"Skyfall" reviews: Critics can't get enough of 007

Daniel Craig stars as James Bond in "Skyfall." / Francois Duhamel/Columbia Pictures

The new James Bond movie "Skyfall" hits theaters on Friday, and critics are raving over director Sam Mendes' take on the iconic franchise.

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"Skyfall" world premiere

"Skyfall" is the 23rd Bond film and actor Daniel Craig's third go-round as the superspy. The film has been noted by many critics as a departure from Craig's last Bond film, "Quantum of Solace," which was not as well received.

Judi Dench returns as spy chief M and Javier Bardem makes his Bond debut as a villain seeking revenge. The film also stars Ralph Fiennes and Naomie Harris.

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James Bond's Aston Martin DB5 in "Skyfall"

"Skyfall" has received a 93 percent on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with critics in overwhelming favor of the movie. See what some critics have to say below:

Claudia Puig of USA Today: "Over the past half century, audiences have been shaken and stirred by 007 movies, and entertained in varying doses by a succession of brawny Bonds. Consistently high-caliber, Skyfall is the ideal way to celebrate the 50-year mark."

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone: This is Bond like you've never seen him, almost Freudian in his vulnerability. And a dynamite Daniel Craig, never better in the role, nails Bond's ferocity and feeling. Mortality lurks in the shadows as Craig digs deep into Bond's past. Citizen Kane had his Rosebud. Bond has his Skyfall.

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Daniel Craig on Bond after "Skyfall"

Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times: "In "Skyfall," Mendes has given us a thrilling new chapter in a franchise that by all rights should have been gasping for air -- which really makes him the hero of this saga. Saving Bond, after all, is rather like saving the day."

Manohla Dargis of the New York Times: "Whether Mr. Mendes is deploying an explosion or a delectable detail, he retains a crucially human scale and intimacy, largely by foregrounding the performers. To that end, while 'Skyfall' takes off with shock-and-awe blockbuster dazzle, it's opulent rather than outlandish and insistently, progressively low-key, despite an Orientalist fantasy with dragons and dragon ladies."

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly: "Of all the marvelous feats that make 'Skyfall' such a thrilling addition to the James Bond movie canon, the greatest may be that the 23rd entry conveys the melancholy of loss, mortality, and future-shock anxiety, while at the same time leaving us plenty of space to enjoy one of the most complexly unhinged villains in Bond history."

Peter Debruge of Variety: "Putting the "intelligence" in MI6, 'Skyfall' reps a smart, savvy and incredibly satisfying addition to the 007 oeuvre, one that places Judi Dench's M at the center of the action."

[gnasher156]

The good reviews for this movie are making me really happy. A couple of my DISH co-workers and I have been excited about seeing Skyfall for a long time now. We're actually having a Daniel Craig Bond night before we go to the theater. I added Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace to my Blockbuster @ Home queue, which I have through my DISH account. It's so convenient for me to just have the DVDs mailed to me since I never have time to go rent movies at the store these days. It's been forever since I've seen these movies, so I'm looking forward to refreshing my memory. It should be a good time!

[thisinsmith]

BY Far the most Disapointng film ever

[hypnotoad72]

I'll have to see it first, but I try to avoid populist reviews.

Genres can be flexible and malleable, but it depends on how true to the property's nature it remains to... I loved "Casino Royale" (2006, despite a brief mark at 2:00 that felt like the movie was ending except it picked up again out of nowhere), didn't care for "Quantum" as it completely lacked focus and direction, loathed the bulk of the Brosnan era, loved Dalton, lackluster toward most of Moore's, and Connery's petered out after "Goldfinger". "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" was ahead of its time...

[mrbofus]

SPOILERS AHEAD:

Based on reviews, I thought this movie would impress me and knock my socks off; and perhaps I walked in expecting too much, but I walked out thinking, "meh." It wasn't a terrible movie, but I don't understand why everyone is saying it's so great. There were way too many plot holes that took me out of the movie.

The biggest one that ran throughout the movie was, "Why didn't Silva just kidnap M?" At the end of the movie, it turns out his plans was to kill M but also himself. Why did he go through all the effort of the entire movie when he could have just kidnapped M to begin with? He clearly had the knowledge, skills, and resources to do so. His whole reason for doing anything was because he had M (mommy) issues. His entire "plan" hinged on Bond wanting to get captured by him and then Bond taking him prisoner.

And why would Bond want to be captured in that way anyways? Wouldn't it make more sense to take Severine, give her protective custody and interrogate her? She knew where Silva was and appeared ready and willing to give Bond that knowledge anyways. They could have found the location that way, and then sent in the commandos. The second part of his "plan" was getting captured and then escaping. Why go through all that? Just attack the hearing that he knew M was going to be in anyways, without having to deal with planning an incredibly elaborate escape. Or, back to the big issue, just kidnap her.

*side note: it is clearly established that Bond is chasing Silva through rush-hour crowds, yet the train that crashes through the ceiling and almost hits Bond is empty except for the driver. Where did all the people go?*

And about his escape, the second biggest problem for me. Q, this genius technology guy, plugs in Silva's computer, who has already been acknowledged as a master hacker, straight into MI6's network?!? Seriously?! Wouldn't you try to get what's on the computer without connecting it to a network? Or if you had to connect it to a network, connect it to an isolated one? If guys like Q are in charge of computer stuff at MI6, no wonder they got so easily hacked.

Skyfall. James Bond had super rich parents. Great. Their death messed him up. Great. He doesn't like talking about it. Great. But that's as far as we go. But fine, let's say we're not going to delve into that. At Skyfall, after M and Kincade escape, why are they using the flashlight? I can get Kincade maybe not thinking of that, but M, who leads a spy organization doesn't think about how a flashlight could give away their position at night?

Anyways, those are just the big ones that stick out in my head. Those took me out of the movie and made me just wonder, "what the heck are these people doing?!" throughout most of the movie.

[badger_mushroom_snake]

Sean Connery is still the best Bond.