North Korea may have nukes, but what we really need to worry about is that country’s satellite-mounted, solar-powered giant laser. This device, called "Icarus," is the MacGuffin in Die Another Day, which marks the 40th anniversary of the indestructible James Bond franchise. The plot, which pits Bond against vengeful Korean officer Zao (Rick Yune) and a flashy British diamond mogul named Gustav Graves (a too-boyish Toby Stephens), is the usual logic-defying silliness. Still, the movie delivers most of what Bondphiles crave: spectacular stunts, cool gadgets, and hot babes. (Not enough of the signature John Barry & Monty Norman music, though.) In other words, any resemblance to an issue of Maxim magazine — or to XXX, but with more hair — is probably intentional.

Director Lee Tamahori, who made his mark as a director of substance with Once Were Warriors, is now completely substance-free. Maybe his flashy style is apt for what amounts to the world’s most expensive commercial, both for the numerous prominently placed products and for the franchise itself, which is the subject of several blatant commemorative nods to past 007 movies. Tamahori does offer some of the series’s most striking visuals: an invisible car, a palace of ice, a bikini-clad Halle Berry emerging from the surf à la Ursula Andress in Doctor No 40 years ago. In fact, Berry may be the film's best special effect. Whereas the role of Bond now fits Pierce Brosnan as snugly and comfortably as an old tuxedo, her mysterious femme fatale brings new and much-needed energy to the product. News that her Jinx might be given her own spinoff is welcome; she should kick Bond to the curb and get her own license to thrill. (120 minutes)