Three reasons why it's the best Bond.

Rating: 10/10 (13 December 2009)

First is Daniel Craig and the lead actors. Craig is tough, convincing and breaks the mold by substituting overt sexuality, quirky one-liners and clever gadgets with bloody-knuckle action and steely body language. His interaction with Eva, who is by far the best Bond girl, is quite subtle. Thy spar at first, but as the plot unwinds, she is torn by the conundrum of saving her boyfriend and falling for Bond at the same time. During the shower scene, one must wonder if her distress results from the bloody skirmish in the stairwell or from her guilt for betraying him. The other actors fed their inputs to Craig and Green with acumen and zeal. Next, the story itself, while loosely fitting the Fleming cloak, is vastly different in portrayal and conforms to the basal conflicts so skillfully brought forward from the original and so vividly re-created using technology, solid physical action, extraordinary make-up (Bond's blood and bruises seem so authentic), great costuming and dramatic special effects.
Craig is so believable as a "rookie" OO7. While nettling M with his antics, she can not contain her need to defend him as she would a favorite son. He makes no excuses. He sniffs out a lead until it is dead, but only after it carries him to the next. As he kills them in rapid succession, he unravels Le Cheffre. Clearly taken by Vesper, he, not knowing her underlying agenda, is unable to detect her deceit which she finds easy to conceal due to her true feelings for him often over-riding the ugly truth that drives her. She is not the typical bond girl, but the anachronisms of progression, since this was the first OO7 novel, and the last to be adapted for film, make her role far from stereotypic, a change worth mentioning.
Finally, the direction infuses life into a host of enormously talented actors, and the directors extract the most from those behind the scenes. The concert of all three elements makes Casino Royale, even though quite lengthy, the standard by which all future Bond films, and other shared genre films, will be judged. As to how this one can be out-done remains to be seen.