Casino Royale ***1/2

Cast: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Giannini, Caterina Murino
Director: Martin Campbell
Running Length: 2:24
MPAA Classification: PG-13

Two kills, and James Bond (Craig) has been elevated to double-O level. M (Dench) feels that he is not ready, sends him on his first mission anyway. His job is to find Le Chiffre (Mikkelsen), a supplier of terrorist money, and shut him down. When Le Chiffre enters an exclusive poker tournament at Casino Royale in Montenegro, Bond enters as well to prevent him from winning. Even with the help of Vesper Lynd (Green), a treasury agent, Bond may have his hands full, as Le Chiffre sets his eyes on removing Bond from the picture permanently.

“Casino Royale” is a successful reboot of the James Bond franchise. As different as night and day from “Die Another Day”, “Casino Royale” does almost everything right. Daniel Craig is perfect as Bond, maybe even the best ever. He is a rough around the edges “blunt instrument” that has a ways to go before he is the James Bond we know. Grounded in reality, “Casino Royale” also does away with most of the gadgets one would expect from a Bond movie. The supporting cast all do a good job in a movie that is all Daniel Craig. This is not your father’s Bond…this is better.