I went to see Skyfall earlier this afternoon before the Jets game -- which, of course, turned out to be the highlight of the day. As a huge Bond fan, my review is as follows...
First some critiques. It's a long movie, about 2hr30min, and it drags in the middle. It really could use another big action set piece to keep it moving along. The villain is way over the top; he's like some kind of homoerotic mix of the Dark Knight's Joker and some of the Bond villains from the Roger Moore days.
There's a lot about Skyfall to love, and there are many elements and callbacks to the classic Bond movies. A few characters emerge that we haven't seen since the Pierce Brosnan days, in some surprising ways. The references are subtle and supremely enjoyable for any Bond fan. Some of the references are, admittedly, a bit too heavy-handed. At one point the classic Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger made an appearance, and the audience cheered. That was neat.
Backstories are a staple of modern superhero movies, and we get Bond's backstory as well, delving all the way into his childhood. For me, it was a little much. I felt like we were learning about Bruce Wayne and his love/fear for bats. However, it worked for what seemed to be greater good of the movie.
With the backstory combined with the callbacks -- and without giving away too much -- this movie ends on a note that is full circle to the whole canon. It's a really very cool way to end the movie, and obviously you'll have to see it to see what I mean.
Great movie, way better than Quantum of Solace, though not quite as good as Casino Royale. Nevertheless, I plan on seeing it again.
