Casino Royale opens with a terrific black-and-white sequence that shows Bond earning his License to Kill. His first mission as a 00 agent takes him to Madagascar to spy on a terrorist named Mollaka. Things don't quite go as planned, resulting in an embarrassing global situation for the British government.

This doesn't stop Bond from independently furthering his investigation to track down the rest of the terror cell. He follows a lead to the Bahamas and uncovers an aviation terrorist plot. The plot is foiled by 007, which brings him back into semi-good graces with his superior, M (Judi Dench), who has discovered that an international banker for terrorists named Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) is now $100 million in the hole over the botched attack.

To get the money back, Le Chiffre is playing in a high-stakes poker game in Montenegro at Le Casino Royale. MI6 assigns 007 to play against Le Chiffre, knowing that if he loses it will destroy his organization (if Bond loses, the British Government will have directly financed terrorism). But there are strings attached: M places Bond under the watchful eye of Treasury agent Vesper Lynd (Eva Green). At first skeptical of what value Vesper can provide, Bond's interest in her deepens as the marathon game proceeds with increasing volumes of dirty tricks, violence and danger.

Being a fan of the 007 series, even I would have to admit that the recent entries, 1995's wonderfully entertaining Goldeneye aside, were lacking truly memorable elements. Pierce Brosnan made for a fine Bond, but iffy screenplays, weak villains and overdependence on stunts and visual effects hampered both Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough and downright sunk 2002's Die Another Day.

As much of a creative dud as the latter was however, it did rake in close to half a billion dollars, an unqualified success that is worthy (from a financial point of view) of the old adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Fortunately, the producers thought otherwise and decided to give the franchise a creative kick in the pants by making the next film an origin feature, getting a new actor to play Bond and place him into a more realistic (read: post-9/11) world. And what better source material to use than Fleming's first James Bond novel, published in 1953? Creatively, this type of thinking is commendable. Financially, it's a gamble: why tinker with an economically sound and still-beloved franchise and risk alienating your reliable fan base?

The only people who can answer those questions are producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. I, however, am more than happy to report that their gamble has paid off handsomely. Casino Royale, expertly directed by Martin Campbell (Goldeneye) and smartly written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Crash director Paul Haggis, is an exciting, intense and surprisingly involving espionage thriller that rarely misses a beat.

Using Fleming's book as its source material and embodied in an outright terrific performance by Daniel Craig (whom I never doubted would excel in this role), the film presents Bond as an arrogant, rough around the edges individual who has yet to evolve into the tuxedo-wearing, Martini-swilling, double-entendre sprouting, ladies man/secret agent we all know and love.

This Bond, in this film, is fallible: he screws up, bruises, bleeds and makes the mistake of falling in love. This is a different type of James Bond, darker, edgier and more human. Craig perfectly conveys all of this and more, taking one of the most familiar characters in cinema history and moving him in completely new and welcome directions.

Our hero isn't the only one that gets a revamp. Le Chiffre (played with a cool, menacing intensity by Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen), isn't your typical Bond heavy out for global domination or to destroy the world with a deadly laser. He's merely a financier who is in very deep trouble with his clients. And as played by the beautiful Eva Green, Vesper is not your typical Bond Girl. She's a smart, calculating individual who proves to be James' equal in many ways. Dench, the sole holdover from the Brosnan series, excels again as M; Giancarlo Giannini is enjoyable as a local who helps 007, while Jeffrey Wright is low-key as CIA agent Felix Leiter.

If you are worried that Casino Royale is nothing more than a dark character piece, rest assured that there are still plenty of old-school Bond bits (exciting action scenes, explosions, beautiful women and fast cars) to be had. Not as much as before, but still enough and ones that work in service of the story instead of detracting from it.

Whether or not future 007 instalments will continue the level of quality found in Casino Royale is anyone's guess. For now, Bond fans should be ecstatic that Martin Campbell and company got this one right and did so in a big, big way. The end credits once again promise that James Bond will return. For the first time in a long time, I am genuinely thrilled by that prospect.

share:  Facebook | Digg | del.icio.us | more

from the archive Star Trek Meryl Streep INTERVIEW Slumdog Millionaire