Let me add my drop into the bucket. It's pretty good!

Rating: 8/10 (5 December 2006)

I've watched all the Bond movies, even the David Niven Bond and Never Say Never Again. I haven't seen that television Bond version of Casino Royale yet. I've read ALL the Fleming novels except Live and Let die.
Craig is the closest Bond to the Fleming books. It used to be Dalton, but no longer. Craig is the best Fleming Bond. The best movie Bond is still Connery, he brought a dimension you'd never see reading all the books, but Craig, he's the killer, the man who can get hurt doing spy work, the man with a cold, cruel side to him (Fleming has often been accused of sadism in his books. Bond has been poisoned, stabbed, bitten--by a barracuda).
I wasn't worried about Craig. I was more worried about Martin Campbell, the director. He did a passable Goldeneye. Like most Bond flicks it went on a bit too long, but it was okay. However, this Casino Royale, something happened to Campbell, as if he started the project with a chip on his shoulder. It's still long but it's quite energetic. I couldn't tell it was two and a half hours. Now this is my favorite of Campbell's work (even over Zorro).
As it stands against the book, I think it's actually an improvement. The book had great things going for it, the introduction of the suave spy, the tension over the gambling, the climax with the carpet beater. However I disliked the romance with Vesper, which I think was better done in this movie. It's amusing to read the moans of many of the Bond fans (probably of the films, not the books) who complain this or that wouldn't happen to Bond when actually they're taken from the book.
I recently visited the danielcraigisnotbond website and they're still in denial over everything. They think Happy Feet's victory over the box office is an indication Casino Royale is a tremendous misfire, and in two weeks, everything good about it will be forgotten.
Well, it's been three weeks, though Casino Royale is still second, its drop each week has been very, very slow. Happy Feet's victory is actually quite slim. It can be attributed to its shorter running time (allowing for more screenings in a day). Internationally, Casino beats Happy Feet and in the overall box office, Casino is earning more. Clearly, people are going to the movie to watch it and I think the anti-Craig website merely fueled curiosity and awareness for the film. The danielcraigisnotbond website is beginning to look like a cousin of the flat earth society.
I have two minor complaints against the movie. First, Eva Green looks positively lovely WITHOUT the raccoon marks around her eyes. She looks much, much better in that one scene in the bathroom before she primps for the evening.
Second, I loved the last line in the book, "Yes, WAS. The Bitch is dead." It became a throwaway in this movie. However, I do love the last scene with Mr. White. Yes, Craig has now transformed into the movie Bond we remember. Somehow, the book Bond and the movie Bond has rolled into one. And the last scene does do its work. I'm excited again to see the next James Bond movie.