92% Skyfall

All Critics (276) | Top Critics (45) | Fresh (253) | Rotten (23)

'Quantum of Solace,' was a dour, dire letdown. This picture's a substantial bounce back, and easily the best Craig Bond picture. Emotional depth and all.

Sam Mendes' 'Skyfall': sleek, slithery, sensual

The cool accomplishment of Skyfall, 23rd in the Broccoli franchise, is that it seems a necessary, rather than mandatory, addition to the year's popular culture.

Among the most ambitious imaginings of Bond to date: dark, supple, and punctuated with moments of unanticipated visual brilliance.

Mendes' approach to action is classical and elegant - no manic editing and blurry unintelligible images here - but what makes the movie special is the attention he pays his actors.

"Skyfall" is a different kind of Bond movie, one that works just fine on its own terms, but a steady diet of this might kill the franchise. One "Skyfall" is enough.

Sentimental touches underscore the fun and frivolity of Bond's past while relishing the brutal landscape of the modern day super-spy.

This makes the list of truly great 007 films alongside the list of Goldfinger, Thunderball, Live And Let Die, Licence To Kill, Goldeneye and Casino Royale.

Worlds collide in this near-brilliant, meticulously refined 21st-century redefinition of James Bond.

Sam Mendes has done a magnificent job, creating both a relevant and timeless entry into the Bond canon, while deftly adding homages to the series' past.

...tough and grim but still spry ... feels like something of a rearguard action in the case of the British Empire.

Sometimes the old ways are the best. This is a theme and repeated line running throughout the new James Bond film Skyfall and never has it been more true.

Skyfall does what all of the best franchise entries do: it makes you want to see the next one immediately. Consider me (physically) shaken and (emotionally) stirred.

Not the best Bond movie ever but a very good one; a little darker but still unsettled as to what type overall it wants to be.

Too often this martini is sloppy, not smooth.

This is one of the 50-year-old series' most exciting and commandingly compelling entries. Yes, James Bond is back to being James Bond.

Seen against the ineffectual backdrop of 2008's Quantum of Solace, this is a return to form but it doesn't exceed Craig's impressive debut as Bond in 2006's Casino Royale.

Skyfall is not, of course, ''darker'' or more serious than previous Bond films, but it's more knowing about its own conventions.

Breathes fresh life into the genre.

A lot of critics are claiming this to be the best Bond film ever made; they may well be right-to some degree. It's certainly the most poignant-which, in what is ostensibly an action film, is a feather in Mendes' cap to be sure.

James Bond's 23rd official feature film gives the iconic secret agent something to stew over: an existential crisis.

Suffers from unconvincing plotting, and a third act so bad it brings the roof of the whole endeavour caving in

Even die-hard Sean Connery fans will have to admit there's another actor who can portray James Bond when they see 'Skyfall.'

Mendes does a superb job maintaining tension - and releasing it from time to time so we can take a breath, have a laugh, sit back from the edge of our seat - as he shows how seriously the James Bond character can be taken, without breaking it

Establishing a sense of urgency from the outset, the 23rd Bond film hits its tall target with a bonus back-story, character establishment and strong storyline to balance the action. As a consequence, we are offered a film that is uniquely Bond

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/skyfall/

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