007 is back and better than ever.

Rating: 9/10 (17 November 2006)

Casino Royale (12A) James Rendle When Daniel Craig, 39, was cast as the British icon James Bond in October last year people acted as if Craig was a national enemy - hate campaigns, websites and press rumours all seemed to point to a terrible casting mistake, had EON productions finally flipped? Thankfully the answer is no, the casting of Craig, who starred in Layer Cake and Steven Spielberg's Munich, was an inspired choice and a great way to turn around a rusty, yet still successful, franchise. After 2002's disappointing Die Another Day, which relied heavily on GCI and over the top gadgets as well as an ageing Pierce Brosnan, many Bond fans wondered where the series would go next - would they carry on in the same vein or would they do something drastic? This has been answered with the release of the 21st Bond film "Casino Royale", based on Ian Fleming's 1953 novel of the same name, which introduces the British secret service agent to the world. In keeping with Fleming's novel, which showed Bond early in his career, the producers have used the opportunity to completely overhaul the series and show Bond's first mission as a 00 agent, though set firmly in 2006.
Daniel Craig is great as Bond, showing a masculinity and strength that Brosnan often lacked, the coolness of Sean Connery and realism of Timothy Dalton. Those looking for the camp humour favoured by Roger Moore may be a little disappointed, but don't take this as meaning the film is completely humourless.
Gone are the cheesy sexual innuendos, being replaced with witty comebacks and clever puns (For example, after Bond barely escapes with his life during a break in Tenez Les Cartes, he returns to the table to a shocked look from the films antagonist Le Chiffre, with a smile he quips "I'm sorry, that last hand... nearly killed me.") The action set pieces are perfect, gone is overused CGI - everything you see here is real, from a free running parkour terrorist (Sebastien Foucan who plays bomb maker Mallaka) to a car chase that set a new world record in car flips.
The casting for the film is inspired, with perfect performances all round - though special note has to go to Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, who makes Le Chiffre the best Bond villain for a long while (and no, he is not planning to take over the world), it is easy to forget that this is only Mikkelsen's second English language film.
The direction (From a returning Martin Cambell - GoldenEye) is handled stylishly, with remembrance and style of the Bond films of the 60s as well as a film-noir Pre-Title Sequence, shot in black and white.
Look out for the 1964 Aston Marin DB5, find out how Bond's Martini's are really made (watch out, they're strong) and pick out the winks to the Bond's of old.
James Bond is back.
Warning: Some scenes may be unsuitable for younger audiences, especially one scene that involves torture.