Skyfall opens with a dapper James Bond stealthily coming out of the darkness into the light. As soon as you are able to see his face, the modern yet familiar Bond theme hits a loud high point and your heart skips a beat. A little while later, he makes a daring leap into the exposed backside of a train and in one of the sexiest moments of the year, straightens his sleeve like it's no big deal. Skyfall sets your expectations sky high and miraculously maintains the excitement and tension established so early on.

Where Skyfall fits into the overall history of Bond films isn't something I can form an opinion on due to the fact that I've only seen…

As a Brit it probably isn’t wise to admit that I don’t really care much for the Bond films. They are perfectly adequate action-adventure movies but the vast majority are utterly indistinguishable from one another. Daniel Craig’s tenure as the iconic spy is no different and that includes Casino Royale which is widely considered one of the best Bond films to date. Because of this I was sceptical of the near-unanimous praise that Skyfall has been receiving but for once the acclaim is more than deserved as not only is this a great Bond movie but a great film period.

On paper at least Skyfall looked promising with a pedigree rarely seen in such blockbuster fare. Sam Mendes hardly seemed…

Sometimes the old ways are the best.

My love affair with James Bond has been a long one. One of the first novels I read in English was Casino Royale. I was about eleven years old I think and just finding my footing in the English language. The accessibility of that novel, combined with the thrilling story appealed to me very much and warranted many a trip to my local library to seek out more novels about this roguish, charismatic and brutal cold hearted killer. I have read all Bond novels and love them for their escapist qualities.

The transition to the movies has been a bumpy ride for me as I felt they never managed to capture Fleming's Bond…

Sam Mendes proves his Bond making credentials, and confirms his excellent film making credentials.

Skyfall certainly is an excellent film. The best Bond film in 48 years. This is a proper spy film, and James Bond, as a character is a proper spy.

As a Bond fan this film pleased me in every way. You have to hand it to the film makers, it takes massive balls to put a 4 minute title sequence 10 minutes into a massive film release these days, and this film has massive balls. And you know what?, it's an excellent title sequence. Even Adele's theme sounds massive. There are so many slightly contrived Bond fan pleasing moments, but those same slightly contrived Bond fan…

50 years ago, an icon was born.
Today, Skyfall adds to the legend that is Bond...James Bond.

Last Summer, I was able to watch every single 007 film to prepare myself for Skyfall. I was already a fan of the character but watching all the films made me appreciate the character more and appreciate more of how important he is to pop culture as whole. After finally seeing the film that I've been building myself up for, it would be an understatement to say that it delivers. After seeing them all, I think this may be the best film in the franchise to date.

I was already excited to see Bond on the big screen for the first time, but…

"Do you know what it does to you? Hydrogen cyanide?" - Raoul Silva

This film has left me speechless. Best Bond film I've seen? Yeah. Oh yeah. I'll do a proper review, not just a list of stuff that's great about this.

Sam Mendes is a genius. How could he possibly take the steaming pile of guano that was Quantum of Solace and bring Bond back to form? This way, of course! Add three seriously prolonged action sequences, add Roger Deakins, take away Paul Haggis, add John Logan, add Ralph Fiennes, add Q, add Javier Bardem, add a plot and you've got Skyfall. A dash of humour doesn't go amiss in the spectacular concoction either. Frequent references back to the…

So... my previous criticisms still stand.
- The score is only exceptional when it's not trying desperately to be John Barry'esqe. I just hope we get David Arnold back for the 24th entry in the franchise. Either that or Thomas Newman pulls his socks up and stops with the Old School Bond Meets Hans Zimmer nonsense.
- The ending wraps things up way too nicely and far to quickly when you consider the time and effort it took to get there. I've gotten over the fact that this film splooshes its wad with a new M, Q and Moneypenny... but for heaven's sake... be a bit more subtle about it.

Having said that...

Daniel Craig is excellent. This is by…