James Bond is back doing what he does best—gloomy introspection with nihilistic indifference. This time, the British icon is vexed by loopy psychopath Javier Bardem who stages a staggeringly complicated revenge scheme against ex-boss M (Judi Dench). That all those machinations culminate in shoot-at-stuff-a-lot is one of the reasons Skyfall is so unwittingly entertaining. Not so much Daniel Craig's steely notes as a tortured killer, which were fresh two movies ago but now wear thin. Especially when a chaotic chase through the London underground halts so Craig and the movie can retreat to Bond's ancestral Scottish homestead. The super spy goes duck hunting, ruminates on his childhood and makes us all wonder where the third act went. It's a lopsided climax, fitting for a movie about the psychological weight one carries when surrounded by death. It's just not, you know, fun.
