8. It's More Classic Bond Than You Think
While Casino Royale in particular made great pains to move away from the camp and silliness of the previous Bond films, Skyfall is a far more pragmatic effort, in so much as it adopts the Christopher Nolan "dark" aesthetic that is in vogue at the moment, but also indulges a few flourishes of Bond lore that will keep some of the older fans happy. While Javier Bardem's campy villain is quite evidently a nod to the more bombastic villains of old Bond, Sam Mendes has prepped plenty of other, less-expected flourishes for fans, too. One notable instance comes during the film's lush Shanghai sequence, when Bond is fighting an assailant in a pit, and as if this wasn't threat enough, a Komodo Dragon emerges to spice things up a bit. It's completely silly - especially when Bond manages to have his foe end up being chewed on by said creature - but totally works as a carefully-pitched, light touch alongside all the intense action. Also, there's a ridiculously, even laughably gratuitous sex scene in this portion of the film, as Bond meets Severine (Berenice Marlohe) at a bar, and without much of an explanation, we later see him climbing into the shower with her for a quick, surprise shag (which comes off as more than a little creepy when you think about it). In perhaps the most crowd-pleasing moment, though, the Aston Martin DB5 shows up in the third act once Bond and M head to Scotland, complete with Monty Norman's classic Bond theme, and a wry joke about ejector seats. This is a film that fundamentally knows how to nod to the past while looking forward to the series' promising future.