Actor Daniel Craig assumes the role of 007.

Rating: 8/10 (6 July 2010)

MI6 dispatches James Bond (Daniel Craig) to track down and destroy Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a villainous banker to terrorist organisations. The chase continues over three continents. The casting for the film involved a widespread search for a new actor to portray James Bond, and significant controversy over Daniel Craig, when he was eventually selected.
Casino Royale is the best Bond film since Sean Connery quit the role, with Craig a saviour of a tired franchise that creatively had long overstayed its welcome. It jettisons the infantilism and flippancy that dogged Bond films for years, and restores a welcome touch of cruelty and toughness. A ruthless, stripped-down, modern Bond, Craig rises above the role's stereotypical traps. The script is coherent while finding room for splendid stunt-driven set-pieces, notably a chase on a construction site. The opening scene, a bloody murder in a public lavatory, sets the mood; a grim torture scene confirms this is neither for kids nor for the squeamish. Here's a Bond film that Ian Fleming might have enjoyed.