Sam Mendes must be applauded for breathing new life into the Bond franchise by taking it into darker territory that makes you wonder if he's been studying Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.
The American Beauty director has reinvigorated 007, which after 50 years on the big screen, feels like it could easily go on for another 50.
The Times's Kate Muir called it "a great British bulldog of a movie".
"From the moment the orchestral sound of Adele belts out, sending a nostalgic shiver down the audience's collective spine, we know this will be a triumphant return to classic Bond," she wrote.
