Casino Royale (2006)

Daniel Craig takes over the James Bond reigns in the latest Bond flick, Casino Royale. Craig is brilliant as 007... rugged, handsome, muscular, tough and ruthless. Gone are the light quips from Roger Moore and the ultra suave of Pierce Brosnan. Craig hearkens back to the original Sean Connery version of Bond, but the new Bond is even better, stronger and more menacing.

The story involves the introduction of James Bond to his 007 role, starting out in Uganda and including an amazing opening chase scene involving "free running" where people can jump from sides of buildings to other floors or structures, through holes slightly larger than the human body, etc., all done without nets, wires or special effects. It's amazing stuff.

Bond follows terrorist money from Uganda to the Bahamas to Montenegro where he battles wits and cards against a terrorist banker named Le Chiffre, played with an appropriate amount of sadistic smugness by Mads Mikkelsen. The Bond girls include Eva Green, as Bond associate Vesper Lynd, Ivana Milicevic as Le Chiffre's main squeeze and Caterina Murino as a Solange. Missing in this film are some of the standard expected moments, such as "shaken, not stirred" and the typical Bond girl with a name referencing female genitalia. The perks, however, far outweigh these changes.

Craig actually feels dangerous and is probably the best Bond in the series. When he plans to kill someone it is driven by an inner rage that is unleashed for King and Country. The film is over two hours long, but moves at a quick pace. The action scenes are excellent, the acting on target and the story weaves and intricate and satisfying story. With Casino Royale it's a good bet that Bond is back in the best way possible.