"Casino Royale" przedstawia Jamesa Bonda zanim jeszcze otrzymał swą licencję na zabijanie. Lecz Bond nie jest wcale mniej niebezpieczny. Po dwóch zawodowych zabójstwach otrzymuje status agenta "00". "M" (Judi Dench), szefowa brytyjskiego wywiadu, wysyła świeżo upieczonego agenta 007 z jego pierwszą misją na Madagaskar, wyspy Bahama, by trafił w rezultacie do Czarnogóry stając twarzą w twarz z Le Chiffrem, bezwzględnym bankierem światowej organizacji terrorystycznej. By odzyskać stracone fundusze swoich niebezpiecznych klientów, zdesperowany bankier gra o wysokie stawi w pokera w Casino Royale. Departament Finansów dostarcza Bondowi 10 milionów dolarów, jako stawkę w grze. Pieniądze i agent znajdują się pod uważną obserwacją Vesper Lynd. Bond jest początkowo sceptyczny w stosunku do Vesper i zabezpieczenia, jakie może ona zapewnić. Jego zainteresowanie kobietą jednak szybko rośnie, kiedy oboje unikają niebezpieczeństw. W końcu dostają się w ręce przebiegłego i okrutnego Le Chiffre'a. A Bond otrzymuje swoją najważniejszą w życiu lekcję: nie ufaj nikomu.
The most successful invigoration of a cinematic franchise since , Casino Royale offers a new Bond identity. Based on the Ian Fleming that introduced Agent 007 into a Cold War world, Casino Royale is the most brutal and viscerally exciting James Bond film since Sean Connery left Her Majesty's Secret Service. Meet the new Bond; not the same as the old Bond. Daniel Craig gives a galvanising performance as the freshly minted double-0 agent. Suave, yes, but also a "blunt instrument," reckless and possessed with an ego that compromises his judgment during his first mission to root out the mastermind behind an operation that funds international terrorists. In classic Bond film tradition, his global itinerary takes him to far-flung locales, including Uganda, Madagascar, the Bahamas (that's more like it) and Montenegro, where he is pitted against his nemesis in a poker game, with hundreds of millions in the pot. The stakes get even higher when Bond lets down his armour by falling in love with Vesper (Eva Green), the ravishing banker's representative fronting him the money.
For longtime fans of the franchise, Casino Royale offers some retro kicks. Bond wins his iconic Aston Martin at the gaming table, and when a bartender asks if he wants his martini "shaken or stirred," he disdainfully replies, "Do I look like I give a damn?". There's no Moneypenny or "Q," but Dame Judi Dench is back as the exasperated M who, one senses, admires Bond's "bloody cheek." A Bond film is only as good as its villain, and Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre, who weeps blood, is a sinister dandy. From its punishing violence and virtuoso action sequences to its romance, Casino Royale is a Bond film that, in the words of one character, 'makes you feel it', particularly during an excruciating torture sequence. Double-0s, Bond observes early on, "have a short life expectancy". But with Craig, there is new life in the old franchise yet, as well as genuine anticipation for the next one when, at last, the signature James Bond theme kicks in following the best last line ever in any Bond film. To quote Goldie Hawn in , "now I know what I've been faking all these years". --Donald Liebenson
