KEY POINTS:
Herald rating: * * * *
Well something had to give. After Lee Tamahori's previous Bond instalment Die Another Day went silly with invisible cars, ice hotels and kite-surfing into North Korea, it was clear the Brosnan renaissance years - which started with Casino Royale director Martin Campbell's Goldeneye - had reached a natural, ridiculous end.
Not only had that film come down with terminal CGI-itis, everywhere else screen spies were getting younger, faster, leaner and meaner. Jack Bauer or Jason Bourne may share the same initials, but on screen, theirs was a much different world to Planet Bond.
Meanwhile, 007 was being turned into a videogame-friendly extreme sports exponent as Brosnan wore out the last of his charisma.
Yes, it was high time for the restoration of a bit of style and dignity to the franchise. Maybe even a bit of mystery and depth.
Well that's what's on offer here. It's the upshot of Daniel Craig's casting as 007 the sixth combined with a script which goes back to Bond creator Ian Fleming's first book.
Like the great Batman Begins, it's a creation story which denies all knowledge of its movie predecessors and updates it to a contemporary setting.
Though some of the film can feel like a timewarp slipping curiously between modern sensibilities and those of the Fleming era - just as the film's product-placement department contrives Craig drive a 1960s Aston Martin as well as its contemporary update.
There's a couple of other balancing acts which Casino Royale pulls off quite neatly. It's big on stunts and action - especially the thrilling opening footchase sequence in Madagascar - but the violence seems to come with more convincing consequences than the cartoon physics of previous Bond flicks.
Also, while the Brosnan era attempted to include woman characters - other than Judi Dench's regal M - that were more than decorative, can anyone actually remember any of them?
Here though, Eva Green's alluring and whipsmart British Treasury Agent Vesper Lynd is a fine foil to the fledgling agent who she must fund into a high-stakes poker game against terrorist-financier Le Chiffre (Mikkelsen).
And how refreshing it is to have a villain who might have the usual Eurotrash breeding and a few personal quirks - he cries blood - but is at least slightly plausible. Especially when he's torturing a naked 007's sensitive bits with a knotted rope as per Fleming's original story.
Heck, in the good old days of Goldfinger they used to do that with a laser - gadgets of any size aren't big in this Bond. There's no Q either, though the Aston Martin glovebox is fully optioned.
Casino Royale still goes for utterly overblown in its finale, squandering some of the earlier emotional investment in its characters. And it takes too long to get there, the pace languishing as it shows Bond and Lynd's flowering relationship.
However that doesn't undo the good work of its leading man. Craig's riveting performance gives this an unexpected power whether he's in high gear or sitting still and poker-faced.
No, he's not from the same officer class as most of his predecessors - he's more of a Jimmy than a James. But even if he looks more like a head bouncer in that tuxedo than a jetset high-roller, Craig brings a gravity to the role that makes 007's transformation from blunt instrument to lethal weapon fascinating to watch.
Yes, Craig makes Bond dangerous again in an 007 film that comes equipped with things you wouldn't normally expect of the franchise this many years on - character development, wit, depth, vulnerability, a sense of peril. Oh, and some very nice togs.
Cast: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Judi Dench, Mads Mikkelsen
Director: Martin Campbell
Rating: M (medium level violence)
Running time: 141 mins
Screening: Skycity, Village, Hoyts cinemas from Thursday
Verdict: Casino's gamble on a new rougher, tougher Bond pays off
