New and Improved.

Rating: 9/10 (30 November 2006)

Like many other people I had an obsession with Bond as a child, few other characters caught me the same way. I'd seen every single bond movie out by the time I started middle school and wore that like a badge of honor (and back then that enviable).
But also like many others, I was not the biggest Brosnan fan. I personally think that Dalton is the best Bond, and Brosnan just never captured me the same way. The movies turned into tech demos for new products and the usage of gadgets was almost laughable. This is a movie, with a plot, with action, and it's a lot of fun - that's all it took to sell me.
Casino Royale tried, and I think was successful, at wiping the slate clean for the Bond series. There is a real sense of character development and intrigue in this film, it's a real return to the roots of the series. It does have it's lows, though - I rolled my eyes through the text messaging tidbits, and about the time the 2 hour mark passed by it slumped a little, but as a whole I feel like James Bond still has a few kicks left in him.
The acting is also surprisingly good. Daniel Craig plays the role very confidently and while all the kinks aren't out, I already know I'm going to be at the next one just like Mr. Broccoli would have wanted.