Review of Skyfall (2012) by Yasemin Y — 08 Jun 2017

Impressive for its balancing acts Skyfall manages to be one of the most intelligent entries in the series and one of the most accessible at the same time. It seems a little strange to go from Bond's two-part origin story to a film that considers whether he is over-the-hill, but it was a wise move allowing the reboot to continue its trend of taking the franchise to new places and of deeper exploration of the character. In this case a discussion of whether the character and series are still relevant that is supremely well-handled balanced so that it doesn't get in the way of the story or become too pretentious. Craig does a Bond past his best as well as he did a fresh-faced, brand-new Bond and while the acting of his allies and enemies is some of the best seen in the series, Craig clearly carries the film and it's hard to imagine it working without him.

Another impressive balance is between being probably the most radically different Bond film in terms of structure and plot and still feeling like a Bond film. After Casino Royale stripped away many classic Bond elements, Skyfall resurrects a lot of them; things that were completely unexpected within the more realistic world of the rebooted 007 are weaved in, admittedly sometimes the seams show, but mostly they are achieved in clever ways that work in the context. Overall Skyfall makes for a fitting 50th anniversary celebration of the cinematic James Bond.