 Skyfall
Bond sits manacled in a chair, while the incredibly hospitable villain engages him in conversation about his operation. Bond: Everybody needs a hobby.
Silva: So what's yours?
Bond: Resurrection And resurrection is what Skyfall is all about.
Daniel Craig is back in his third outing as James Bond, 007. It wasn't that long ago that we met this untested agent on his first mission in Casino Royale, that we were introduced to a new type of Bond. Craig was cold and calculating, and sold his credentials as an action oriented Bond, no smirking or quips, a physical agent who harkened back to the original novel's agent provocateur. The new series stumbled somewhat in the oddly titled Quantum of Solace, a muddled revenge story that was almost as confused as its title or the choice of Jack White and Alicia Keys to duo for the theme song. Arguably some faith may have been lost there. But it has been renewed, regained by a back to basics Bond story with more than a few surprises.
Skyfall's main plot is very simple. A list of spies currently under cover in various terrorist organizations is stolen, and the thief is making the identities public. M (Dame Judi Dench) is the oblique target of this revenge, repayment for some shadowy prior betrayal. Bond is challenged to maintain his allegiance to M, and his desire to continue working for MI6. There's not a world-endangering threat here; it's all very personal.
 Every James Bond film has points that typically, almost ritually, thrill the 007 fan. The first trill of the various Monty Norman themes. Q assigning Bond his equipment, and reminding him to bring it all back intact. The bad girls and good girls, the villain's master plan exposed, and of course the elegant master spy in evening wear walking boldly into the lair of his foe. For years it's been a checklist, but perhaps one that's become perfunctory and predictable. But again, in Skyfall we have a real resurrection of it all.
And we start with a severely damaged Bond, in a sub-plot not unlike that from the novel You Only Live Twice. Physically and mentally damaged from the brutal events at the beginning of the film, Bond returns to service unfit for duty. But he is assigned to the task at hand by M against all advice.
Is this her belief in his eventual ability, or is she just tossing him onto the chessboard as another pawn to be sacrificed? It's a plot that's been danced around in several prior Bond outings, but never so convincingly and mostly due to Craig's superior portrayal.
Fans will love this film. They will love it because it is a resurrection without being a complete reboot of the series. Characters and elements thought abandoned are reintroduced. There's some genuine tragedy, carefully exposed again by Craig's acting rather than by exposition. And of course, there are the aforementioned "thrilling elements."  Cinematography and almost a travelogue agenda have been part of the James Bond legacy since Ian Flemming started writing, and Skyfall does not disappoint. From Istanbul to the Scottish Highlands, Bond chases and is chased over some beautifully stunning and romantically somber scenery. The Singapore night scenes are particularly striking, having an almost science fiction feel to them.
The action direction is absolutely first rate, with Craig's physicality conveying the dangerous unstoppable agent with an ease already firmly established in the two prior films.
The Skyfall musical single by Adele is notably the best since Chris Cornell's You Know My Name in Casino Royale. The song's slow simple rhythmic piano gives way to the eventual triumphant orchestral surge, and that bluesy voice a nostalgic reminder of earlier Bond themes. This coupled with amazingly surreal title graphics following Bond's watery death and resurrection will raise the hair on the back of any true fan's neck. The lyrics carry the opening scenes directly into the main film, where Thomas Newman's excellent score blends with Norman's classic themes and take over.
It's noteworthy that like Cornell, Adele's Skyfall does not appear on the soundtrack album. Only available as a single, and planned to be on a "Best of Adele" album, this is a marketing and profits move that is sure to disappoint fans.
 But what will satisfy fans is the choice of this film's villain. No Country for Old Men's Oscar winning Javier Bardem dons a blonde wig to play Sliva, a powerful and unflinchingly deadly master computer hacker and retired spy who lives in the shadows of the criminal world. Undetected and successful, he has apparently grown tired of his near limitless power and has decided on an overdue play for revenge. Silva is elegantly cordial in his menace, genuinely funny and a strategic planner almost beyond belief.
He's a wonderfully believable amalgam of several recent comic book film characters, easily capturing the best elements of Heath Ledger's unpredictable Joker, Bane's long-term planner and strategist, and Tom Hiddleston's hero-manipulating Loki. Scenes with Bardem light up, and the audience anticipation is palpable.
This resurrected Bondverse is alive with characters that we may have forgotten we've missed, including an "old mechanical friend" that will make any fan smile. Q is reintroduced by Cloud Atlas' Ben Whishaw as a very young man that Bond notes still has "bumps on his face." But there are many other surprises waiting for you along this line that we won't spoil here, including a couple unexpected good-byes. Be aware that although there is no post-credit scene, there are two very big surprises with ramifications for the series overall in the last five minutes. Skyfall is an excellent film. A savory morsel for fans, with a reminder that this is the 50th year for the property. The subtle rebooting of the film series wasn't something obviously needed, especially since Craig is only three films in, but given the changes made we're even more excited about the next fifty years of Bond to come.
And James Bond Will Return.
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