After an operation in Istanbul ends in disaster, James Bond (Daniel Craig – of course!) is missing presumed dead. When the identities of every active undercover MI6 agent are leaked onto the internet, M (Judy Dench – still!) becomes the subject of a government review over her handling of the situation. With the fate of the Service itself in jeopardy, Bond’s sudden reappearance gives M the pretext she needs to seek out Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), a dangerous villain claiming a personal connection to both of them, but as he follows a trail from London to the South China Sea, Bond soon finds his loyalty to M challenged over secrets from her past. Directed by Sam Mendes, with theme sung by Adele.
A film in numbers: the release of this, the 23rd in the franchise, is on the 50th anniversary of the release of the first Bond, Dr No. Daniel Craig is the 8th actor to play Bond*, and this is his 3rd outing in the role, and it’s Dench’s 7th consecutive outing in the role of M. This will be the 1st Bond film to be released in IMAX format. It is Ben Wishaw’s 1st outing as Q in a move which for the first time casts the techno wizard as a young geek. Naomie Harris plays 1 of Bond’s legion of conquests…and counting!
* The actors are listed in chronological order:
1. Barry Nelson played Bond in a 1954 television production of Casino Royale
2. Sean Connery – 7 Movies
3. David Niven in the 1967 spoof of Casino Royale
4. George Lazenby - 1 Movie
5. Roger Moore – 7 Movies
6. Timothy Dalton – 2 Movies
7. Pierce Brosnan – 4 Movies
8. Daniel Craig – 3 Movies to date
Number 1 and 3 from list above are unofficial.
