Crossfire Hurricane 2012

David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer: As the band marks its 50th anniversary, Crossfire Hurricane is a vivid reminder of just how essential, influential, and deliberate they have been. Read more

James Poniewozik, TIME Magazine: It's not a revelation, but it's an intimate story of the band, with performance sequences that show how five guys-in different lineups -- came together and made an entity of pure fire and sex. Read more

John Anderson, Wall Street Journal: What Mr. Morgen is after is something true to the Stones as they once existed -- as the anti-Beatles, the antiheroes of the British Invasion and an entity that bespoke hedonism, nihilism and narrow escapes. Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: Of the many sources from which someone might learn about the Rolling Stones it's better than most. Read more

Matthew Gilbert, Boston Globe: You can almost track the arc of the Stones by studying how Jagger's face evolves over the course of the movie. Read more

Joanne Ostrow, Denver Post: True, it's a self-promotional exercise designed to coincide with a new greatest-hits album and featuring the band's closest participation in a documentary ever, but it's still fun to recap. Read more

Stephen Dalton, Hollywood Reporter: Fortunately, these Mount Rushmore-faced rock icons still have sufficiently supercharged charisma and brilliant music to carry off such a transparently commercial exercise in self-promotion. Read more

Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times: He music, at least, has remained unruly. They may be an institution, but they remain just crummy enough to keep from ever seeming slick. Read more

Glenn Gamboa, Newsday: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards aren't afraid to keep it real. Both show some interesting insights into their success, with Jagger revealing how he portrays a different character for each of the band's singles. Read more

David Hinckley, New York Daily News: Crossfire Hurricane, a new documentary on the first 15 years of the Rolling Stones, has passages where it lives up to the title's promise. It has other passages where it's more like a mild breeze. Read more

Linda Stasi, New York Post: If you weren't born when the Stones broke all the rules, you will get to see why these old guys were/are the greatest of all time. If you were around then you already know, but you still won't believe it. Read more

Roger Catlin, Salon.com: While there is always another clip or song of interest, there's a lot lost in the middle. Read more

David Wiegand, San Francisco Chronicle: Hurricane is a whirling impressionistic painting of the band, beautifully conveying the energy, drive and genius of the Stones, more or less chronologically within the basic flashback structure. Read more

Troy Patterson, Slate: It was my pleasure, as an intermediate-level Stones buff, to see that director Brett Morgen has put together something reeking of astringent danger. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Morgen and his editors do more than just provide a potted history. The fast cuts, which remind me of Arthur Lipsett's avant-garde NFB work, give the feeling of the whirlwind popularity of the band's early years. Read more

Leslie Felperin, Variety: This tribute to the Rolling Stones offers a blizzard of archive material nimbly sutured together with interviews with the Stones themselves, making this a succinct, officially sanctioned but not necessarily fawning history of the band. Read more