The opening sequence of SKYFALL is a mind-boggling, ass-kicking, death-defying Rube Goldberg variation involving a speeding car, chasing a speeding train, carrying a giant front loader, with 007 and his nemesis-of-the-moment locked in combat and dangling by their fingertips, heading for an overpass, with a sniper looking to take one of them out! I nearly had a heart attack. And then the credits begin, with Adele’s voice wrapped around that great song, melting darkly over the opening graphics.  This is one of THE BEST BOND movies ever.

Daniel Craig– my favorite Bond after Connery, is a 007 for the 21st century–elegant and edgy.  I never tire of him falling out of airplanes, crashing through the roof–and taking a split second to adjust a cuff link. He leaves me shaken AND stirred. Mortality is the theme in SKYFALL, fitting for the 23rd installment of the longest running franchise in movie history.  The years are beginning to catch up with James, and with M– the peerless Judi Dench– who is haunted by her past. In fact, that past is threatening MI6, and 007 is the only one who can liquidate the threat.

This time Bond returns to his roots in the wilds of Scotland; he’s stripped down, and so are his gadgets. In a very funny scene, a youthful Q (Ben Whishaw) pokes fun at the quaintly exploding pens of yesteryear. Later, the appearance of Bond’s vintage Aston Martin DB5 at a climactic moment elicited wild applause from my audience, just before… well… I won’t spoil it.

Let’s just say that this is a BOND where beginnings and endings are stitched together in a tale of sacrifice and redemption. Here M is infinitely more magnetic than the latest Bond babe– smoldering French actress Berenice Marlohe. Dame Dench is both warm beneath her unblinking eyes–and crueler than we imagined. The sins of her past resurface in the form of a platinum blonde, uber-creepy Javier Bardem. His voice, thick with menace, gets under your skin and chokes your breathing.

Director Sam Mendes keeps it all in balance– spectacularly entertaining action scenes in counterpoint with engrossing character evolution. SKYFALL is reaping a windfall at the box office. Well deserved. I’m ready for number 24.