With a new Bond, a new series direction and a classic Ian Fleming novel as the backbone, Casino Royale stormed into theatres worldwide surrounded by controversy. Critics and Bond fans alike lamented the casting of Daniel Craig and panned the idea of a “Bond Begins” type film. Message boards were abuzz, anti-Craig Web sites were created and it seemed everyone was ready to declare Bond dead. However, after the film's release most every critic was silenced (including this one) and the movie is now regarded as brilliant and a cornerstone of the franchise. From the moment the gritty, violent and black and white pre-title sequence begins, the audience can sense that they are in for something new and exciting. The wisecracking portrayals of Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan have been replaced by a ruthless killer; a man capable of brutally murdering an informant in a bathroom before coldly dispatching an MI6 employee turncoat. Essentially, after a mere five minutes the audience knows that th...