Rather than a sophisticated rake in a dinner jacket, he's a lone wolf barely reined in by his MI-6 handlers, a blunt and cruelly effective tool for termination with extreme prejudice. The source is Ian Fleming's first Bond novel, 1953's Casino Royale, and new star Daniel Craig returns Bond to his roots. This 21st entry in the 'official' Bond series (which includes neither 1983's creditable NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN nor the lame 1967 spoof CASINO ROYALE) is a reboot designed to strip away layers of mythology and mannerism left by five stars and dozens of writers and directors.

Thoroughly overhauling a 40-year-old movie franchise built around a dyed-in-the-wool cold warrior is no small task - it's a much bigger job than swapping out one actor for another.