Casino Royale

Rating: 8/10 (1 December 2006)

Daniel Craig's first attempt as James Bond led to a very good action movie, much different from the last instalments of the series, in a better way. Craig is so great here, he doesn't only play the running, fighting and shooting convincingly, but also the more quiet scenes. And in those scenes lies the secret of why "Casino Royale" turned out to be much better than its predecessors. James Bond isn't the killing machine with no doubts and second thoughts, he makes mistakes and has to pay the price for them and if someone dies because of him he feels guilty. The second amazing contribution to the movie's success is made by Eva Green, who has the thankful role of a Bondgirl that's unlike all the others until now. She and Craig in the train share the best scene in the movie, an amazing dialogue for which I only can congratulate the writers. Martin Campbell's direction is pleasantly unobtrusive, although the film is not without flaws.