The trick to getting the maximum amount of enjoyment out of the new James Bond film, Skyfall, is to know as little about it as possible. Not that the there’s anything particularly stunning about the plot – it’s actually a streamlined and fairly simple story of revenge – but it’s all the little story asides and character elements that emerge that makes everything so much fun.  Anyone who gives key moments away should be strapped to a bench and worked on by Goldfinger’s killer laser beam or thrown into Blofeld’s piranha fish tank.

Obviously, in order to write a review there has to be something mentioned, but I guarantee, no plot spoilers here.  No major ones, anyhow. 

Bond is back, thank goodness.  After the monstrous miscalculation of a Quantum of Solace – I’m still having nightmares – Skyfall puts the 50 year old series back on the map, and even though the sometimes frothy formula of the past has all but vanished, this new rough-around-the-edges incarnation is what should have followed Daniel Craig’s introductory turn as 007 in Casino Royale.

The pre-credit sequence is a crackling chase through the streets of Istanbul, the same setting as the recent thriller Taken 2, though compared to Skyfall, the Liam Neeson adventure looks practically pedestrian.  Bond is on the search for a missing hard-drive containing valuable information – don’t they all?  With the assistance of plucky Naomie Harris as Eve – her full name is one of those fun reveals later in the film – Bond stops at nothing to get the guy, pausing only to adjust his cuff-links before continuing the chase.  The whole sequence is one long, breath taking thrill ride unequalled by most action sequences of its kind, and the film hasn’t really begun.  Director Sam Mendes has put away the gimmicky hand-held that ruined the previous Bond opus and has shot the action in a manner that is just as visceral but in a manner where you can actually see what’s happening.  In all action sequences you know at any given moment where everyone is in relation to each other.  The end result is twice as exciting and far more satisfying than the chaotic, jerky, faux documentary style continually employed by director Paul Greengrass.  (Note to producers: don’t let Greengrass anywhere near a Bond movie.)

Skyfall gets the details right.  Roger Deakins’ cinematography is as rich and as lush as the violins used in Thomas Newman’s background score.  The opening credit design, updated from the style of the earlier Bonds, is a visual feast backed by Adele’s new haunting theme song which sounds far more effective here in this context than it does when played as a stand-alone tune for the radio.

Not everything works, however.  There’s a moment of Bond backstory where we get an insight to Bond’s early past, and to be honest, I didn’t want to know.  It may add depth to his character, but Bond has never needed depth before and doesn’t now.  Plus, there’s a poignant moment during the climax that dulls the excitement.  You leave the theatre excited having seen a new Bond adventure, but there’s a missing edge.  To quote an earlier Bond theme, it’s not exactly an all time high.

Plus, at an almost epic length of two and a half hours, the film is longer than it needs to be.  The story is too straight forward to warrant such lengthy moments between the action, and even though there are female characters throughout there is no one here that you could safely call a Bond Girl in the traditional sense, though Judi Dench as the icy M and the already mentioned Naomie Harris are certainly formidable presences.  Again, to say any more is to spoil the fun.

Javier Bardem’s bad guy is effectively creepy and psychotic, plus there’s a welcome appearance from a portly Albert Finney, who with his thick, grey beard and his double-barreled shot gun, looks uncannily like Peter Vaughn in Straw Dogs in a sequence that coincidentally actually echoes elements of Sam Peckinpah’s original seventies film.

Despite the hype, this is not the best Bond, but it’s a still good one, plus the closing credits – which should have reprised Adele’s song but doesn’t – promises that Bond will return.

“I like to do things the old fashioned way,” Bond states, to which Eve replies, “Sometimes the old ways are the best.”  So true, Mr. Bond, so true.

 MPAA Rating:  PG-13    Length:  143 minutes    Overall Rating:  8 (out of 10)

 Four weeks ago when the 50 Years of Bond DVD box set was first released, I had the opportunity of talking to Bond Girl Tanya Roberts from A View To A Kill.  To hear an encore presentation of the full interview, click on the following icon.