Skyfall (2012)

SKYFALL  (2012)  ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2
    D: Sam Mendes
    Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, 
    Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Berenice Marlohe, 
    Ben Whishaw, Albert Finney, Ola Rapace
Daniel Craig's third outing as James Bond has 007 on the trail of a rogue agent named Silva, played by Javier Bardem with weird-looking hair, worse-looking teeth, an insolent manner and a deadly personal grudge against Bond's boss M (Judi Dench). This more or less completes the origin story that began with "Casino Royale" in 2006, and provides a graceful valediction for one of the franchise's key players. It opens with a slam-bang chase, and concludes with a tense confrontation at Bond's ancestral home, a cold, remote outpost on the Scottish moor. In between, it's a Bond movie, and a good one, stylish, outlandish and irresistible, complete with a significant cameo by one of Bond's favorite vintage automobiles. (At the screening I attended, the audience broke into spontaneous applause only once, and that was for the car.) The end titles promise, as always, that Bond will return, and with several of his MI6 colleagues settling in for what could be an extended run, the future looks promising indeed.