It's not exactly a midlife crisis, but as James Bond celebrates 50 years on the big screen, he goes back to his roots in order to find a way forward.

Although briefly outlined in series creator Ian Fleming's final novel, You Only Live Twice, Bond's childhood -- with its archetypal orphaned-at-a-young age story -- has largely been ignored in the films. Skyfall, the 23rd film in the vaunted series, brings the shadowy biography into the fore, fleshing out for the first time the backstory of a character whose blank slate has become its own canon. There is an inherent danger in interrupting the fantasies of hardened Bond fans, but screenwriter John Logan, a fan of the series since 1971's Diamonds Are Forever, credited the franchise's producers for allowing 007 to evolve and permitting the new film to treat Bond, played for the third time by Daniel Craig, with "the complexity of a modern film character."

Parental mysteries, though, are the least of the liberties Logan, who worked closely with director Sam Mendes on a script initially written by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, took with the character. In a pivotal -- and sure to be talked-about -- scene that finds Bond tied to a chair by Javier Bardem's flamboyant villain character, there is a wink-wink, arched-eyebrow exchange between the two, in which Bardem slowly unbuttons Craig's shirt and the famously libidinous agent smiles as he hints at maybe having had previous experience in same-sex carnal relations. It would seem a first for 007, but Logan doesn't think it's much of a stretch.

"Some people claim it’s because I’m, in fact, gay but not true at all," Logan told The Hollywood Reporter at the NYC premiere of the film, thrown by Tribeca Film Institute. "Sam and I were discussing, there were so many scenes where Bond goes mano-a-mano with the villain, whether it’s Dr. No or Goldfinger or whatever, and there’s been so many ways to do a cat-and-mouse and intimidate Bond, and we thought, what would truly make the audience uncomfortable is sexual intimidation; playing the sort of homoerotic card that is sort of always there subtextually with characters like Scaramanga in Man With the Golden Gun or Dr. No. So we just decided that we should play the card and enjoy it."

Whether the homoeroticism is a new card or a jack tucked under his tuxedo sleeve, there are certain well-known traditions that must be upheld. The MI6 agent always has been a heightened version of fiction, a living legend whose vast film legacy -- the cars, the women, the espionage -- breathes and follows him even as his memory is reset by each opening sequence of his next film. As a self-proclaimed Bond geek, and new caretaker of the franchise, Logan was keenly aware of some things he must -- and very much wanted to -- include.

"You have to have beautiful women, you have to have great action, you have to have some amount of suavity, and you have to have a certain amount of espionage," in a Bond film. "Oh, and a great villain."

For those reasons and many more, Bardem certainly qualifies. And Skyfall packs plenty of nods to the other obvious and beloved classic trademarks  -- the Aston Martin car, the classic John Barry score, the two Bond girls -- but there also is a deliberate attempt to pare down some of the excesses. Instead of nifty yet scientifically impossible gadgets, 007 is given just a personalized gun and a tiny radio, gigantic action sequences are fought on trains, and old-school dynamite triggers most of the big bangs.

Craig's Bond always has relied on his grit and strength, beginning with the series semi-reboot Casino Royale in 2006. Some say that came as a response to the big-screen adaptations of Robert Ludlum's Bourne novels, which saw Matt Damon inject the modern-day spy character with a new edge and toughness. Logan, whose script infuses the Bond franchise with its rawest, most unadorned action yet, says it has nothing to do with the newcomer -- and puts that series, which stumbled a bit in its segue to a fourth film featuring Jeremy Renner, in a different league entirely.

"Jason Bourne -- step back, kid. You’ve got a long way to go before you hit your 50th anniversary," he said, half-jokingly, adding that his film's effort to mix dark themes and classic 007 details "has nothing to do with Bourne. It has to do with wanting to create a really realistic story but also acknowledge the grandiosity of Bond, so that it could be both an honest-to-God movie for adults and also a Bond movie that has the women and the cars and the action that the audience loves."

Logan will have a chance to continue to build on that new-old legacy; he has signed to write the next two films in the Bond franchise.

Skyfall opens wide Nov. 9 in North America.

Email: Jordan.Zakarin@THR.com; Twitter: @JordanZakarin

When asked about the moment last month, star Craig shot down any thought to Bond being bisexual.

"What are you going to do?" Craig said at a press conference for the film. "I don't see the world in sexual divisions." Craig then added that while some have suggested Bardem's Silva might be homosexual, he didn't agree. "I'm like, I think he'll f--k anything."

For his part, Bardem has kept the sexual preference of his villain oblique.

"You could read it that way," Bardem said to EW.com when asked about Silva's sexuality. "That option was there in the script. The word that [director Sam Mendes] kept using was 'uncomfortableness'. Beyond the sexuality, he wanted it to feel like you don't know if Silva's joking or not."

Cast

The main cast of Skyfall was officially announced at a press conference held at the Corinthia Hotel in London on 3 November 2011,^[9][10][11] fifty years to the day since Sean Connery was announced to play James Bond in the film Dr. No.^[12]

• Daniel Craig as James Bond, agent 007. Director Sam Mendes described Bond as experiencing a "combination of lassitude, boredom, depression [and] difficulty with what he's chosen to do for a living."^[13]
• Judi Dench, age 77, as M, the head of MI6 and Bond's commanding officer. Skyfall is Dench's seventh and final appearance in the role.^[14] This was Dench's largest ever on-screen role playing the M character, the most significant James Bond film ever to explore a relationship between the M and James Bond characters. Producer Barbara Broccoli says that 'Skyfall' explores this relationship perhaps more than in any of the 22 previous films. She has said, "We wanted to really mine the relationship between Bond and M, because it is the most significant relationship he has in his life. M is the only person who represents authority to him. You have two extraordinary actors, and we just thought - let's go all the way. It's worked extremely well. It's a very emotional story." On an October 2012 TV talk-show with Graham Norton on the The Graham Norton Show, Judi Dench revealed how her mobile cell phone has a ringtone with the James Bond theme and how when it rang during filming on the set, it would often produce laughter, and after a while, her annoying 007 cell-phone ring-tone became an on-set running joke.
• Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva (Tiago Rodriguez),^[15] the film's main antagonist. Silva is a former MI6 agent turned cyberterrorist who is seeking revenge against those he holds responsible for betraying him.^[16][17] Bardem described Silva as "more than a villain", while Craig stated that Bond has a "very important relationship" to Silva.^[18] In casting the role, director Sam Mendes admitted that he lobbied hard for Bardem to accept the part. Mendes saw the potential for the character to be recognised as one of the most memorable characters in the franchise and wanted to create "something [the audience] may consider to have been absent from the Bond movies for a long time".^[19] He felt that Bardem was one of the few actors up to the task of becoming "colourless" and existing within the world of the film as something more than a function of the plot.^[20] In preparing for the role, Bardem had the script translated into his native Spanish in order to better understand his character, which Mendes cited as being a sign of the actor's commitment to the film.^[21] Bardem dyed his hair blond for the role after brainstorming ideas with Mendes to come up with a distinct visual look for the character.^[22]
• Ralph Fiennes as Gareth Mallory,^[23] a former lieutenant colonel in the British Army and now the Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee.^[24] His position gives him the authority to regulate MI6.^[25] Fiennes stated that he could not say anything specific about the role other than that it was a "really interesting part which is really quite fun".^[26]
• Naomie Harris as Eve Moneypenny.^[27][28][29] Harris' role was initially presented as that of Eve, an MI6 field agent who works closely with Bond. Despite ongoing speculation in the media that Harris had been cast as Miss Moneypenny,^{[30][31][32][33]} this was not confirmed by anyone involved in production of the film, with Harris herself even going so far as to dismiss claims that Eve was in fact Moneypenny, stating that "Eve is not remotely office-bound".^[34] According to Harris, Eve "[believes] she is Bond's equal, but she is really his junior".^[35] She's the first black actress to play the role. At the time of her casting, she told the Daily Mail, "I've been doing yoga three times a week to get into shape. I've been stunt driving and firing machine guns, which I've discovered I have a real taste for." (Moneypenny 2011: First black actress to get role was brought up by single mother and bullied at her London school, By BAZ BAMIGBOYE and SARAH HAJIBAGHERI)
• Ben Whishaw as Q, the MI6 quartermaster.^[36] He's the fourth actor to play Q in the official James Bond series. 'Skyfall' marks the first time that Q is younger than James Bond. The producers have said that "When it came to trying to reintroduce the character of Q, it made sense that he would now be a young technical genius and the character was written with that in mind." Whishaw's character of Q has been likened to that of computer-genius types like Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg. Ironically, Whishaw has said that he doesn't even own a computer. He bears a passing resemblance to a character in the 1991 animated TV series James Bond Jr.: Q's adolescent grandson, Horace (aka "I.Q."), who attends the same high security secondary school as James Bond's supposed nephew.
  
• Bérénice Marlohe as Sévérine.^[37][38] Marlohe described her character as being "glamorous and enigmatic",^[35] and that she drew inspiration from GoldenEye villain Xenia Onatopp (played by Famke Janssen) in playing Sévérine.^[39] Marlohe recalls being in Paris waiting to get her visa to go to the U.S. when a friend told her about upcoming auditions for "Skyfall." Though she had no idea what the film was about or who the Bond girl would be in the movie, she quickly pursued getting an interview. "I really believe in signs," said Marlohe, who was a painter and pianist before turning to acting. Because she had watched the Bond films on television since she was a child — she particularly enjoyed the villains played by Grace Jones and Christopher Walken in "A View to a Kill" — she felt "strongly connected to the Bond universe — you can feel a lot of freedom in creation [of a character] because it is a world between reality and imagination." So she went online to look for contacts involved in the production, including finding the agent of Sam Mendes on Facebook and casting director Debbie McWilliams' email address. After two auditions — the second with Mendes, whom she describes as "good and brilliant" — she landed the role of Sévérine. During an encounter with her in a casino, Bond discovers Sévérine is a vulnerable and frightened woman with a lot of baggage. Naturally, they have a steamy clinch in the shower before a violent encounter with Silva. "I based my inspiration on her on the Chimera," Marlohe said with a warm smile. "I wanted to have that dangerousness spreading through her, but at the same time I wanted to create a real human being with a range of emotions and the inner struggles we go through as human beings. "What is very interesting about life is that we put a social mask on. We don't reveal what we feel most of the time. It was very interesting to have that in the character so people could identify with her." ('Skyfall': Berenice Marlohe stands tall as Severine, By Susan King, Los Angeles Times, November 10, 2012)
• Albert Finney as Kincade, the gamekeeper of the Skyfall estate.^[40] Sean Connery was almost approached to play the role in nod for it being the 50th anniversary of the film series.^[41]
• Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner, the MI6 Chief of Staff.
• Helen McCrory as Clair Dowar, a British minister.^[42][43] McCrory joined the cast after Sam Mendes contacted her personally and offered her the part.^[44]
• Ola Rapace as Patrice, a French mercenary who "is a man of few words" and "loves violence".^[45]

Production

Development

Production of Skyfall was suspended throughout 2010 because of MGM's financial troubles. They resumed pre-production following MGM's exit from bankruptcy on 21 December 2010 and in January 2011 the film was officially given a release date of 9 November 2012 by MGM and the Broccoli family, with production scheduled to start in late 2011. Since then, MGM and Sony Pictures announced that the UK and Ireland release date would be brought forward to 26 October 2012, two weeks ahead of the US release date, which was 9 November 2012.^[46] The film's budget is estimated to be between $150 million^[47][48] and $200 million,^[2] compared to the $200 million spent on Quantum of Solace.^[49]

Skyfall is part of year-long celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Dr. No and the Bond film series. According to producer Michael G. Wilson, a documentary crew is scheduled to follow production of the film to celebrate the anniversary.^[12] Skyfall was also the first James Bond film to be released in Imax venues.^[6][7]

Title

In August 2011, several news websites reposted a rumour that originally appeared in Serbian newspaper Blic stating that Bond 23 would be entitled Carte Blanche and would be an adaptation of the recent continuation novel by Jeffery Deaver.^[50] On 30 August, Eon Productions officially denied any link between Bond 23 and Carte Blanche, stating that "the new film is not going to be called Carte Blanche and will have nothing to do with the Jeffery Deaver book."^[51] On 3 October 2011, fifteen domain names including 'jamesbond-skyfall.com' and 'skyfallthefilm.com' were reported to have been registered on behalf of MGM and Sony Pictures by Internet brand-protection service MarkMonitor. This led to supposition in media that the film had been given the name "Skyfall". These reports were not confirmed at the time by Eon Productions, Sony or MGM.^[52] Skyfall was later confirmed as the title at the November press conference, during which co-producer Barbara Broccoli said that the title "has some emotional context which will be revealed in the film".^[53] The title refers to the Skyfall Lodge, Bond's childhood home and the setting for the film's finale.^[54]

Crew

Skyfall was directed by Sam Mendes, who first signed on to the project shortly after Quantum of Solace was released, and remained on board as a consultant during the period of uncertainty surrounding MGM's financial situation. Speculation in the media^[55] suggested that Mendes had commissioned rewrites of the script to "[remove] action scenes in favour of 'characterful performances'" with the intention of bidding for an Academy Award.^[55] Mendes denied the reports, stating that the film's planned action scenes were an important part of the overall film.^[12]

Peter Morgan was originally commissioned to write a script, but left the project when MGM filed for bankruptcy and production of the film stalled; despite his departure, Morgan later stated that the final script was based on his original idea, retaining what he described as the film's "big hook".^[56] Director Mendes adamantly denied this, saying, "Absolutely not. Definitively not. That's a lie. I don't want to make a big story about it, that's just not true ... I read that treatment of Peter's and nothing remains. He wrote the treatment, but they binned it when I arrived. That credit grabbing is not fair on the writers."^[57] The final script was written by Bond screenwriting regulars Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, as well as John Logan.^[58][59][60] Logan recounted being brought into the project by his long-time friend Sam Mendes, describing the process between Mendes and the writers as "very collaborative", and that writing Skyfall was one of the best experiences he had had in writing a film.^[61]

Roger Deakins signed on as cinematographer, having previously worked with Mendes on Jarhead and Revolutionary Road.^[62] Deakins used the Arri Alexa camera for filming.^[63] Dennis Gassner returned as production designer, the costume designer was Jany Temime, Alexander Witt was director of the second unit, the stunt co-ordinator was Gary Powell, and Chris Corbould supervised the special effects, while the visual effects supervisor was Steve Begg. All have worked on previous Bond films.^[3] Daniel Kleinman returned to design the film's title sequence after stepping aside to allow graphic design studio MK12 to create the Quantum of Solace sequence.^[64]

Locations

Sam Mendes and Barbara Broccoli travelled to South Africa for location scouting in April 2011.^[65] With the film moving into pre-production in August, reports emerged that shooting would take place in India,^[66] with scenes to be shot in the Sarojini Nagar district of New Delhi^[67] and on railway lines between Goa and Ahmedabad.^[68] The production crew faced complications in securing permission to close sections of the Konkan Railway.^[69] Similar problems in obtaining filming permits were encountered by production crews for The Dark Knight Rises and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.^[70] Permission was eventually granted to the Bond production crew, with some additional restrictions put in place at the request of the Indian authorities;^[71] however, it was later reported that the production crew had elected not to shoot in India.^[72] Further reports emerged stating that filming would take place in Istanbul's Sultanahmet Square,^[73] the Hagia Sophia museum, the city of Fethiye and the Varda railway bridge near Adana,^[74] with production expected to spend three months in the country.^[75] Adana stands in for the outskirts of Istanbul in the film.^[45]

Mendes confirmed that China would be featured in the film, with shooting scheduled to take place in Shanghai and "other parts" of the country.^[12] Additional scenes were filmed at Ascot Racecourse, standing in for Shanghai Pudong International Airport.^{[citation needed]} The first official image from the film was released on 1 February 2012, showing Daniel Craig on set at Pinewood Studios, within a recreation of a skyscraper in Shanghai.^[76] Set reports dated April 2012 recorded that scenes would be set on Hashima Island, an abandoned island off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan.^[77][78]. In actuality, the scene was set on an unnamed island off the coast of Macau, though based on the real-life Hashima.^[79]. A scene set in the swimming pool of a Shanghai hotel was shot in London.^[80]

Shooting of the finale was planned to take place at Duntrune Castle in Argyll,^[81] but was cancelled shortly after filming began.^[82] Glencoe was instead chosen for filming of these scenes.^[83] Although supposedly based in Scotland, Bond's family home of Skyfall was constructed on Hankley Common in Surrey^[84] using plywood and plaster to build a full-scale model of the building.^[85]

Filming

Principal photography was scheduled to take up 133 days.^[63] Filming began on 7 November 2011^[86][87] in and around London,^[12][88] with scenes shot in Southwark and Whitehall, the National Gallery,^[89] Smithfield meat market and St Bartholomew's Hospital for the scene in which Bond enters MI6's underground headquarters,^[90] Canary Wharf,^[91] the Department of Energy and Climate Change,^[92] Charing Cross station (not the District line as in the film, but the disused Charing Cross branch of the Jubilee line)^{[citation needed]} and the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich,^[93] with residents reporting further filming as taking place in Cadogan Square,^[94] Tower Hill,^[95] and Parliament Square.^[96] The Vauxhall Bridge was closed to traffic for filming the aftermath of an explosion at the MI6 headquarters at Vauxhall Cross. Unlike The World Is Not Enough, which also featured an explosion at the building—which was filmed at a large-scale replica—the explosion in Skyfall was added digitally in post-production.^[97]

Production moved to Turkey in March 2012, with filming reported to be continuing until 6 May.^[98] A group of Turkish teenagers infiltrated a closed set in a railyard in Adana to film rehearsals of a fight scene on top of a train before being caught by security.^[99] Parts of Istanbul — including the Spice Bazaar, Yeni Camii, the Imperial Post Office, Sultanahmet Square and the Grand Bazaar — were closed for filming in April.^[98] Store owners in the affected areas were reportedly allowed to open their shops, but were not allowed to conduct business, instead being paid TRY750 (US$418) per day as compensation.^[98] Production faced criticism for allegedly damaging buildings while filming a motorcycle chase across rooftops in the city. Michael G. Wilson denied these claims, pointing out that the film crew had removed sections of rooftops before filming began and replaced them with replicas for the duration of the shoot; when filming finished, the original rooftops would be restored.^[100]

Music

Thomas Newman, who worked with Sam Mendes as composer for American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Jarhead and Revolutionary Road, replaced David Arnold as composer,^[101] becoming the ninth composer in the series' history. When asked about the circumstances surrounding his departure from the role, David Arnold commented that Newman had been selected by Mendes because of their work together, rather than because of Arnold's commitment to working with director Danny Boyle as composer for the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics.^[102] The soundtrack album was released on 29 October 2012 in the United Kingdom and on 6 November 2012 in the United States.^[103]

In October 2012, British singer-songwriter Adele confirmed that she had written and recorded the film's theme song with her regular songwriter, Paul Epworth.^[104][105] She later posted the cover for the "Skyfall" sheet music on Twitter, crediting the songwriting to herself and Epworth, with arrangements to both Epworth and orchestrator J. A. C. Redford.^[106] The song was released online at 0:07 am BST on 5 October 2012, a day dubbed "James Bond Day" by the producers as it marked fifty years to the day of the release of Dr. No.^[107]

Release and reception

The premiere of Skyfall was on 23 October 2012 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The event was attended by Charles, Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.^[108] The film was released in the UK three days later on 26 October and into US cinemas on 9 November.

Box office

Skyfall has earned $1.078 billion worldwide,^[7] and is the highest-grossing film worldwide for Sony Pictures,^[101] the third highest-grossing film of 2012,^[102] and the 8th highest-grossing film of all time.^[103] On its opening weekend, it earned $80.6 million from 25 markets.^[104] In the UK the film grossed �20.1 million on its opening weekend, making it the second-highest Friday-to-Sunday debut ever behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows � Part 2.^[105] It also achieved the second-highest IMAX debut ever behind The Dark Knight Rises.^[104] The film set a record for the highest seven-day gross with �37.2 million, surpassing previous record holder Deathly Hallows � Part 2 (�35.7 million).^[106] By 9 November 2012 the film had earned over �57 million to surpass The Dark Knight Rises as the highest grossing film of 2012, and the highest grossing James Bond film of all time in the UK.^[107] After forty days of release the total UK gross stood at �94.28 million, making Skyfall the highest-grossing film in the UK, surpassing the �94.03 million of Avatar.^[108] By 30 December 2012, it became the first film to gross more than �100 million ($161.6 million) in the UK.

Skyfall set an opening weekend record in Switzerland ($5.3 million) and recorded the second-largest opening weekend for a Hollywood film in India ($5.1 million), as well as grossing $14.3 million on its opening weekend in France.^[110] In Austria, it achieved the second-highest opening weekend ever ($3.4 million) behind The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, while in Finland, it scored the largest opening weekend when excluding previews ($1.47 million).^[111]

In North America, the film opened in 3,505 cinemas, the widest opening for a Bond film.^[112] The film earned $2.4 million from midnight showings on its opening day and a further $2.2 million from IMAX and large-format cinemas.^[112] CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade filmgoers gave the film was an "A" on an A+ to F scale.^[113] Skyfall went on to gross $30.8 million on its opening day in the US and Canada,^[114] and $88.4 million in its opening weekend, the biggest debut yet for a Bond film.^[115] As of January 2013, it has so far grossed $302.0 million in the United States and Canada, making it the fourth highest-grossing film of 2012 in these regions.^[7][116]

Critical reception

Skyfall received generally positive reviews from critics; Rotten Tomatoes sampled 278 reviewers and judged 92% of the reviews to be positive,^[117] while the film scored of 81 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 43 reviews.^[118] A number of critics, including Kate Muir, reviewing for The Times, Philip French, writing in The Observer, IGN's Daniel Krupa and the reviewers for the Irish Independent and the Daily Record, all asked whether Skyfall was the best Bond film produced.^[119] The Daily Telegraph's film reviewer, Robbie Collin, considered Skyfall to be "often dazzling, always audacious",^[27] with excellent action sequences in a film that contained humour and emotion.^[27] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter thought that Skyfall was "dramatically gripping while still brandishing a droll undercurrent of humor",^[120] going on to say that it was a film that had "some weight and complexity to it".^[120] Variety's Peter DeBruge suggested that the film's greatest strength lay in its willingness to put as much focus on characterisation as it did action set-pieces, allowing the two to co-exist rather than compete for the audience's attention,^[121] while Dave Itzkoff, reviewing for The New York Times, considered Skyfall to be "a superior follow-up to Casino Royale"^[122] which is "opulent rather than outlandish and insistently, progressively low-key".^[122] Kim Newman, reviewing the film for Empire, concluded, "Skyfall is pretty much all you could want from a 21st Century Bond: cool but not camp, respectful of tradition but up to the moment, serious in its thrills and relatively complex in its characters but with the sense of fun that hasn't always been evident lately".^[123] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, describing it as "a full-blooded, joyous, intelligent celebration of a beloved cultural icon".^[124] Reviewing for the New Statesman, Ryan Gilbey saw that "nostalgia permeates the movie",^[125] going on to say that "sometimes the old ways are the best".^[125]

A number of reviewers praised Daniel Craig in Skyfall. Roger Ebert believed that in Skyfall "Daniel Craig [takes] full possession of a role he previously played unconvincingly";^[124] Philip French commented that "Craig manages to get out of the shadow of Connery";^[126] while Daniel Krupa thought Craig's Bond was a "defining performance" for "a great actor".^[127] Edward Porter, writing in The Sunday Times, considered that "Craig has developed an authoritative Bond persona, dry and intelligent".^[128] Ryan Gilbey thought Craig had "relaxed into Bond without losing any steeliness".^[125]

The supporting cast also received praise. Roger Ebert reflected that Skyfall "at last provides a role worthy of Judi Dench, one of the best actors of her generation. She is all but the co-star of the film, with a lot of screen time, poignant dialogue, and a character who is far more complex and sympathetic than we expect in this series".^[124] Jenny McCartney, writing in The Sunday Telegraph, agreed, describing Dench as "compellingly luminous" in the film, and the one that "the camera caresses most meaningfully and often".^[129] McCartney thought Javier Bardem played Silva "with worrisome �lan",^[129] while Henry K Miller considered his character "the most authentically Bondian Bond villain in decades".^[130] A number of critics noted the strength of the supporting cast; Kim Newman found the "warmth and gravitas" of Finney's performance noteworthy,^[123] while other reviewers, including Edward Porter, Daniel Krupa and The Playlist's Oliver Lyttelton, singled out Ralph Fiennes as Mallory and Ben Whishaw as Q.^[131]

Ann Hornaday, writing for The Washington Post, thought Sam Mendes had reinvigorated the series, with Skyfall being "sleek, crisp, classy ... exhibiting just the right proportion of respect for legacy and embrace of novelty".^[132] Henry K. Miller of Sight & Sound agreed, and praised Mendes, who he thought was worthy of directing more Bond films.^[130] Kim Newman also praised Mendes' direction of the action sequences.^[123] The work of cinematographer Roger Deakins also received praise: Newman commented that he "delivers the most impressive visuals this series has had since the 1960s",^[123] and Miller described the film as "dazzlingly photographed".^[130]

The film did not escape criticism, with reviews pointing to its two and a half-hour running time, and the final third of the film being "protracted", and not matching the first two thirds in its momentum as the underlying flaws in the film.^[133][134] Xan Brooks of The Guardian, in an otherwise positive review, criticised the "touchy-feely indulgence" of "the bold decision to open Bond up � to probe at the character's back-story and raise a toast to his relationship with M".^[135] Daniel Krupa also singled out Naomie Harris as "awkward" and having a "virtually non-existent chemistry" with Daniel Craig.^[127] Similarly Philip French in The Observer tempered his praise for the film by highlighting "some lazy repetition" and argued, "the badinage is often perfunctory and Bond is as usual captured too easily and too easily escapes".^[126] Edward Porter, writing in The Sunday Times, considered that while aspects of the film were "achieved with wit and panache",^[128] he found that the climax to the film was slightly disappointing, although the "weaknesses in the final stages are not serious, however, and the film's brief epilogue is wonderful".^[128]

Former James Bond actor Sir Roger Moore praised the film after a private screening, claiming that the film would go a long way towards convincing audiences that Daniel Craig would usurp Sean Connery in defining the role of James Bond.^[146]

68-year-old Timothy Dalton told Britain's Sunday Express, "It is absolutely time for Bond to get proper attention at the Oscars. On almost every level this Bond movie is right at the forefront of what cinema is capable of... (Skyfall) is an absolutely modern James Bond, a movie truly of its time. Daniel Craig is fantastic and it feels very real... It has also got a great story about M with a nice streak of cynicism. I thought the film was fabulous." Dalton added: "A lot of people have said Licence To Kill was a forerunner of Bond today and in a sense that is what Cubby and I were trying to do," he said.

Sebastian Faulks ridicules 'distasteful' Bond film 'Skyfall'

Skyfall, the latest 007 blockbuster which was hailed by the critics as possibly the best James Bond film ever, has been ridiculed by the author of a recent Bond novel.