IMO the best Bond film ever made

Rating: 9/10 (17 December 2019)

Opinions differ on the older Bond movies. Groundbreaking for their time, in retrospect they arguably seem curiously formulaic and dated, now that "super spy" and "evil genius" tropes are more established.
By refreshing the formula and taking a huge step away from the campy, cheesy world of the oldest Bonds, Casino Royale is, in my mind, the best Bond film ever made.
The first strong suit in the movie's favour is that it distances itself from any campiness as much as possible. Bond no longer gets exploding pens, laser watches or novelty sex toys hiding lethal gas capsules (okay I made that last one up). Instead he simply gets his brain, a gun and a license to use it.
The comedic one-liners are also mercifully toned back; he gets a few, but don't expect a big grin and a wink-to-camera every time he shoots someone.
Daniel Craig's performance in this film is also excellent, in addition to the character being written in a more complex and intriguing way.
He brings a raw physicality and brutality to the role of Bond with his muscular physique, a kind of blunt edge with a gentlemanly exterior. A man who is unashamedly a killer and has some emotional damage, but is nonetheless a brave hero like the Bond of old.
This new Bond has some issues, too, which works to make him more likeable and believable. Yes, he's still great at his job, can still gun down a bunch of baddies and he's still ferociously attractive to women...but this all comes at a cost.
Craig's Bond shows genuine vulnerability when he falls in love during the film, and we see that below the cold, almost psychopathic exterior he presents during his working life, there is a man with a large, badly wounded heart underneath. It's actually quite devastating to see the damage losing this woman actually does to him, and it influences his character significantly in the following movies.
Mads Mikkelsen also delivers an absolutely standout performance as the main antagonist, Le Chiffre. In keeping with the more realistic direction of the movie, Le Chiffre is a crooked banker who finances terrorists and makes money from insider trading.
He is a sleazy criminal with a sharp mind, and yet he's also driven by a very understandable dilemma; he needs money urgently, since he owes a large debt to dangerous people.
Le Chiffre is not some villain who owns a massive corporation, laughing as he strokes a cat in a bunker on the moon. He's just a ruthless, violent man in debt to even nastier people. It's a refreshing change. His death, not even by Bond's hand, is even more satisfying.
The movie knows that we don't need a Die-Hard style punch up. It's far more effective simply to see this nasty weasel of a man quickly executed for his own failure.
Perhaps the saddest facet of the movie is that it's sequels did not (in my opinion) seem to understand what made Casino Royale so refreshing and great.
Quantum of Solace squandered some menacing build-up from this movie and was a rather dull affair with a generic outlandish villain again. By the time of Spectre the direction the series was taking had gone full circle, with outrageous action sequences and ridiculously campy over the top plot lines more akin to those in the 60's movies.
If they'd stuck with the more realistic, dark tone set in Casino Royale we could have been in for some really special films with Craig at the helm. Alas, we still have this one.