All bets are off. Daniel Craig as Bond.

Rating: 10/10 (19 November 2006)

All of the gnashing of teeth about Daniel Craig taking over as Bond can end. Craig doesn't even try to fit the mold created by Bond's previous avatars. He breaks the damn thing by making Bond his own, and he becomes the man that Ian Fleming originally envisioned in the process. Don't get me wrong, this Bond is sharp, smart, and cool like the Bonds before him, but that's where the similarity ends. Gag lines are held to a blessed minimum, making even Connery's Bond seem like a wisecracker by comparison. It's a darker Bond we see here -- one that truly seems at ease killing people and for whom audacious risk-taking seems not only natural, but obvious. Craig also brings a visceral physicality to Bond that we've never seen before. The man actually looks like he could be a secret agent. That is to say he looks like someone who has put in years in an elite commando force -- built to fight and to endure when the going gets tough. (We get to see quite a lot of Craig's physique in this film too.) I will have to see him in more than one outing to say Craig has dethroned Sean Connery, but he's definitely put Connery on notice with Casino Royal.
I will add that this is the tightest plotting I've ever seen in a Bond film. The story makes sense and there is motivation and an emotional connection with the characters that has been lacking in most of the Broccoli franchise Bond films. This is one Bond film that will definitely be added to my collection on the day the DVD hits the stores.