Better begin with some disclosure: In my 28 years, “Casino Royale” is the only Bond film I’ve ever seen. Now that you’re over the shock of this admission, consider: Half of these movies came out before I was born. By the time I was old enough to understand the finer points of your average spy flick, Bond films had settled into a formulaic pattern of guns, girls and gadgets, and the parodies had become so numerous, I felt like I actually had seen a Bond film. So, even though I can’t compare “Casino” to, say, “Live and Let Die,” the advantage is that my review won’t be contaminated by such comparisons.

And that’s fitting because the 21st film in the series is a “reboot” of the Bond franchise. Set at the beginning of 007’s career, Bond (Daniel Craig) has just earned his license to kill when he’s sent to Madagascar to shadow an international bomb-maker. After an incredible parkour chase that would give Jackie Chan a run for his money, Bond links the bomb-maker to another baddie in the Bahamas, where J.B. uncovers and subsequently prevents a terrorist attack in nearby Miami. This forces the hand of terrorist financier Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), who, under pressure from his clients, organizes a high-stakes poker game in Montenegro to keep his balance sheets in the black. Backed by the Crown, Bond enters the game to keep the pressure on…and that’s just the first half of the movie.

I thoroughly enjoyed “Casino”; the movie packs more excitement and action into its 144 minutes than the latest season of “24” (incidentally, have you ever noticed Jack Bauer, Jason Bourne and James Bond all have the same initials? Must be something about the letters J and B). Craig, the first blonde Bond, does a superb job of playing a cool, detached secret agent at the beginning of his evolution. While his independent streak is strong, he’s also less experienced and more vulnerable to both villains and love interests. If you were one of those Pierce Brosnan fans that boycotted its release, you have no idea what a solid performance you’ve missed.

It’s worth noting that “Casino Royale” was also Bond creator Ian Fleming’s first novel featuring the secret agent, and it makes sense that the movie feels so fresh. In a way, it’s like watching “Ironman” or “Batman Begins,” except that in this case, “Casino” chronicles the birth of a spy for the 21st century. (If you think Sean Connery is the definitive Bond, try to imagine him leaping from one tower crane to the next).

As Bond fans might expect, there’s a standard dose of fast cars and even faster women, but these elements defy the parodies and are incorporated in such a way that prevents the movie from falling into convention. Even the obligatory gun-barrel shot doesn’t appear until the end of the opening sequence and is itself incorporated into the plot. And who would have thought a poker game could be filmed with so much edge-of-your seat suspense?

While it did seem like “Casino Royale” meandered a bit toward the end and ran a little bit longer than I expected, I’ll forgive the filmmakers, for the last scene is reward enough: Bond, UMP in hand, approaches his latest quarry and utters a line that fans know all too well. In the end, “Casino” proves to viewers such as myself that, as old as the franchise is, it’s still relevant, exciting and cool…and the best is yet to come.