6. Keeping It Simple
At one point early in Skyfall, Bond says to another character, Do not over-complicate the plot, and this is perhaps the one area where Mendes' film is least akin to Nolan's Batman films, because it makes real pains to keep things simple. Skyfall has an easily-digestible story - but not a spare or inane one - that's pared-down and certainly all the better for it, with Mendes devoting more screen time to constructing an overall mood and developing his characters than indulging in overt silliness or action for its own sake. Days later, the plot remains easily re-countable; everything links to the next thing in a way that seems absolutely vital, and this A-to-B-to-C directness is refreshing given the tacit association that complexity usually equals great storytelling (when often, it simply results in contrivance).