Bond gets brainy in ‘Skyfall’

When the first James Bond film was released, it was at the height of the Cold War, which created incredible tension between the Western World and the Soviet Union and its communist allies. In this context, it made sense that Westerners would gravitate toward a hero like James Bond, a British Secret Service Agent who regularly saves the world from a variety of tyrants.

Today, while tensions between the U.S. and Russia still exist, the Cold War is effectively over. And yet, both Britain and the U.S. still have their respective secret services. The fight against terrorism, both at home and abroad, has essentially replaced the Cold War of Ian Fleming penned stories around. As a result, there are still bad guys, but the lines between good and evil are blurred and rebels are often in our midst. Skyfall, the latest Bond flick, reflects this new and complicated reality. While the film still  delivers action, attractive women, nifty technology and an Aston Martin, it also provides an astute analysis of the modern world.

The movie begins with a scene in which Bond (Daniel Craig) is presumed deceased after falling from a speeding train into an enormous body of water. Of course, Bond doesn’t stay dead for long, resurfacing on some remote island. One night he catches the evening news. Realizing MI6 is under attack, he bids adieu to the locals and heads off to England to help the beleaguered M (Juid Dench), who’s being forced into retirement by Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes). Determined to leave her department in better shape than when she started, M sticks it out just a bit longer. She has her hands full after Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) hacks into the M16 computer system and threatens to expose all the agency’s secret agents. Even though Bond doesn’t pass his physical, M allows him to re-enlist, and with the help of Q (Ben Whishaw) he quickly tracks Silva to an island. Quite the cyber-terrorist, Silva has quite the mean streak, and Bond isn’t entirely equipped to take on the ruthless criminal.

While the film’s ending is rather protracted and stretches its running time past the two hour mark, that’s a minor qualm with a film that’s both smart and sexy. Bardem is terrific as the eccentric Silva, who often disguises himself to avoid detection. And Craig one again proves to be a terrific Bond. Sexy but not (too) sexist, he brings an actor’s sensibility to the action hero and doesn’t let his age get in the way.