ooh, but I do like a bit of roughness in a man, yes I do.

Spent the afternoon with mullet-man in a darkened theatre watching Bond go through his paces – a Bond with the occasional humour (I’ve missed that), a deeply disturbed villain, and some rumination on the cost of the job to those who work in MI-6. Fantastic music, the usual gorgeous women and men and sights, and my personal goddess, Judi Dench, who I think has enriched the world a hundred-fold in absolutely every thing she does.

And then Daniel. Dearest Daniel, looking a bit beat up these days, maybe a little more like the hard-hitting fellah with hundreds of kills to his name. He seems troubled, this Bond, and that goes better with our self-examining days. It isn’t such jolly fun seeing people going about shooting everyone and destroying buildings when these things are a real possibility in daily life, I suppose, though I feel safe here in suburbia. Mind you, there was a murder right across the street, so these calm looking windows hide murderous intent at times. But I digress.

There were lots of mentions of getting older, getting out of it, losing one’s edge. From what I could see, very little edge was lost. Craig/Bond still looks smashing, and his pulling of his cuffs after sailing into a detached train shows his eternal panache. There’s something about the eyes, though, a world-weariness we haven’t seen before. It made me want to give him a hug.

Well, who are we kidding? I’d pay good money to hug Daniel Craig, yesserriee I would, sad eyes or no. Heck, I’d pay good money to merely lay my eyes upon him in real life, for a second or two. But I’d rather have a long chat with Dame Dench. She fills me with awe.

It’s a great film, well worth seeing, and a true addition to the Bond collection. I particularly like the spot when the Bond theme is first played. Watch for it. It’s when you know he is truly back.

I also enjoyed watching the cigarette ash. One character “smokes” but really just carries around her cigarette, with a long long ash hanging from it, ready to fall at any second. It adds to the suspense.

The film did get a rating for showing smoking, despite this unattractive display of burned paper. I give kudos to the actress who was able to move her hand and never spill it.

So go see it. Bring chocolate or popcorn. And if you can afford it, go to a special theatre. For Bond, it’s best to go big. IMAX, sensurround, whatever. You want to feel the explosions, hear the Walther PPK. You won’t regret it.

And quietly, in your heart of hearts, you’ll hope there is a Bond out there somewhere, ruining perfectly good buildings for Queen and Country.