Daniel Craig’s James Bond debut is filled with blood, sweat and tears — a "realistic" secret agent film that emphasizes ruthless violence over sexy elegance. It’s a breath of fresh air for a franchise that had largely grown stagnant, corny and over-the-top in the previous decades. The old-school cool of classic Bond is somewhat missed, but Casino Royale‘s action-packed grittiness easily places it among the best installments of the entire series.