Iconic characters in cinema are many and varied, but few are as influential and popular as James Bond. 007, Mr. Bond, Sean Connery, however you like to call him, his mark on movies is unquestionable and easily seen on practically every action movie in the past 50 years. While “Casino Royale” reinvigorated the franchise for a new generation, “Quantum of Solace” was a dull James Bond movie that had lost all the fun that made the original movies so delightful.

Now, director Sam Mendes is the one to bring the 23rd Bond movie to the screen, on the franchise’s 50th anniversary to boot.  “Skyfall” arrives hoping to bring life back into the series, and it does ten-fold.

Massive terrorist attacks on the head of MI-6, M (Judi Dench), have brought Bond (still played by Daniel Craig) back to the battlefield, with some new gadgets from Q (Ben Whishaw) and traveling to some exotic international locations. However, the enemy, Silva (Javier BArdem) is a cunning adversary and he’s one who isn’t to be taken lightly as he has a personal score to settle and is willing to do anything to settle such a score, including killing James Bond.

“Skyfall” does to James Bond what “The Dark Knight” did for Batman, both bringing all the classic elements to the character with new vibrant life and beautiful direction. “Skyfall” is an awesome action movie to watch, utilizing all the classic Bond elements (the crazy villain, gorgeous Bond girls, fun gadgets) and brings them up to date in classy ways. No, you won’t see James Bond rapping it up with Nicki Minaj, but his gadgets don’t go beyond a fancy gun and a communication device. These guys get what is essential to the character of Bond and how to make it connect with a modern day audience.

Sam Mendes expertly directs this installment with finesse, showing unexpected talent handling action sequences. I was also impressed with how well he handled the emotion, as some of Bond’s backstory here is shown. I felt some of it was too reminiscent of Batman Begins, but otherwise it’s used gracefully. The cast is also directed wonderfully, allowed to exploit all possible nuances of their characters.

Speaking of the cast, Daniel Craig is really taking James Bond into unique and fantastic directions, making even Sean Connery seem like a bit of a novice. Ralph Fiennes does a fine job as a government agent, though Naomie Harris is a bit bland as one of the movies two Bond girls, Eve. Her dialogue is a little wooden and her performance is definitely lacking. The highlight though is Javier Bardem as our main bad guy, Silva.

I haven’t liked how the last two Bond pictures have had bad guys that weren’t more than just CEO’s with attitude. I miss the age of antagonists who would pet felines as they divulged their master plans and had accents so thick you could cut them with a knife. Javier does all this and more, bringing an actual threatening presence to Silva, while also allowing humor to seep through. He’s one of the best bad guys this year and Javier delivers a knockout performance that might be Oscar-worthy. Bringing up “The Dark Knight” comparisons again, Silva is as close to The Joker in terms of sheer bad guy awesomeness that you can get.

50 years in, James Bond should be reeking of mothballs, right? the franchise has had it’s downs (the last movie was easily one of the lowest of its lows) but “Skyfall” represents a new high for the franchise: demonstrating how well a fleshed out bad guy, humor and superb directing can enhance a movie. “Skyfall” is one of the year’s best movies without question, but it also might be the best Bond movie ever.