Casino Royale

**** Stars

Filled with blistering action and smoldering heat, this newest James Bond, played by Daniel Craig, is a brilliant piece of cinematic filmmaking. Casino Royale is not only one the greatest bond films ever made, but one of the best films of the year.

Like the Batman franchise with Batman Begins (only with far better execution), this is a reboot of the James Bond franchise with a look back at the beginning. It shows how Bond became the classic 007. The novel Casino Royale was written by Ian Fleming before the first film Dr. No. They took the classy script and modernized it, creating a Bond with the same caliber as Sean Connery. Craig is one for the ages.

His first mission takes him to Madagascar, where he spies on a terrorist known as Mollaka. When things go sour, Bond investigates the rest of the terrorist cell only to find the ring leader, Le Chiffre, a banker to the world's terrorist organizations. Le Chiffre plans to raise money in a no-limit poker game at Le Casino Royale in the Bahamas. Bond joins the game. If he wins, he destroys the terror organization. If he loses, MI6 would have directly financed terrorism. Finally, Bond meets the girl. Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) a member of the British Government, teams up with Bond to make sure the poker goes smoothly. Bond then does what he does best, seducing her with his unavoidable charm.

There are too many villains in this movie. But this is not a Bond vs. Villain film. This is the story of only James Bond, which what makes it so damn irresistible. We see a side of Bond that brings all other Bond films to shame. This is a gritty-enormously dark film, filled with witty charm, excruciatingly brutal fight scenes, and an actor who if continues to create more films like this, could become the definitive James Bond. Casino Royale makes Die Another Day look like a mediocre high school science project.