As Anne Rice has now healed the rift between us with Blackwood Farm, so has the James Bond franchise healed my wounds from the awful, agonizing horror that was The World is Not Enough. Bond is back in Die Another Day and he's back to stay. Pierce Brosnan is really settling in to the image that is Bond. And as he ages and relaxes into the role, he becomes sexier than ever before, moment by moment, heartbeat by heartbeat, smile by smile.

I'm done drooling now. I promise.
From the beginning, Die Another Day shows us that this is a different kind of Bond, but it doesn't lose its tradition. The slightly-more-upbeat music starts, the circles move in front of your eyes, Bond walks out, turns, raises his guns and shoots... and the bullet hurdles towards you and zooms by your head. I almost wet my pants, it was so cool.

The Mother of All Songs?
For the first twenty seconds, I thought maybe the sound in the theater was flickering in and out, but it was just the song. It's techno. Madonna does techno? Whatever. I'll let others be the judge of that. What I wanted to point out is another shift from tradition... don't worry, there are still silhouettes of naked women. But the song scene is worked into the plot of the movie... and it's not all sunshine and sex kittens.

Umm... Strider? Middle Earth is that way, and they'll kinda need you soon.
Bond gets down and dirty in this one. Literally. His suave exterior is crushed into the dirt, leaving nothing left but the power of Bond behind it. It's then that you realize just how much Pierce Brosnan has settled into this role. They took all the flash away from the man and it just didn't matter.

Do you think they never put Halle Berry in white on purpose?
Halle Berry. She may have won an Oscar, but she still sucked as Storm. She's better as a Bond girl, but I don't think she's the best. She's definitely acceptable, yes. I just don't think she deserves all the press she's getting as the new "Bond Girl of the Future." Michelle Yeoh should've gotten it... she could so kick Halle Berry's ass from here to China and back and I'm sorry, but that's what really counts in a Bond movie, if you ask me. But, since few people do ask me, I'll bring a male perspective into this. My movie-going companion didn't think much of Berry's acting performance, but thought a lot of her... umm... other attributes. And because Bond can't have just one girl in a movie, don't worry; he liked the attributes in the other girl too. Especially when combining tank tops and sharp objects.

Conflict Diamonds are Forever
This is the first Bond movie in a long time that doesn't depend on amazing car chases and fight sequences to pull the movie along. Don't worry; the gadgets are incredible, the fight scenes amazing, the double entendres smooth and witty, and the glimpse into the franchise history intriguing, but all are wound into something called a plot. There are definite plot glitches (my biggest issue being that I didn't know what an African conflict diamond was) but all in all, it's a great story of good versus evil, with Bond's own agenda hovering somewhere in between. Even the side characters have more of a purpose this time around. Judi Dench as M and John Cleese as Q are wonderful, as usual, but they're on the inside of the plot line. Madonna's cameo is good because of the information it brings with it. My favorite though, is Miss Moneypenny's role as a reminder of the franchise history. You go girl!

Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope.
One parting thought as you rush out the door to see this movie. Someone was watching a lot of Star Wars while writing the movie. Look for the blast doors, hovercrafts and mouth breathers for diving. And I bet at one point in the movie, you think to yourself, "Nice Fortress of Solitude."