movie’s ultimate Bond girl. Dench’s M is central to the film’s plot and she plays the part of the vulnerable yet ballsy spy master with impeccable delicacy and vigorous energy.

Sam Mendes stamps his authority all over ‘Skyfall’. It’s without doubt one of his greatest cinematic achievements and the way in which he chose to shoot the film’s grand finale is nothing short of breathtakingly brilliant. 

Though ‘Skyfall’ is Christopher Nolanesque in its retrospective examination of the man behind 007 , it adds a human side to James Bond . When in the end Bond looks at the city  we are so much reminded of Batman when he looks at his Gotham city . Bond even says, “A storm is coming,” while revisiting his past . 

Real Bond lovers must read this article - James Bond: Cars, catchphrases and kisses 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20026367

In a line, though the film doesn't takes us to a fantasy world , it gives us the basic James Bond who is determined to get back to the top of his game .

Don't compare the film with earlier Bond films and it comes out as a winner . Can be watched in theaters.