After revitalizing the James Bond franchise with a new take on the 007 role in the gritty reboot Casino Royale, Daniel Craig let down fans with Quantum of Solace, which was a pretty generic action movie filled with Easter eggs for the sake of Easter eggs. He won those fans back with his next Bond movie, the Sam Mendes-directed Skyfall, which marked the return of 007’s gadgets — and his Aston Martin.
The movie was praised by critics for balancing the tone between the campiness of Bond’s early adventures and the seriousness of Craig’s rebooted series, but Skyfall is not without a few problems.
Right: Daniel Craig’s Commitment To Playing Bond
While Sony eventually cut a paycheck big enough to get him back for No Time to Die, Daniel Craig made it abundantly clear during the promotional tour for Spectre that he was sick of playing James Bond, and it really shows in his bored, phoned-in performance.
After that interminable slog, it’s refreshing to go back to Skyfall and see what a great Bond he was when he actually cared about the role.
Wrong: Inconsistent Tone
Tonally, Skyfall tries to have its cake and eat it, too. Sam Mendes flits between attempting to capture the authentic grit of Casino Royale and harking back to the all-out campiness of the Roger Moore era.
In Mendes’ next Bond movie, Spectre, the tone became a little more consistent, but that movie had an abundance of different problems on top of that.
Right: Roger Deakins’ Action Cinematography
From the opening motorcycle chase turned fight on the roof of a moving train to the midpoint courtroom shootout, Skyfall has some fantastic action set pieces, mostly thanks to the work of Oscar-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins.
When Bond fights a sniper high up in a skyscraper, the brawl is silhouetted against a neon-lit billboard. Deakins took intense action and made it breathtaking and cinematic.
Wrong: Disjointed Finale
All the action sequences in Skyfall are spectacular — except for the final one. After two hours of thrilling chase sequences and perfectly executed fight choreography, Skyfall devolves into a clunky Michael Bay-style shoot-‘em-up in its climax.
Bond returns to his childhood home in the Scottish countryside, arms himself, and fends off Silva and his henchmen, who bombard the house with gunfire from a helicopter.
Right: Javier Bardem’s Creepy Performance As The Villain
An essential component of any great Bond movie is a memorable villain. Unfortunately, for every Blofeld, there are a dozen Renards. Raoul Silva in Skyfall was unforgettable, and it was all thanks to Javier Bardem’s creepy performance in the role.
It was unsurprising that Bardem made for a riveting Bond villain, because he’d already proven his ability to play a terrifying force of antagonism in No Country for Old Men.
Wrong: Silva’s Nonsensical Plan
Although the character of Silva himself is captivating, his plan makes no damn sense. Like many of the worst Bond villain plans, it’s needlessly convoluted. It turns out that all Silva wants to do is kill M.
So, luring Bond to his private island, getting himself locked in a maximum-security MI6 prison, and blowing up a London tube was all kind of a waste of time.
Right: Adele’s Theme Song
The theme song is an important part of any Bond movie. Adele’s theme for Skyfall is a great 007 theme in its own right, and its melancholic tone perfectly ties into the opening scene with Bond’s near-death experience.
Adele’s title track was befitting of its honor as the first Bond theme to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Wrong: Overlong Runtime
Above all, Bond movies are action movies. They’re technically spy thrillers, but that’s just a subgenre of action cinema, and action movies need to move along at a brisk pace.
However, Skyfall is let down by its massive 143-minute runtime. And Spectre was even longer. With any luck, No Time to Die will be a sensible length for an action movie.
Right: Judi Dench’s Final Appearance As M
Judi Dench retired from the role of M after she was killed by Raoul Silva in Skyfall. She’d been playing the character since the Brosnan era, so it was heartbreaking to see her go. In many ways, Skyfall was like Logan for Dench’s take on M.
She gave a terrific performance for her final appearance, with the story focusing on her relationship with Bond and his loyalty to her as more than just his boss.
Wrong: Exploring 007’s Backstory
The less fans know about James Bond, the better. In Skyfall, we learn far too much about his backstory — and specifically about his childhood upbringing — at the expense of action taking place in his adulthood.
At least the exploration of Bond’s childhood in Skyfall wasn’t as heinous as Spectre’s subsequent attempts to force a through-line into the Craig 007 saga, disregarding the decades-old tradition that Bond movies are standalone.