91% Skyfall

All Critics (238) | Top Critics (44) | Fresh (217) | Rotten (21)

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.

Great heroes are often enhanced by the villains they face, and such is the situation here. To really work, Bond needs great bad guys. Silva is bad at its best.

If our 21st-century spies must be dark instead of Pop, let them be presented with as much conviction and professionalism as in 'Skyfall,' the best movie yet with Daniel Craig as a particularly vulnerable bruiser of a Bond for a cynical post-Cold War era.

Nothing Like A Good Villian

The villain isn't intent on destroying the world, and the gadgets consist of items you might find at The Sharper Image. The 23rd Bond outing delivers thrills all the same.

Skyfall's 143-minute running time doesn't seem a bit extended. Rather, one sits there taking in this 23rd Bond adventure, wishing to be shaken and stirred indefinitely.

I wanted to like Skyfall more than I did, which is funny because after the opening sequence, I felt sure I would love it.

'Wait a minute, did I just walk in on The Man with the Golden Groin?' asks Bond. 'I was going for Thunderballs,' says Bardem, 'but let's settle on yours!'

In more ways than one, Bond is back.

This is one of the better Bond films in the franchise.

By this point, rejecting the Bond formula has become a clich? itself. It's been three movies, you can't still play the 'This is the NEW Bond' card.

A key aspect of any movie is how quickly it can reel you in. In the case of Skyfall, this box is ticked in the opening few minutes.

never a better villain than Bardem, blonde and mincing with a scathingly brilliant intellect at the service of a twisted, raging mother complex, and there has not been a better mother complex in film since Psycho

Skyfall returns Bond to Solid Ground

It's an old-fashioned Bond movie--or at least promises the next one will be--and that's good news for many.

A bloated, tedious, uninspired, sluggish and vapid bore that can only be enjoyed by very shallow, unctuous philistines.

Who pays the price for Skyfall? Bond fans do, of course. But so does Daniel Craig. He's not going to be around forever - not in this shape, anyway.

... the best-looking Bond movie ever made. Roger Deakins' cinematography is full of striking silhouettes, some stark and simple as woodcuts, others multi-layered and illusory.

Tough and taciturn, Craig has re-energized the franchise after the shaky Brosnan years, definitely demonstrating that the series has once again earned its license to thrill.

"My name is Bond, Emo Bond." Is there a 12-step program for whiny, moping, bland Spies? Daniel Craig may fit the part of Bond but after 3 movies its clear he doesn't want to be there.

The new 007 adventure reaches for the sky but falls short. This does not prevent Skyfall from being a good Bond film, but it does flatten the film's higher aspiration - which is to be more than just a good Bond film.

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

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