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Casino Royale introduces James Bond before he holds his license to kill. But Bond is no less dangerous, and with two professional assassinations in quick succession, he is elevated to "00" status. "M" (Judi Dench), head of the British Secret Service, sends the newly-promoted 007 on his first mission that takes him to Madagascar, the Bahamas and eventually leads him to Montenegro to face Le Chiffre, a ruthless financier under threat from his terrorist clientele, who is attemptin to restore his funds in a high-stakes poker game at the Casino Royale. "M" places Bond under the watchful eye of the Treasury official Vesper Lynd. At first skeptical of what value Vesper can provide, Bond's interest in her deepends as they brave danger together. Le Chiffre's cunning and cruelty come to bear on them both in a way Bond could never imagine, and he learns his most important lesson: Trust no one.

I am admittedly not a James Bond fan. I have seen a few - not many - of the movies in this highly celebrated series and I have been relatively entertained. I think the more recent installments have been a little too much for me. I feel like James Bond is a role that needs to be overacted and cheesy, and I don't like it. With Casino Royale I was faced with an unpolished James Bond who still has an unabashed cockiness that gets him into trouble more often than it gets him out of it. That was the piece missing from the other James Bond movies. I really liked Casino Royale.

I thought Daniel Craig did a fantastic job as James Bond, especially in the face of so much skepticism from the die-hard fanbase. He fit the mold of the unrefined hot shot very well. He was reckless and broke the rules. Maybe an imperfect James Bond is actually a more perfect James Bond. Think about it.

The chase scene in Casino Royale can certainly rival that of most, if not all, other movies. At the beginning of the movie Bond must chase a man, but it is on foot rather than in cars. The pace of the chase coupled with the stunt work done for the scene were great.

If you're a James Bond fan, I will assume you've already seen it. If you're not, like me, I think there is still plenty here if you like action/spy flicks.

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