Skyfall from Sony MGM Pictures starring Craig, Dench, Harris and Ian Fleming. Film review from West Coast Midnight Run, Heather Watkins and Emile Slink

SKYFALL
MGM-UA/Columbia Pictures
MPAA Rating PG-13
(thematic material, brief violence)

By Heather Watkins and Emile Slink

The third Bond adventure is due out in October and Sony has not sent us an early press screener, not that we would want any.

Mr. Maertin, our senior manager, has issued strict guidelines on story leaks, which spoil the entertainment for the audience interested in a primer and a sneak peak.

It’s been many years since Pierce Brosnan retired as Bond and yet in web forums the debate rages on who is the Best Bond of the series. Connery is the unopposed founder, the actor that set the style and flair, breathing life into the Ian Fleming novels.

People still mention Roger Moore but the debate has really moved on to Brosnan and Craig. Who is the better Bond in portraying the ultimate government agent and troubleshooter.

The studio re-launched the series under the pretext that Brosnan was aging (and perhaps he was) however starting with Timothy Dalton, MGM/UA and the Broccoli team have for years been trying to recapture the Sean Connery persona, reincarnated for the modern audience of the late 1990s and present decade.

With Craig, many argue the right fit has been hit on, especially since the Matt Damon franchise, The Bourne series, struck gold - and close to home - with the younger audiences.

And this was not the CIA, portrayed as bumbling Wade (Felix), snacking in the Caribbean and handing Bond the keys to his roadster.

With Bourne, a lethal competitor to Bond emerged at the box office.

And the Bond team responded with Casino Royale and a new lead that only spoke the language of mean, deadly business, as only the British MI6 can muster.

Gone is the finesse of Connery. Brosnan is just a pretty boy, some have tweeted on the web. Perhaps they should have held on to Dalton for a few more years.

Make no mistake, in screening behind the scene footage, Craig’s demeanor is far from the grueling killer portrayed in the edited final cut. He is soft-spoken, easy to humor the press and can mix it up with the best.

For now the Craig impersonation of Bond seems to have worked with the movie-going public.