Casino Royale (2006)

All Critics (220) | Top Critics (50) | Fresh (208) | Rotten (12) | DVD (39)

Bond as a human being? Who'd'a'thunk?

October 18, 2008 Full Review

Bob Mondello

NPR.org

Top Critic

Casino Royale has the answers to all my complaints about the 45-year-old James Bond series, and some I hadn't even thought of.

August 17, 2007 Full Review | Comments (5)

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

I hope Craig finds more moments like that in Bond. And I hope he gets to wear that tuxedo again and again and again.

June 29, 2007 Full Review

David Edelstein

New York Magazine

Top Critic

I consider Daniel Craig to be the most effective and appealing of the six actors who have played 007, and that includes even Sean Connery.

April 25, 2007 Full Review

Andrew Sarris

New York Observer

Top Critic

Craig is also the best Bond in the franchise's history.

February 3, 2007 Full Review

Joshua Rothkopf

Time Out New York

Top Critic

Daniel Craig is a fair-haired, bare-knuckle antidote to Pierce Brosnan. On the action-adventure level, it hits the bulls-eye.

November 22, 2006 Full Review

Joe Williams

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Top Critic

GOLDFINGER? SHMOLDFINGER! CASINO ROYALE is the best James Bond movie to date. Not only that, but it is also one of the best action movies ever made. And now, has become one of my favorite films. This is a classic.

November 7, 2012 Full Review

Austin Kennedy

Film Geek Central

A streamlined back to basics approach for Bond that hits all the right marks in rejuvenating the franchise for a new generation.

November 5, 2012 Full Review

Jeffrey Lyles

Lyles' Movie Files

A muscular, wildly successful attempt to strip the lucrative James Bond franchise back to basics.

October 23, 2012 Full Review

Allan Hunter

Screen International

Let's say straight off that Craig is very good indeed: everything about his performance shows cunning and grace.

June 18, 2012 Full Review

Roger Clarke

Sight and Sound

Casino Royale is a welcome break from the past and a strong and entertaining film in its own right, proving the continuing viability of Fleming's creation 50 years after his inception.

March 10, 2011 Full Review

Joshua Starnes

ComingSoon.net

A Bond for our times, indeed

August 28, 2009 Full Review | Comment (1)

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

Every era gets the James Bond it deserves. Ours gets a Bond who's strong and forceful but also reckless and arrogant, who blunders into tricky situations in Third World countries and makes a bloody mess of things.

April 23, 2009 Full Review

Gary Susman

Boston Phoenix

A strong, well defined story, some unexpected betrayals and hidden corners, sensational locations and an absence of gadgets make Casino Royale a right royal Bond movie.

April 3, 2009 Full Review | Comments (2)

Andrew L. Urban

Urban Cinefile

Gritty and thrilling, Casino Royale has it all - action, glamour, spectacular locations and a new Bond that is above all, vulnerable.... Whether you can follow the Texas Hold 'Em poker game, it matters not.

April 3, 2009 Full Review

Louise Keller

Urban Cinefile

... a tense, gripping thriller mercifully free of the baggage of the previous Bond flicks, Casino Royale takes the essentials of Ian Fleming's novel and updates them for the 21st century, seamlessly adding the requisite big screen action ...

March 10, 2009 Full Review | Comments (2)

Steve Biodrowski

Cinefantastique

Craig does OK in the role; no one has ever matched Sean Connery's steely insouciance, but he comes closer than most.

August 7, 2008 Full Review | Comment (1)

Jim Lane

Sacramento News & Review

The last words onscreen read: "James Bond Will Return!" Of course he will. The difference is that for the first time in years, we actually want him back.

April 18, 2008 Full Review

Brian Holcomb

Beyond Hollywood

Gone are the clichés of recent Bond adventures - the too-clever quips, the loveless conquests, the gaudy gadgetry and the BMW-sponsored sports cars. 'Casino Royale' ambitiously explores the origins of the character's pathos, stripping him of all the

April 10, 2008 Full Review | Comment (1)

Rossiter Drake

San Francisco Examiner

Casino Royale isn't simply the best Bond film in years. It is one of the best Bond films ever.

February 28, 2008 Full Review | Comments (2)

Brandon Fibbs

BrandonFibbs.com

A great restart for the series

February 12, 2008 | Comment (1)

Stefan Birgir Stefansson

sbs.is

When you strip the 007 films down for action and "realism," you lose the soul of those old beloved Bond movies.

August 3, 2007 Full Review | Comment (1)

Rob Gonsalves

eFilmCritic.com

Takes us closer to the Bond that Fleming created. We see more vulnerable moments in him, more man than superman. And surprisingly, that makes the legend even stronger.

July 25, 2007 Full Review

James Plath

Movie Metropolis

This is James Bond before sassy self-awareness set in, and it rattles the cages more than any number of explosions could in letting us know why he's still relevant today.

July 3, 2007 Full Review | Comment (1)

Rob Humanick

Stranger Song

• 1. James Bond: How about a drink at my place?
  2. Solange: That would really send him over the edge. I'm afraid I'm not that cruel.
  3. James Bond: Or perhaps you're just out of practice
  – Submitted by Kevin D (2 months ago)
• 1. James Bond: Now the whole world's gonna know that you died scratching my balls!
  – Submitted by Geraldo G (3 months ago)
• 1. M: Christ, I miss the Cold War!
  – Submitted by Aslan L (3 months ago)
• 1. Vesper Lynd: I can't resist waking you. Every time I do, you look at me as if you haven't seen me in years. Makes me feel reborn.
  2. James Bond: If you'd just been born, wouldn't you be naked?
  3. Vesper Lynd: You have me there. You can have me anywhere.
  4. James Bond: I can?
  5. Vesper Lynd: Yeah. Here or there. Anywhere you like.
  – Submitted by Saffron A (5 months ago)
• 1. Vesper Lynd: You know James, I just want you to know that if all that was left of you was your smile and your little finger, you'd still be more of a man than anyone I've ever met.
  2. James Bond: That's because you know what I can do with my little finger.
  3. Vesper Lynd: I have no idea.
  4. James Bond: But you're aching to find out.
  – Submitted by Saffron A (5 months ago)
• 1. James Bond: I've got a little itch, down there. Would you mind?
  – Submitted by Bobby S (5 months ago)