Skyfall

James Bond hasn't looked so good since Sean Connery. Truly. Daniel Craig returns for his third Bond film, continuing from about where "Quantum of Solace" left off- moving the story forward from where it began (again) in "Casino Royale".

The opening credits of "Skyfall", which opened last weekend, have a distinct "Bond-esque" feel, including the mirror images melding together in the center (psychedelic!) and nude silhouetted women and some very cool sequences under water. However... they went on very long for a modern movie, and I'm not terribly sold on Adele's theme song. I'm not a big Adele fan anyway, and the simplistic lyrics of this song didn't win me over, though the haunting music did seem to fit the footage. Here, judge for yourself:

Once the credits finally end, the movie is off and running with chases and tension and action and shooting and a really cute character named Eve (the very charming Naomie Harris) from MI6 racing to help Bond capture a bad guy who has stolen a disc containing the names of all the MI6 agents embedded undercover in terrorist cells (or something like that). 

The plot is classic Bond, with 007 chasing bad guys all over the world, intrigue, espionage, gadgets, awesome cars and bullet-peppered action. The writers did a really good job weaving together modern technology and sensibilities with classic Bond elements and characters and good old-fashioned spy vs. spy stuff. The always wonderful Judi Dench returns as M, and the movie is lifted even higher than Dench and Craig could manage by the additions of Ben Whishaw as Q and the incomparable Ralph Fiennes as Gareth Mallory. Javier Bardem delivers well as the antagonist, Silva, injecting unexpected (and much needed) humor, through his facial expressions and reactions.

I loved the climactic scene at Skyfall, which turns out to be... well... I don't want to spoil anything for you. Though I was reminded of rosebud.

The film contains some implied sex and a naked woman or two (a "Bond" requirement, I suppose) but it isn't too drawn out or graphic, thankfully. 

Speaking of Connery, I like this shirt that Google ads suggested I insert into my blog: