Skyfall

It’s a dark corridor in a not so great looking room. Just that kind that James Bond (Daniel Craig) would find himself in. He takes a few steps. Prepares to take aim, walks into a slightly brighter room where 2 bodies are lying on the floor. In the next room, lying on a single seater sofa is Agent Ronson (Bill Buckhurst) who has been shot and is losing blood. Bond helps Ronson by putting some pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding but duty calls.

There is a laptop that’s lying smashed on the floor. The Hard Drive is missing. The drive that contains the identity of every MI6 agent under cover with several terrorist organizations across the world. Bond is asked to give chase and joined in a by-lane by an unidentified gorgeous dark lady (Naomie Harris) and a chase ensues. They bring a black Audi down but the killer – Patrice (Ola Rapace) gets away on a police bike.

A superb chase sequence ensues that leads you across the streets of Istanbul and then onto the roof tops. All through the chase, you are holding onto the arms of your seat. Unidentified gorgeous dark lady cuts off killer on bridge. Killer is smart and jumps off the bridge onto a train that’s passing by. Bond follows suit. Gun Shots flying all around the place. One gets Bond on the right side of his chest when he is getting into an excavator that is being transported by the same train.

Killer is smart. Tries to delink the two bogies. Bond is smarter. He uses excavator to grab onto the top of the bogie that’s ahead. Crushes a few VW Beetles in the process and jumps onto the front car. Fist fight time. That goes over a few kilometers inside tunnels across the hills. In the meantime, unidentified gorgeous dark lady has overtaken train and is setting up to take a shot.

No clear shot available. M (Dame Judie Dench) orders her to, “Take the bloody shot”. Bond is hit. Falls off the train into a ravine and a river a few hundred feet below the bridge. Cut to Skyfall by Adele that reminds you of Shirley Bassey singing the early Bond tracks. By now, you are quite certain – this is a great Bond movie coming up.

The entire cast oozes complete class. The classic Bond sarcasm still intact. Just enough chases and fights to ensure that the concept of Bond doesn’t take the back foot. Very slow and intriguing build up to the climax. A villain that makes your blood crawl and has unfortunately not been given sufficient screen time – Bardem enters halfway into the movie. If anything was missing, it would have been the women who weren’t available in plenty like they usually are.

For a Bond fan – superb movie. For someone who isn’t – you may not like it. I loved it. Especially the Sam Mendes touch – not someone who you would associate with a Bond movie but then – once a class director, always a class director. Ensure this is part of your weekend. 8 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi973841433/