Casino Royale

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Relaunches the series by doing something I wouldn't have thought possible: It turns Bond into a human being again -- a gruffly charming yet volatile chap who may be the swank king stud of the Western world, but who still has room for rage, fear, vulnerability, love.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Casino Royale is fresh, actually fresh.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

This movie is NEW from the get-go. It could be your first Bond. In fact, it was the first Bond; it was Ian Fleming's first 007 novel, and he was still discovering who the character was.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Flat-out one of the best Bonds ever.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

The script updates Ian Fleming's first Bond novel to a post-9/11 world and scales back the silliness that always seems to creep into the series; director Martin Campbell (The Mask of Zorro) contributes some superior action set pieces but keeps the camp and gadgetry to a minimum.

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

What's appealing about Bond is precisely its unhip classicism -- its promise of clean, crisp excitement delivered without the interference of whiplash-inducing camera pyrotechnics, attention-deficient editing patterns, gratuitous color tinting and/or ear-splitting rock ballads.

Village Voice Robert Wilonsky

Craig, excellent in both art house endeavors (The Mother, Enduring Love) and blockbuster think pieces (Munich), has both a nasty streak and a soft side never before seen in the series; Fleming would recognize him as most like his literary creation: damaged goods in a tailored tux.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

This is Bond as we've never seen him, more naked, alive and mysterious than ever.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

Casino Royale is quite possibly the best action movie of the year.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

This is no longer the James Bond we know from the '60s, '70s, '80s, and '90s. Welcome to the new world of MI6's most storied agent.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Fans of anyone other than Sean Connery who has played James Bond may want to look away, because admirers of Ian Fleming's 007 novels are almost bound to agree that Daniel Craig is the best Bond since Sean.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Craig gives us James Bond in the fascinating act of inventing himself. This you do not want to miss.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Eleven years ago director Campbell made "GoldenEye," the first of the Brosnan Bond pictures. Casino Royale trumps it every which way.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Craig makes you aware of something that the Bond series, in its pursuit of steamy sex and cartoon action, quickly lost sight of: 007 is a killer. That's what he's licensed to do.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

The latest James Bond vehicle -- call him Bond, Bond 6.0 -- finds the British spy leaner, meaner and a whole lot darker.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

Turns out to be cracking good entertainment, as well as a fresh start for the perdurable 21-picture franchise.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Daniel Craig isn't merely acceptable, but formidable. His Bond is at least the equal of the best ones before him, and beats all of them in sheer intensity.

Slate Dana Stevens

Martin Campbell (who also directed Pierce Brosnan's first outing as Bond in "Goldeneye"), has chosen to give us a Bond who's both metaphorically and literally stripped bare. Let me take this opportunity to thank him for both.

Empire Kim Newman

Contrary to pre-release nay-sayers, Daniel Craig has done more with James Bond in one film than some previous stars have in multiple reprises. This is terrific stuff, again positioning 007 as the action franchise to beat.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

What a relief to escape the series' increasing bondage to high-tech gimmicks in favor of intrigue and suspense featuring richly nuanced characters and women who think the body's sexiest organ is the brain.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Craig comes closer to the author's original conception of this exceptionally long-lived male fantasy figure than anyone since early Sean Connery.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

This Bond is haunted, not yet housebroken, still figuring out the persona. In Casino Royale, the reset button has been pressed in the manner of "Batman Begins."

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

The good news is Craig, who was riveting as a London pharmaceutical salesman in the recent Brit import "Layer Cake," is equally mesmerizing here.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Casino Royale marks a shrewd relaunching of a franchise. But Campbell and company show too much of their sweat. If these movies continue to follow Fleming's profane pilgrim's progress, the next Bond movies should be more emotional and funny, with a bit of brass-knuckled charm.

New York Post Kyle Smith

Eva Green...Gaspingly beautiful, wouldn't you say?

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

As M, Dench knows she has a tiger by the tail and isn't fazed in the slightest. Reservations aside, the film marks the beginning of a new phase in James Bond's history, and it promises to be a gripping one.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

If you miss the old cliches, consider whether, after 21 Bond films and countless parodies, your response is simply Pavlovian.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

See Casino Royale for a Bond you've never seen before, and then imagine him in a film two-thirds the size. Here's hoping the writers of the next Bond movie employ the same personal trainer that Craig did to keep the script tight and lean.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

The payoff is the revitalization of Bond by making him closer to what Fleming envisaged: a sociopath who, fortunately, is on our side.

USA Today Claudia Puig

The film is about a half hour too long. The third act drags and an extended high-stakes poker game doesn't always keep our attention. But this is a superior Bond.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Like Connery - but in different proportions - Craig is earthy and erotic, holding himself like a smoking gun.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

For the first time in memory, the film ends not just with the promise of more Bonds but without a firm conclusion.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray

In its overt attempts to balance high-spirited spy adventure with more realistic acting and actio--conveying the realities of government-sponsored murde--Casino Royale is a step in the right direction for the Bond franchise. But it's a small, tentative step.

Premiere Jessica Letkemann

Surprisingly light on fab gadgets, there are, of course, double crosses, fast cars, and lots of gunplay.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Though the film's final break-the-bank action sequence in Venice is worth waiting for, Casino Royale's 2-hour, 24-minute running time is long enough to exhaust all but the series' biggest fans.

The New Yorker Anthony Lane

Craig has the courage to present a hollow man, flooding the empty rooms where his better nature should be with brutality and threat. His smile is more frightening than his straight face, and he doesn’t bother with the throwaway quips that were meant to endear us to the other Bonds.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

The movie is simply too long for its own good.

Time Richard Corliss

This is a Bond with great body but no soul.