Bond May Be No Saint, but He\'s Worthy of Vatican Attention

ROME - In its Wednesday edition, the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano commemorated two topical dates with full-page spreads: the 500th anniversary of the inauguration of the Sistine Chapel â€" which took place under Pope Julius II on Oct. 31, 1512 - and the 50-year run of the James Bond franchise.

Now, Michelangelo's masterpiece is the subject of regular reports in the Vatican mouthpiece, but it's rarer for a fictional character with a license to kill (and a rather cavalier attitude when it comes to sex outside of marriage) to draw this kind of glowing coverage, even if the occasion is the Italian release Wednesday of the latest Bond film, “Skyfall.”

As interpreted by Daniel Craig and envisioned by the director Sam Mendes, this Bond is “less of a cliché, less attracted by the pleasures of life, much darker and more introspective,” the Osservatore film critic Gaetano Vallini wrote in one of five articles dedicated to the Ian Fleming spy. “And be cause of this he is more human, even able to be moved and to cry.” (Mr. Vallini did also note that the movie had plenty of exotic locations, supervillains, vodka martinis and “extremely beautiful Bond girls.”)

To honor James Bond is to recognize the character's role in popular culture, said the paper's editor in chief, Giovanni Maria Vian, adding that the newspaper's mandate is “to pay attention to the cultural phenomena of our time,” whether comics, pop music or film. In recent years, the newspaper has commended popular favorites like the Blues Brothers and the Beatles' White Album.

Mr. Bond “may be a stylized hero, but he's on the side of good,” Mr. Vian said. “He is elegant, pokes fun at himself, overall he's more human.”