Casino Royale

The James Bond series has become The Thing That Will Not Die (if Roger Moore couldn’t kill it, surely nothing will), and here’s the latest one, with newcomer (to the role, that is) Daniel Craig as Ian Fleming’s Agent 007. It’s based (less loosely than usual) on Fleming’s first book, so it begins with Bond earning his “double-oh” license to kill, before jetting off to the Bahamas, then back to Europe for the big card game (changed from baccarat to Texas Hold ’Em so the audience will be able to follow the game, if not the plot). Craig does OK in the role; no one has ever matched Sean Connery’s steely insouciance, but he comes closer than most. There’s the usual quota of action, sex and glamour, and director Martin Campbell invests the derring-do with his usual exuberant disdain for the laws of physics.