When a hard drive with the identity’s of undercover MI6 agents is stolen M’s (Judi Dench) past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack James Bond (Daniel Craig) must hunt down the mysterious and deadly Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), no matter the cost.

Skyfall is a good-looking film. Standout moments include the static shot of Bond and Patrice (Ola Rapace) fighting in Shanghai. They are silhouettes with blue lights behind them and not only does it look really cool, you can actually see and follow the fight much more easily than when fights are shot with a lot of close ups and quick cuts.

New characters are introduced in Skyfall – or rather old characters with new faces. Q (Ben Whishaw) is much younger than the previous incarnation and allows for interesting commentary for the new age of espionage. Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) is definitely a twenty-first century version of the character and is awesome.

The action sequences in Skyfall are brilliant. Whether it’s a one on one hand fight, a motorbike chase across the roof of the Grand Bazaar or a tense foot chase through the London underground – everything is shot clearly so you can actually see what’s happening as well having great music to make the action even more exciting and fun.

While the action in Skyfall is international, starting out in Istanbul and going to Shanghai and Macau – it feels more of a small, personal Bond film with chases around London and the finale in Scotland. Having a lot of the action set in the UK made the stakes feel higher and Silva more of a threatening villain. Also having Silva being like a darker version of Bond allowed for an interesting dynamic between the two of them and between Silva and characters like M and Q.

I think the thing I like about Skyfall the most is that it has some great characters and gives established characters like M and Bond more depth but it still has that sense of fun without going into the realm of cheesiness. It has a great take on the world today and how we see the secret service and the threat of terrorists, it’s one of those Bond films that really feels like it is set in its time and reacting to the real world threats and fears. I think the best Bond films are the ones that aren’t too outlandish and are “realistic and gritty” but still have the quips and the fun.

Skyfall is a beautiful looking film but it’s also action-packed, fun and has some great characters – Skyfall is definitely one of my favourite Bond films, and my favourite Daniel Craig-Bond film. 5/5.