Skyfall

Despite some effects shots that could be done better and a final act that, for all its explosiveness and Shakespearean grandeur, feels strangely out of place and anticlimatic, Sam Mendes' "Skyfall" delivers everything you can ask for in a James Bond film: brilliant action sequences staged against the backdrop of exotic, awe-inspiring locations, a cinematography and editing team that works wonders keeping things sharp and brisk without getting jumpy, and that marvelous whiff of quintessential 007 charm.

Acting-wise: Javier Bardem, equal parts flamboyant and creepy, is positively diva-licious, while Judi Dench rules the screen once again as the queen bee of British secret intelligence, her snarky one-liners are priceless.