An ex-MI6 agent steals a hard drive with top-secret information to carry out a vendetta on Bond’s overseer, M. Bond must face his past in a bid to try and save M.

Stepping into the director’s chair this time was revered dramatic director and Academy Award winner Sam Mendes, and he brought a thoroughly new and distinct vision to the character of James Bond in Skyfall. Mixing both operatic elegance and racy film noir together resulted in the astonishing Skyfall. And Mendes really new what he was doing with this project. Placing emphasis on character, narrative and scale, Skyfall felt like a truly modern Bond experience and a lavish one at that. Every frame of this film was gorgeous to look upon, and Mendes gave the film an elegance and sexiness that was distinctively its own and not inspired by the past. But it was his focus on the character of James Bond, and the forces that drive him, along with the relationship to his boss and mentor M (Judi Dench) where this film really made its mark.

Audiences had grown to accept Bond as an icon, and for many years and many Bond films, the emphasis was on the past inspiring the present for plenty of retro throwback cool. Here in Skyfall, Mendes and his team worked to place the emphasis on the modern and make James Bond stand out on his own on a technologically interwoven planet and where new threats arose more from lone actors rather than nation-states. Giving Skyfall a tech edge, and finding a new place for Bond within it made the character that much cooler, and Mendes was also able to give the film its own iconic status. From its opening moments, this film gripped audiences, and its pace was well-thought-out with each event feeding into the next for a well-balanced and purposeful narrative. Skyfall was Bond made contemporary and with its added sense of operatic scale and dramatic depth, audiences were in for an intense ride.

Skyfall also gave Bond star Daniel Craig new avenues to explore as the tuxedo-clad superspy. And he looked damn cool while doing it. Beaten, broken down and renouncing his 00 status, it was only when tragedy hit close to home that Bond returned to put things right and we were seeing a new shade to Bond’s character as that of a hunter who was on the prowl. Craig again brought out his tough elegance in the part and whether it was racing a motorcycle through the streets of Istanbul or prowling the smoke-filled halls of a Macau casino, Craig would display effortless cool as the debonair 007. In my own mind, Skyfall was a perfect portrait of James Bond as a character, being equal parts devil-may-care and dashing, and this was truly Ian Fleming’s character remade for a brand new age with Bond reinvented for a modern era.

Of incredible importance to the success of Skyfall was the presence of Academy Award winner Javier Bardem as the film’s lead villain Raoul Silva. A dangerous and unhinged cyber-terrorist, Silva also happens to have once been an MI6 operative under M’s control, but whose own actions turned him into a rogue asset that had to be terminated. Swearing revenge, he turned his attention to destroying M and everything around her. And with Silva we had a terrific villain for Bond to face down. Silva was a perfect opponent for Bond, and was very much Bond’s equal and a man who could go to war with him on a level footing, which until Skyfall we had not seen Craig’s Bond have to contend with. With his sickly blond hair and stark eyes, Bardem’s Silva was a completely distinctive character and the infamous first meeting between Silva and Bond created an uneasy tension, which was only amplified by Bardem’s sadistic creep factor. Bardem’s Silva was a definite highlight of the film and the Bond villain that we’d long awaited for and wanted to see.

A central tenant to the impact of Skyfall was the presence of Judi Dench’s M, Bond’s long-time superior and mentor, and who had a vital part to play in the film’s narrative as the target of Silva’s deranged plan for revenge. Skyfall is also the most intense of Bond and M’s relationship, especially when explored through the film’s third act when Bond and M seek refuge in Bond’s childhood estate home in Scotland, and where the layers of his past, and the impact of this past on his character, is revealed. As always Dench is once again superb in her role as M, and there is an almost understated love between Bond and M, which is explored here as we come to see M as a somewhat ‘mother figure’ to Bond. This subtext in the film, which had not been explored in previous Bond films gave the narrative so much further depth and made Skyfall’s third act and emotionally wraught ending that much more powerful.

As an experience, Skyfall definitely added some serious sex appeal to its setting, and of all of Bond’s recent appearances courtesy of Daniel Craig, Skyfall certainly ranks as the most scintillating and sexy. Bringing the sex appeal to this instalment was the glamourous, elegant and sexy Bérénice Marlohe as the scintilationg and salacious Sévérine. A classic femme fatale in both attitude and action, Sévérine was an eningmatic presence within Skyfall and elevated the Bond girl troupe to a new level. Dangerous and alluring, she was a vixen temptress who weaved her way around Bond and you couldn’t help but be drawn into Marlohe’s performance as Sévérine. Added to the sex appeal of Skyfall was also the presence of Naomie Harris as Eve, a new MI6 field operative who is later revealed to be Eve Moneypenny, and Harris added her own level of tension to Eve’s interactions with Bond. There was a terrific flirty back and forth between Bond and Eve, courtesy of Craig and Harris, and this added sexual tension between these two characters certainly made their interactions very interesting to watch.

If there was one central part of production that aided unequivocally to the success of Skyfall then it was far and away the visual eye of legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins. Regarded as the greatest cinematographer of all time, Deakins brought his lavish visual touch to Skyfall and shot one hell of a gorgeous movie. Painting scene after scene with his terrific understanding of light and shadow, Deakins captured the modern operatic quality that Mendes was searching for here in Skyfall and the imagery before our eyes was beautiful to look upon. Key standout scenes from the film included Bond’s fight with an elusive hitman in a neon-lit Shanghai, his meeting with Sévérine in the smokey elegance of a Macau casino and the film’s penultimate firefight on the burning Scottish highlands of Bond’s past. All of it was captured in the perfectly rendered high-dynamic-range detail of Deakins lens, and his touch was the key in elevating this film to a new standard for both the Bond film and modern cinema in general.

In terms of the cinematic experience, Skyfall is the complete and total James Bond package. Narrative, character, action, location and production all came together in this monumental movie, and audiences were truly given the ultimate modern Bond incarnation with this story. Skyfall is a perfect Bond film and it makes for a very compelling and rewarding watch for audiences who are looking for a bit of supercharged adventure.

No Time To Die will arrive in cinemas on October 7.

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In this special 45-minute retrospective, Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15-year tenure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage spanning from Casino Royale to No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in conversation with 007 producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, in the lead up to his final performance as the iconic secret agent.

Directed by Baillie Walsh, Being James Bond is a unique 45-minute documentary that summaries Daniel Craig’s entire performance as the debonair super-spy and it offers a complete overview of what being 007 has meant to the actor. Bringing together Craig alongside longtime producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, the film is an intimate discussion piece set against a collection of footage that goes into the extraordinary intricacies of what it meant to cast Craig in the lead role and what a rollercoaster ride it has been for him ever since.

Like all good stories, we need to start at the beginning. And Being James Bond takes us right back to the start of how Daniel Craig became James Bond. Regarded as one of England’s most talented and versatile performers, Craig is very upfront that he never saw himself leading a franchise on the scale of James Bond. But all of that changed very quickly. While many people will assume it was Matthew Vaughn’s Layer Cake that nailed Craig the role, it was in fact his turn as John Ballard, an intense, psychotic and zealous Jesuit priest in 1998’s Elizabeth that caught the attention of Babara Broccoli, and she knew she had found her man to take on the mantle of James Bond.

One of the coolest parts of Being James Bond is that long time 007 fans finally get to lay their eyes on actual footage from Craig’s secretive screen test for 2006’s Casino Royale. It’s very interesting to look upon the footage and see Craig playing with the role for the first time and you see shades of what is to come. Of course, after landing the role came an onslaught of very unwanted media attention and this is discussed at length by Craig, Broccoli and Wilson and it’s extremely interesting to hear Craig’s perspective on these troubling events, along with the shock, surprise and adulation that followed with the premiere of Casino Royale in 2006 and the return of an entirely new James Bond.

Being James Bond takes us inside the thoughts and mindscape of Craig throughout his journey as Bond through projects including Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre. With each new film, we learn of the challenges around filming and just exactly what Craig was thinking and feeling. With this conversation, we really find out how each film affected him, and how he evolved with the role. And audiences are further offered an incredible collection of previously unseen behind-the-scenes footage that pulls you deeper into the process of Craig’s performance.

But beset by growing injuries Craig readily opens up about how he was willing to throw in the towel after a very difficult shoot for 2015’s Spectre, where a persistent knee injury caused him agonising pain and resulted in a much-circulated media appearance. But feeling that he still had unfinished business he soldiered on and was ready for one final crack at it and that’s where we now are with No Time To Die, which has the makings of the ultimate James Bond film.

Craig, Broccoli and Wilson give a deep insight into the new film and its significance to the franchise and Craig’s performance as Bond. Fans will also be very excited to see an incredible new collection of previously unseen footage that is sure to have them salivating for the final completed project. This is utterly the most moving part of the documentary and audiences actually get to see his final moments and a passionate final speech thanking the crew and team who brought the project to life. It’s here that we truly hear and feel what the experience and character of ‘being James Bond’ has meant to Craig and you can’t help but be touched by what this has meant to him.

Being James Bond is a fascinating inside look into one actor’s journey and craft as one of the 20th century’s greatest ever heroic characters and just what it has meant for Daniel Craig to be James Bond. For fans of the 007 franchise, it’s a must-watch documentary and it will have them amped and excited for what comes next in Craig’s final turn as super-agent 007 James Bond in No Time To Die.

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