Skyfall - The Greatest Bond Film in the Modern Era?

The latest effort in the 50 year saga of masculinity wrapped in Tuxedo. Cinematically this is probably the best Bond film ever made. There is a scene involving low lighting, tons of glass doors and a jellyfish constantly reflected across all surfaces which makes for fascinating camouflage. To be perfectly honest, I enjoyed the camera work and visuals much more than the action which was good, but nothing I haven't seen before. Like The Dark Knight Rises, this film allows audiences to see the traditionally robust, mythical hero become old and vulnerable.

True to the unbreakable vow of all contemporary action films, the movie is one never ending chase sequence. Creepy Spaniard guy dyes his hair blonde and provides the necessary antagonist, but this is where the overall concept of this film fell short for me. I wanted more emphasis on the aging... slow, inevitable death. I guess what I want is not a Bond film, but more of a character study analyzing how Bond's life would fall apart without mortal pursuit, combat and at least two nubile women moaning "James" all the same time. But in Hollywood this film will never happen. If things don't explode every 10 minutes we get bored, throw our popcorn at the screen and head-butt the stranger in the seat next to us.

What I probably enjoyed the most were some good inside jokes at the theater. At one point, we discover Bond's family heriloom collection of guns were sold to "some guy from Idaho." Ralph Fines is stuck as Voldermort in my mind. In every scene he appears I'm waiting for him to whip out a wand and start screaming "AVADA KEDAVRA!" At the end of the film, I was waiting for him to reveal himself to Bond as the Dark Lord and via the Imperius curse, make Bond his first Muggle Death Eater. But I was denied.

The biggest failing of the movie is the end of the opening sequence. Bond has been shot in the chest or mortally wounded. After this he able to spend 15 minutes fighting on top of a train at high speeds. His fellow agent is instructed to take out the bad guy with a sniper rifle and shoots Bond instead (never clear where he was shot either). He falls 300 feet into a raging river and the classic musical opening sequence begins. We see him rescued by some River Nymphs and sucked down into the sandy abyss shadow and intrigue. Later with no explanation whatsoever, we see bond ravishing women (bored), drinking liquor with scorpions on his hand (boring) and grimacing at his chest wound (chicks dig scars).

I guess we are forced to believe River Nymphs really saved him because that's all we get. It could have been the end of the franchise and it was brushed off with "Put some river mud on it and get back in there" attitude. Whatever.

For me, the modern era of Bond begins with Golden Eye. Since that time, I think Casino Royal was the best entry, followed by Golden Eye which upheld the sacred rule of killing Sean Bean at the end. As much as I've whined, I would rank this 3rd in the modern era. A fine film... but not the zenith of the franchise.