Skyfall, the latest James Bond film, has a lot of things going for it. It's really funny. The cast is fantastic. The underlying premise is also very strong. It's a beautiful film with a great look to it and will surely please fans of the franchise. Skyfall starts with the death and resurrection of James Bond. A botched mission goes from bad to worse as M and all of M16 is under fire from Parliament over the release of secret agents' identities on YouTube. Bond is sent out into the field to plug up the leak while M fights for the sovereignty of M16 in a world dominated by drone strikes and digital espionage. England is turning away from traditional spy agencies because having men and women on the ground is too much of a liability compared to a 20-something hacker breaking code behind a dozen firewalls.

The big issue facing Skyfall is tradition. Every Bond film opens with a huge action set piece before swinging into the new theme song. This one quickly swings into absurdity. High speed car chases lead to a gun fight on top of a train, where James Bond is forced to climb into a large piece of construction equipment and slowly drive toward the target on top of a train. This is Sideshow Bob territory and our suave hero is in the driver's seat.

If the creators of Skyfall weren't obligated to follow all the standards of the series--big high end parties, loud action set pieces, eye candy in every scene--this would be a fantastic espionage thriller. As it stands, you either need to do a lot of mental gymnastics to suspend disbelief or shut down your brain and ask why more cars haven't gone boom yet.

The great irony to the absurd extravagance is the new villain in the Bond universe. Silva is a former M16 agent trying to take down the agency through hacking because M betrayed his trust. His methods are not the cartoony space laser and shark pits of previous Bond films; Silva fights dirty. He uses explosions, heavy artillery, and military vehicles to get whatever he wants. The hacking is, expectedly, laughable in its appearance. How could it not be? Computer work is inherently boring onscreen and, as a rule, should be minimized unless other things are happening. Overall, Silva's methods are all grounded in a harsh sense of reality. This is what James Bond could be if he grew tired of M16 and that is terrifying.

Even the over the top in the worst way possible action scenes are elevated by the quality of acting in this film. Skyfall is the Judi Dench show. Her M is front and center in the film, leading entire scenes when Bond is not available and selling the real threat of M16 shutting down with a realistic range of emotions. Javier Bardem is menacing and charming in equal measure as the rogue former agent Silva. You can see where he would easily be able to use all the same tricks as 007 if he were of sound mind. Newcomers Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, and Ben Whishaw excel at bringing out the very dry humor of the screenplay and establish themselves as important members of the Bond franchise by anchoring large scenes.

Skyfall has enough good things going on to outweigh the absurdity of the fantasy elements. The last 90 minutes build some of the best suspense and shock value in recent memory. The first hour indulges in almost satirical Bond action so the more realistic, war-like work of Silva packs punch. The balance is off between the two parts, but not disastrously so.

Rating: 6/10

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