Skyfall

And now, it's time to welcome Britain's best-known superspy, James Bond, back to theaters. Once again in the form of Daniel Craig, and supervised by Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes, Bond returns in his 23rd film, Skyfall.

This time, Bond dies.

Actually, no.

It opens with Bond in pursuit of an evil mercenary, who has with him the names of all of NATO's undercover operatives. They end up on top of a speeding train over a bridge. Fellow agent Eve (Naomie Harris) has the mercenary in her sights, but hits Bond by mistake, sending him to the river below.

Anyway, Bond enjoys his retirement by presumed death until the evil Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) bombs MI6. An MI6 agent until M (Judi Dench) left him for dead, Silva takes up cyber-terrorism to get his revenge. To stop him, Bond has to get back into shape and join with some new allies.

Off-screen, Bond has many new allies on the crew. One of them is Cinematographer Roger Deakins, whose imagery of the Scottish Highlands, Shanghai and more, is amazing. Another new ally is Mendes' constant composer, Thomas Newman, whose score is suitably exciting. Its sound design, co-supervised by constant Oscar-nominee Greg P. Russell, makes use of some incredible sound effects. And while he's not a new ally, having done Casino Royale, editor Stuart Baird constructs some amazing scenes of action and suspense.

While its 143 minutes do feel long, its three stars make up for it. In particular, Bardem as Silva is one of the creepiest film villains as of late. Either good makeup or good CGI (I couldn't tell) was used for one great scene concerning his physical condition. Although it is Bond's film, and nobody but Daniel Craig does it better here, it is also M's film as well. More-so than ever, Dench plays M as vulnerable beneath her snarky demeanor. By the end, the audience'll wonder not only if good wins, but if they'll be in one piece by the end.

With an exciting and humorous screenplay, co-written by John Logan, Skyfall makes up for the confusing Quantum of Solace. I don't know about it being the best Bond film, but it's still an awesome film overall. It's certainly for all eyes only.