Skyfall (PG-13)

Ian Fleming’s “James Bond” turns 50 this year, and it’s no surprise that 007 continues to hold a place in moviegoers’ hearts as an ageless action icon. And heaven knows the franchise has seen its share of change over the years. From Sean Connery to Roger Moore  – to modern portrayals of the British spy by actor Pierce Brosnan and now Daniel Craig, Bond has gotten out of more sticky situations, made love to more beautiful women, and destroyed more MI6 equipment than action heroes like Schwarzenegger, Segal, or Stallone ever dreamed of. And, given this, it’s also no surprise that “Skyfall,” the latest Bond installment released this month, carries with it a legendary expectation to deliver. Fortunately for fans, it does just that.

The movie opens in typical fashion, catapulting viewers into Bond’s world at breakneck speeds. Bond (Daniel Craig, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo“) and a fellow agent, Eve (Naomie Harris, “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”) are chasing a terrorist in Turkey who has a list of MI6 covert operatives. The chase sees Bond causing numerous street-level accidents, evading and trading multitudes of gunfire, and commencing an inside-building motorcycle chase – all before jumping off a bridge and onto a moving train to pursue the wanted man. You have to imagine that if MI6 needed an accident insurance policy for Bond, the man would need one hell of an agent.

While scenes like this are par for the course for any Bond film, “Skyfall” is immediately different in its presentation. While struggling on the train with his mark, Bond is accidentally shot by Eve in an attempt to take out the perp – a shot she questions, but takes at M’s request. And while we’re fairly certain that Bond is not dead, we second-guess this slightly as the franchise timeline gets a little blurry. 2006’s “Casino Royale” shows Bond’s first mission, and previous installments with Pierce Brosnan supposedly predate classics like “Goldfinger” and “A View to a Kill.” However, “Skyfall” keeps us in the dark long enough to wonder just where it fits into the Bond chronology.

Of course, Bond is not dead, and, after spending some time drinking, womanizing, and otherwise recouping, he returns to London in the wake of a terrorist attack on MI6. Here, Daniel Craig manages to bring some perplexities to Bond’s character that we’re not used to seeing. He appears wise yet broken, lecturing M on the need to take some time to relax, while at the same time swilling liquor straight out of the bottle and sporting a week’s unshaven beard. But where M has previously questioned Bond in issues of loyalty to Country, she learns her lesson – MI6 is under attack and Bond is back. Period.

Judi Dench once again reprises her role as ‘M,’ making it her 7th Bond film to appear in. Dench, who showed amazing versatility in the 2002 thriller “Notes on a Scandal” puts forth another thoroughly competent job as the MI6 Director while at the same time adding a bit of a soft edge to M that appears to rest part with age, but part with sentiment.

Following the attack on MI6, M comes under scrutiny by the Ministry of Defense, particularly her new boss Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes, “Schindler’s List”), urging her to justify both her actions and her continued employment. Several scenes, where M is in control show an icy, thorough professional dedicated to the job at all costs; later scenes, however, show a softer M. One scene, in which Bond criticizes an obituary she wrote for him when he was thought dead hints at an affection and a history between the two not seen in previous films. “It was appalling,” Bond states. M’s reply is honest and subdued: “I knew you would hate it.”

Daniel Craig in a scene from “Skyfall” (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 2012).

Of course, what is a Bond movie without a top-notch villain, and “Skyfall” attempts to fill these colossal shoes with a man named Silva (Javier Bardem, “No Country for Old Men”), a supposed power-hungry maniac, but one we soon learn to driven by a much simpler motive: revenge. Bardem’s Silva is interesting enough, however, to keep our attention, and seems to have a kinship with Bond that is unlike many other villains the franchise has presented. The plan he unfolds isn’t one of world domination or riches – but a more sinister, personal one. As it becomes clear that he means to do M serious harm, Bond has to pull out all the stops to protect her from Silva’s designs.

What makes “Skyfall” work, aside from good acting from all involved, is that it manages to narrow its scope within a manageable range. Many Bond films have the hero jet-setting from one locale to another, showing off exquisite paradises and action scenes, without really taking the time for character development or exposition (although one scene in Shanghai, where Bond confronts an assassin amidst the bright, psychedelic lights of a skyscraper represents one of the most exotic visuals I’ve seen in an action film for quite some time). “Casino Royale” did a great job with this, and it’s good to see “Skyfall” continue this trend. Much of the movie takes place in London, right in the heart of the city, and you get a real sense it’s more than just buildings and history MI6 is defending.

“Skyfall” will also doubtless please fans of the Bond franchise by setting up several key characters that one can only assume will continue the saga in the rich history created by such iconic Bonds as Connery and Moore. We get introduced to a young ‘Q’ (Ben Whishaw, “Cloud Atlas“) a wiz with computers who tells Bond he can “do more damage with a laptop sitting in pajamas” than Bond can do in a year in the field. And we are also introduced to a young and feisty Moneypenny (though her identity won’t be revealed here for those who haven’t seen the film).

But lastly, “Skyfall” succeeds because it centers the piece on its focal point, James Bond, going back to his childhood and exploring some reasons for his transition from orphan to spy. We get to see his home in Scotland, and the movie shows Bond and M on an oddly transformative mission to protect England, and themselves, from Silva who pursues them at every turn. In order for a Bond movie to work, it must first be a thoroughly engrossing movie.  “Skyfall” understands this, delivering more exposition, more character development, and a more believable villain than many of its predecessors. Under it all, the movie also manages to make you laugh, both with Bond’s iconic one-liners and absurd action sequences, and presents another solid entry into the franchise.

At 50 years and 23 movies, Bond is still looking as good as ever.