15 Best Films Of The Decade (So Far)

9. Skyfall

For years the answer to "what's the greatest Bond?" has been a rather rote run down of slightly different opinions; Goldfinger if you're a serious fan, Dr No if you're a traditionalist, On Her Majesty's Secret Service if you strive to be different, Casino Royale if you don't remember a time pre-Bosnan. After Skyfall, however, there's really no contest. No matter what angle you come at Bond 23, it's hard to say it doesn't top everything that came before. Simultaneously a Bond movie and a dissection of a Bond movie, Skyfall took full advantage of the franchise's 50th anniversary to ask the ballsiest of questions; is 007 still relevant? The answer the film (and audiences, who turned out in their droves, making it a bigger box office hit than both The Dark Knight Rises and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) presents is a resounding "yes", rebuilding the traditional status quo of Q, Moneypenny, M et al with a modern twist; a perfect embracement of old vs. new. That doesn't mean the film gets there before addressing the innate issues with the character first. Daniel Craig's James Bond here is a far cry from his Casino Royale new boy, instead an unfit-for-the-job alcoholic in a world where everyone seems able to see past the charm. Casino Royale may have shown you can still make Bond in the 21st Century, but Skyfall showed you could do it without running from your past.