James Bond celebrated his 50th birthday this year. It’s not the character’s actual age of course (how many 50-year-olds do you know that jump out of planes and seduce secretaries?) but how long the great British film franchise has been going. Obviously such a prestigious anniversary couldn’t go by without a new action-packed, thrill-inducing, spine-tingling Bond movie and so, on the 26th October UK cinemas will be welcoming Daniel Craig’s third instalment as 007, Skyfall.

Following James Bond on his latest adventure Skyfall is an amazing film from start to finish, a rarity in the cinema these days, and after the slight disappointment of Quantum Solace a welcome return to form. Sam Mendes has done an incredible job of creating a Bond film, which is exciting and engaging while still giving the occasional nod to the classic Bond template. Not many 50-year-old film franchises would be able to create something that doesn’t feel tired or predictable whilst still satisfying the expectations of hardcore fans but Skyfall manages it.

As always Daniel Craig is suitably smooth as the secret agent and is well on his way to securing his position as one of, if not the best, James Bonds of all time. Unsurprisingly franchise regular Judi Dench plays the part of M effortlessly and steps up to the character’s new challenges in this film, which demands more from her than ever before. Finally Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw and Naomie Harris are all welcome additions to the cast and hopefully we’ll be seeing more of them in the future.

Possibly the only criticism I would make of Skyfall is the disappointing lead love interest Sévérinel, played by Bérénice Marlohe, who despite appearing as a main character on the film’s posters, is barely on screen long enough to be seduced and killed. It’s true that this tends to be a characteristic of Bond films but it still would have been nice if a bit more effort had been made to integrate the character fully into the storyline.

I’ve purposefully left the plot details out of this review because the multiple twists and turns of this brilliant movie are worth preserving but one thing I will tell you is that it most definitely will not disappoint. You’ll see new sides to old characters, traditional bad guy rules beginning broken and classic Bond moments that will leave you grinning from ear to ear. Whether you’re a Bond fan or not go and see Skyfall because this is going to be one of the best films of the year.

Skyfall will be in UK cinemas on the 26th October; scroll down to check out the latest trailer.

@LaurenHollyOC