Fifty years after he burst onto movie screens in "Dr. No," James Bond is back in what critics describe as one of his best outings.
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Daniel Craig stars as James Bond in "Skyfall." Bankruptcy lawyers nearly did what Goldfinger and Dr. No failed to do – keep 007 from completing his mission.
After emerging from bankruptcy in late 2010, MGM, along with Columbia Pictures/ Sony, proceeded with the first James Bond film since the lackluster "Quantum of Solace" in 2008. The wait ends today and critics say Bond is back better than ever.
Here is a sampling of reviews:
"Some of the exhilaration faded when Sean Connery lost his hair and took a powder, but 50 years after Ian Fleming’s super-cool agent from Her Majesty’s Secret Service was shot from a cannon into movie history, Bond is back, and so is high-octane entertainment." – Rex Reed, New York Observer
"Just as Christopher Nolan gave rebirth to the Batman movies in 'The Dark Knight,' here is James Bond lifted up, dusted off, set back on his feet and ready for another 50 years." – Roger Ebert
"Bond being Bond, he can still get himself out of any dangerous situation; the opening chase, which begins in Istanbul's Grand Bazaar and ends in impossibly daring fashion on top of a hurtling train, is a marvel of timing and choreography." – Christie Lemire, Associated Press
"This is perhaps the most visually stunning Bond movie ever made." – Richard Roeper
"The splashy gadgets that are a Bond tradition are few. Instead, the film is framed by the high-tech age of satellite communication and cyber bullies. Agent Q (Ben Whishaw) is an electronics genius with plenty of nerdy quirks, intellectual arrogance chief among them. But he's a good ally in tracing the shadowy cyber trail of the film's arch archenemy." – Betsy Sharkly, Los Angeles Times
"Bounding back four years after the sour stasis of 'Quantum of Solace' and 50 years after Mr. Bond ordered his first martini on screen, this freshly oxygenated entry — the third starring the totally captivating cool cucumber Daniel Craig as Agent 007 — is both an elegy and a mission statement. It's also a great, long-lasting jolt of pleasure." #8211; Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
"Directed by a surprisingly well-equipped Sam Mendes, “Skyfall” is, in every way, a superior follow-up to “Casino Royale,” the 2006 reboot that introduced Mr. Craig as Bond. “Skyfall” even plays like something of a franchise rethink." – Manohla Dargis, New York Times
"What Mendes and the rest have done is smartly re-set the Bond clock all the way back to 1963 or so, before the wild gadgets and ever-more-improbable plots took over. There's nobody here crying tears of blood, no missions in space, no woman with a double-entendre name." – Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger
"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. It's taken 23 films and 50 years to get Bond's backstory, but the wait was worth it." – Peter Debruge, Variety
"Dramatically gripping while still brandishing a droll undercurrent of humor, this beautifully made film certainly will be embraced as one of the best Bonds by loyal fans worldwide and leaves you wanting the next one to turn up sooner than four years from now." – Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter
