When we went to watch Skyfall this afternoon - a token of its popularity being that, even buying tickets two hours in advance, the only seats left were on the second row - the audience was filled with such a wide cross-section of society as I have never seen at a viewing before: couples, families, old, young.. And rightly so. For me, Skyfall was a perfect celebration of James Bond's 50 years. It had the terrifying baddy - in fact, could Javier Bardem possibly be the most terrifying Bond baddie in history? The blonde hair and watery blue eyes - so alien to his usual colouring - set him beside truly menacing baddies such as The Joker of Batman or Tom Hollander in Hanna.
It had the beautiful locations - and how nice to see such an emphasis on British spots. I particularly loved the closing scenes amidst the drama of Glen Coe. The cast were fantastic. I must say that I thought Daniel Craig was brilliant - even though I am a hardened Sean Connery fan! I enjoyed the quips in the script: M's bulldog, young upstart Q. Plenty of humour that kept the audience laughing - and shocks that left them aghast. Bond falling down a gorge at the beginning - could it really be? The plot line seemed less James Bond, however, and more British drama Spooks. I liked this take and found it more appealing than the violent, sex-filled action that normally graces Bond films. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful ...
