Cast: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright, Mads Mikkelsen, Caterina Murino
Director: Martin Campbell
Rating: ****

"Casino Royale" is really good and Daniel Craig as the new Bond is the best Bond in a very long time. Ever since it was announced that Craig would take on the title role, critics have slammed the choice, relished reports that he couldn't drive the Aston Martin car, and Craig himself had to bear terrible injuries. But it makes it all worthwhile in the end.

The film goes back to the drawing board and traces the way Bond invents himself. He has just been given the "00" status and is too trigger-happy piling on the causalities. He is also raw psychologically and has to mature. Bond has to put his ego in place, learn to respect women and win battles with more character than strength.

The movie by Martin Campbell, who also directed Pierce Brosnan in "Goldeneye", is dramatically streamlined. There are no expensive explosions or nifty gadgets - just great action sequences.

Atypical of it's predecessors, this movie's action sequences consists of the enemy being drowned in the washbasin, choked in a hotel stairwell or just being chased through a construction site - one of the most simple but exhilarating action sequences of any Bond movie.

This movie, in many ways, is the antithesis of the Bond archetype. Apart from the simpler action sequences, there are no one-liners, sexual innuendos and hi-tech gadgets.

It takes Bond almost half way into the movie to put on his tuxedo. Before this, he walks around in ordinary looking but comfortable street clothes that accentuate Craig's physique and prominent biceps.

The penultimate fight between the hero and villain is settled over a game of poker at the Casino Royale and the winner is determined through a test of character and not physical strength.

In the most revealing line of the uniqueness of this movie, a bartender when taking the order of martini asks Bond, "Shaken or stirred?" and Bond spits back at him, "Do I look like I give a damn?"

The supporting actors compliment the look and feel of the film. French actress Eva Green is stunning but also brings in a great touch of coolness and vulnerability. She, unlike other Bond girls, is more intellectual and natural. Her scenes with Craig are subtle yet intense and their sexual chemistry radiates throughout.

The villain Le Chiffre is played by Mads Mikkelsen who has blood for tears and unlike other Bond villains does not care about power or running the world but wants money instead.

Craig is also the first Bond to hurt and bleed properly. He stands in front of the bathroom mirror taking in the pain and needing a scotch to numb the pain. His scars remain the next day and the movie shows the time they take to heal.

As an actor, Craig brings in a lot more pure acting skills and athletic prowess. The film strives to be more rooted in reality than the glossy, fantasy world of the earlier Bond movies.

"Casino Royale" introduces us to the spy who we thought we knew all about but instead reveals a rough-edged man with no refinement, prone to violence and vulnerable enough to fall desperately in love. This is Bond inventing himself. And it is great that we have Craig to show us how he does it.