Rotten tomatoes has it at 84% and, with few exceptions, most of the major media and entertainment critics are loving it. Doesn't guarantee that audiences will embrace it, but I'd hardly say 84% is "mixed".
The buzz is that this is very good, but not quite the best of Craig's films (i.e., not as good as Casino Royale or Skyfall, but better than Spectre and Quantum of Solace). I'm looking forward to it!
Saw this last night. It was pretty good. Agreed that it wasn't the best of the Daniel Craig movies, but far from the worst. The weakest part was the main villain honestly. He didn't feel very well developed as a character, and felt kinda like an afterthought.
Saw it. It's good, but the buzz is right: it's the middle of the Craig era films, not as good as Casino Royale and Skyfall, but better than the others. Wow...uh, AVOID SPOILERS. Quick half-synopsis: In the longest pre-credits opening in Bond history (it has to be 20+ minutes and involves one flashback and an extended action set piece), we learn that retired superspy Bond (Daniel Craig, terrific but about to age out of the role) has been romantically nomadic with Dr. Madeleine Swan, but sinister agents are close at hand, and the romance is...challenged. Forgettable Billie Eilish theme, but interesting title credits sequence ensues. Alas, the sexy girl silhouettes seem to be a thing of the past. Cut to a few years later and bad guys (SPECTRE, natch) stealing a biological weapon from a secret lab in...a London skyscraper? Geez, that makes putting one near a Chinese wet market seem sensible. A key scientist (actor doing a really bad Russian accent, and generally failing to be funny) is working with SPECTRE and flees with them, and both the CIA and MI6 go to work finding him. Strange, they're not working together, wot? CIA guy Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) knows where the scientist is--Cuba--and the perfect agent to get him out: his old buddy James Bond. Bond agrees to take the assignment, which puts him on a collision course with the new 007 (Lashana Lynch). Things go badly--very badly for SPECTRE, but also for Bond & co.--and Bond realizes there's another player in the game... A few quick notes: Loved the references to On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The famous quote comes up ("We have all the time in the world"), the John Barry theme song is used, and Louis Armstrong's "We Have All the Time in the World" plays in the credits. Liked Lashana Lynch as...007. She was, thankfully, exactly what I thought she'd be: a capable agent who simply got assigned Bond's old number ("What? Did you think they'd retire it?"). There's no eye-rolling feminism here, she's just a solid female character. She and Bond go back and forth poking at each other, but they eventually gain each other's respect and their camaraderie near the end works well. No, she isn't taking over the franchise. Chill. Pay attention during the scenes immediately after the credits: there's a betrayal within a betrayal going on, and if you don't catch it, it will take a while to catch back up. The Craig films have focused heavily on the character of Bond, not just his exploits. This one takes that tendency to its maximum. Love the usages of the line "Bond. James Bond." Twice. Neither time in the conventional context. M (Ralph Fiennes), Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), and Q (Ben Whishaw) get some nice moments (and Tanner's back again), but are relegated to watching the monitors for the conclusion. The altered relationship between Bond and M is a little unsettling. The former doesn't work for the latter anymore... Ana de Armas is just the perfect fusion of adorable and gorgeous. She's fun here as Paloma, an agent who's kind of a newb, but who has good instincts. Since the next Bond is certain to be a reboot, we probably won't see her in the role again...but I'd like to. Blofeld (Christoph Walz) gets to do a Hannibal Lector: sitting in a cell giving the hero little clues to the goings-on. I was glad to see him, but, alas, he's not much more than a cameo. Did we ever get an adequate explanation for Blofeld's "bionic eye?" 007 is sent to check him out, but I don't think that was ever resolved. The main baddie (Rami Malek) doesn't show up until late in the film. The actor makes the character suitably odd for a Bond villain, and, while his earlier actions seem reasonable, his main plan is just insane (like, Dr. No/Stromberg/Drax insane). And he makes the mistake of not filling James Bond with lead when he has the opportunity. The climactic sequence is a little...video game-y. The last few lines in the movie are brilliant IMHO. You might smile, you might mist up a little. I did both. It's a good send-off for Craig. It's a little overlong (though never boring) and the climax seems a little formulaic until it takes that last turn. Recommended. Essential if you're a Bond fan. 7.5/10.
I saw it. It was good, not great. Loved the sound; my ears are still ringing from the gunfire. Also Ana de Armas is a modern day Helen of Troy.
Really cool medley. Made me realize just how much I hate the theme to Die Another Day. And "We Have All the Time in the World" is underrated.
Saw it finally. It was okay. Nice gadgets and call backs to the past, but I feel like it wasn’t that great. Casino Royals is the best of the Craig movies.
