Skyfall

Patently ridiculous.  Completely unrealistic.  Bizarre and unsettling villains paired with gorgeous and exotic women.  Intense, absurd fight sequences.

Yes, that's right--James Bond is back, and just maybe better than ever.

Skyfall, arriving with the 50th anniversary of Bond on film, is a blast.  It's got all the great Bond moments: an action-packed opening sequence transitioning into a fever dream of a credits sequence, complete with a haunting Adele melody; beautiful and sexy women whose company Bond, well, enjoys; cleverly choreographed action and fight sequences; gorgeously shot exotic locales; and a suave, unflappable James Bond.

When some shadowy and powerful enemy (Javier Bardem) sets his sights on MI6--and particularly Judi Dench's M--an aging James Bond must, of course, come to the stylish and suave rescue.  Aided (and challenged) by new cast members Ralph Fiennes (as a bureaucrat with whom Bond butts heads), Ben Whishaw (a geek chic Q), and Naomie Harris (a head-strong, sexy field agent), Bond travels to far-flung locations to track down and take out this creepy threat.

Bardem does a nice job as a Bond villain--he's over-the-top, he's unsettling, he's driven, and he's clearly crazy.   He has ridiculous hair.  He spouts off long monologues about rats and flirts with/threatens Bond with ease.

The cinematography of this film is frankly stunning.  Back-lit fight scenes in Shanghai skyscrapers and captivatingly gorgeous shots along the Scottish moors in the film's climax enhance the movie's very cool, put-together feeling.  Director Sam Mendes got his money's worth out of the location shooting, to say the least.

Sure, there are plot inconsistencies and questionable character choices one could look toward.  Nothing about the film is particularly--or really, even remotely--realistic.  Lines are delivered and plot points thrown in merely for the sake of being "cool."

And if you, as a film viewer, take issue with any of those things, well, a James Bond movie is probably not right for you.