Masand's verdict: Casino Royale

BACK TO BASICS: Daniel Craig plays 007 as a charming yet cold-hearted man on a mission.

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Cast: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench

Direction: Martin Campbell

Does Daniel Craig succeed in making Bond cool again? The answer to that is yes, yes, yes he does.

Having seen the film earlier this week, I can safely tell you it's the Bond film to beat most Bond films.

Daniel Craig plays 007 the way he's meant to - as a charming yet cold-hearted man on a mission.

Casino Royale kicks in with a breathless chase through a building site, a scene that's so fantastic that little else in the film really matches up to it.

Of course the reason this film really works is because for the first time ever while watching a Bond film, you feel like this guy is actually a vulnerable fellow and not an unflinching superhero.

He's beaten black and blue, he's attacked viciously, he's poisoned, his testicles are whacked, even his heart gets broken.

To put it simply, Casino Royale is one hell of an action film, it's a nail-biting roller-coaster ride that you absolutely must not miss.

It is two and a half hours long, which under normal circumstances is just inexcusable, but believe me, Daniel Craig is so good as Bond, you'll forgive the film its length.

So that's two thumbs up and four out of five for director Martin Campbell's Casino Royale in which Daniel Craig proves that he's earned his license to kill.

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