Skyfall

If you like your James Bond movies full of action, adventure, PG sex, and some campy fun, this is not the James Bond movie for you. If you prefer action, adventure, PG sex, and a dark undertone of aging and at at least some level, not really liking your job, it is.

Full disclosure here, I don’t really care for James Bond movies. They’re all a bit too shoot em up, far too sexist, and at their heart, boring, for me. I know, how can a person who loves to watch Flashdance dare to judge? The answer is, I can’t, and I won’t, I just thought you should know going in that Bond isn’t my favorite genre. Ted usually likes them, though, and as Lincoln doesn’t get to our neighborhood until next week, we thought we’d go check it out.

All in all, it was a satisfying story, with sweeping panoramas of the Scottish moors, car chases, train chases, motorcycle chases, a worthy (and somewhat justified) villain, and plenty of sexy eye candy for both the guys and the gals in the audience. Judy Dench reprises her role as M, the top in command at MI6, and her role as calculating and controlled as ever. She makes the tough decisions, and she expects everyone to go along with them. Sometimes that means leaving an operative to bleed to death rather than staying to help, sometimes that means ordering one agent to take a shot that might hit another agent. It’s all in the name of the greater good, and the end justifies the means.

Javier Bardem plays the twisted villain, and he’s suitably creepy, and of course, has infinite weapons, foot soldiers, and devious plans at his disposal. Ted said his favorite Bond villains are the ones who laugh and seem like they’re having a good time. Bardem is such a villain.

If you’re a Bond fan, nothing I can say will dissuade you from going, nor should it. It was a good movie. Just not as fun and silly as some of the earlier films in the franchise.