First of all, let me say that I am a HUGE James Bond fan. I have all the books. And I mean ALL the books, even the ones written by someone other than Ian Fleming. I have all the movies. I even have some of the soundtracks. And I can bore scores of people with Bond-related trivia.

This weekend, I finally got to see Casino Royale, the new Bond movie starring Daniel Craig.

It. Was. AWESOME.

The movies have gotten sillier and sillier since Goldeneye, the first one starring Pierce Brosnan back in the mid-1990s. The last one, Die Another Day, had an inivisible car, done with very cheesy and obvious special effects. Yikes.

But Casino Royale was a reboot of the series — a chance to look back at Bond on one of his first missions. And it was almost perfect. The style, the gritty tone, the lack of cheesy one-liners and the return of some real wit. It was everything that a Bond movie should be. And then some.

The movie followed Fleming’s original book pretty closely, which I appreciated. And Craig was an excellent Bond, the right mix of ruthlessness and determination and sophistication. Very close to Fleming’s original character. Judi Dench rocked the house as M. The scenery was breathtaking, the fight scenes were well-done, and Bond was in his favorite car — an Aston Martin.

It was wonderful. Sigh. 🙂

Even my significant other enjoyed it, and he’s not a Bond fan at all.

Okay, enough gushing from me. Although I have November 2008 marked on my calendar — that’s when the next Bond movie is due to hit theaters. 😉

What about you? Have you seen the new Bond movie? Love it? Hate it? Inquiring minds want to know …