Skyfall

The consensus seems to be that Quantum of Solace was a relatively poor sequel to a modern classic and although I wouldn't really argue with that take on Casino Royale, I think the follow-up's a little unfairly maligned. Casino Royale's certainly my favourite Bond movie by a long shot, but it's by no means perfect: the whole stock market manipulation MacGuffin is still lost on me after 20+ viewings,  the Prague-for-Miami location work, well, doesn't and neither does the Michael Mann-inspired cinematography in the airport action sequence. We can talk about the good bits some other time. Quantum of Solace meanwhile isn't given enough credit for the extraordinary amount of location work (probably the best presented locations of the series), ace production & costume design and some of the best cinematography the series has ever seen. [I have to admit that I didn't quite expect this post to resemble '"Friends, Romans, Countrymen" to quite the extent to which it's turning out, but that's classic for a reason, right?] The key issue with the sequel seemed to be its action sequences; both their sheer amount in the finished movie as well as their editing came in for criticism and it was suggested more than once that Bond must have felt Bourne nipping at his heels to have stolen his second unit director.

I personally love the sequel. Not as much as its immediate predecessor and admittedly at least partially out of the contractual obligations of fandom, but I love it nonetheless. And one of the main  reasons I love it is because it does feel so dissimilar. It must be so tempting to trot out only slight variations on things that work over and over again - particularly in something so formulaic as a Bond movie - that as a member of the audience I appreciate creatively interesting failures that much more. And whereas Casino Royale was almost the quintessential Bond movie, Quantum of Solace really was just so different.

So key cast & crew have been announced for Skyfall and the list of names suggests that the usual post-mortem has thrown up some interesting lessons for the producers. The big news is of course Sam Mendes, without doubt the most prestigious director ever to have taken the reigns of a Bond movie and one with whom Daniel Craig already has experience, thanks to the excellent adaptation of Road to Perdition. But with him seems to have arrived an absolutely killer cast: Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes & Albert Finney are much bigger names than Bond films can usually attract and even smaller names (Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw & Helen McCrory) are way more accomplished actors than is typical. Some serious money's also been spent on the script again. After the producers' annoyance at Paul Haggis over the latter's involvement in the writers' strike (contributing to uncredited, on-set rewrites as well as the reduction in the drama to action ratio) other big names were engaged: Peter Morgan apparently did a little work on top of the basic Purvis & Wade draft, but John Logan of The Aviator & Gladiator renown has since completed it. The other really big creative name is legend Roger Deakins as director of photography; probably best known for his longstanding work with the Coen Brothers, he's also filmed modern classics like Revolutionary Road & The Reader.

Quantum of Solace's production designer's been retained, but the other key names (special effects supervisor, stunt co-ordinator, second-unit director and editor) all seem to be returning from Casino Royale. Contrary to moronic UK tabloid suggestions of no action, these names actually suggest that Skyfall will feature a return to the more tightly integrated blend of action and drama of that movie, which is reinforced by the drop in budget from $250m (!) to $200m (action's expensive, drama's relatively cheap). And - assuming I've got the girls the right way around! - a French Bond girl is of course only the icing on the cake.

The marketing onslaught is of course going to be relentless for the 50th anniversary movie and - for this fan at least - ruddy expensive. The good news is that the talent involved so far strongly suggests that the film's going to be worth it.