by Ken Johnstone

Created on: May 20, 2009

I must admit that as a life-long James Bond fan ever since the great Scots actor Sean Connery starred in "Dr. No" way back in 1962, I was more than a little dubious about the appointment of English actor Daniel Craig as the new Bond in Casino Royale.

Many other Bond aficionados obviously shared my trepidation. Craig was roundly criticised both online and in the mainstream media for his lack of good looks, (his ears stick out) the wrong hair colour, (he's blond) and for lacking the required acting credentials to replace a long line of good Bond actors such as Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan, and Timothy Dalton.

The only other movie of note that I could personally recall Craig starring in was the 2004 British gangster film Layer Cake, in which he played an unrepentant drug dealer. It was an enjoyable movie, but hardly the sort of credentials that qualified him to take on the somewhat iconic role of "007". (At least in my opinion)

But I can happily report that all Bond fans need have no further fears. The Bond role is in safe hands! The film was by far the best Bond adventure in years and actor Craig by far the best actor in the role since Sean Connery himself. In fact, I consider it a little unfair to even be comparing him with Connery, as Connery's Bond was a hero for the 1960's and 1970's era, whereas the new Bond is most decidedly a 21st century hero. Craig adds a certain gravitas to the Bond part which has been somewhat lacking in the somewhat tongue in cheek offerings in the past, and is much more of the serious "anti-hero" as depicted so well in the original Bond books by author Ian Fleming.

So what of the movie itself? Well, the format is well tried and tested at this stage, having been around for over 40 years. You know that there's going to be action galore, mind boggling stunts, fast cars and even faster women, and a corrupt and evil bad guy. Casino Royale has all of these.

There's a pulsating opening (shot in black and white) which shows Bond making his first kill as a double-O agent, and a truly breathtaking chase and fight sequence through a building site as Bond tries to capture a villain. And that's only the beginning, as from start to finish there's enough action in this movie to satisfy even the most addicted action junkie.

The bad guy in this movie is called Le Chiffre, a terrifying one-eyed banker who makes his money through laundering money and funding international terrorism. (His glass eye has a habit of bleeding out of the corner, by

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