10 Movies That Are Basically One Big Apology
9. Casino Royale
2006's Casino Royale didn't simply usher in the Daniel Craig era of Bond, but marked a major tonal departure from the Pierce Brosnan age of 007.
As terrific as Brosnan was in the role, his four outings became increasingly ridiculous to the point that even some diehard Bond fans were left turned off by the cartoonish, CGI-slathered silliness of Die Another Day.
Even if you could stomach the unbearably goofy scene where Bond surfs a CGI tsunami, the sense of fun was somewhat muted by the fact that the Bond franchise had been exhaustively sent-up by a trio of Austin Powers movies.
Craig even later said that Mike Myers' Bond spoof series "f**ked" James Bond. He's not wrong.
Combine all this with the 9/11 attacks causing Hollywood to take a less-flippant attitude towards terrorism, and it was clear that the Bond of yore felt like a pure relic by the mid-2000s.
And so, the decision was made to not only cast the physically unconventional Craig in the part, but also fashion Casino Royale as a table-clearing continuity reboot - beyond keeping Judi Dench as M, of course.
The result was a grittier action-thriller far more consistent with the aesthetic and tone of the Jason Bourne movies, with a greater emphasis on practical action sequences, a more serious mood, and a 007 who was more of a blunt, rough-around-the-edges bruiser than a varnished charmer.
Casino Royale ended up revitalising interest in 007 with the mainstream, ensuring the Craig years were by far the most lucrative that the franchise has ever seen, while Craig has been consistently held up as one of the stronger screen renditions of Ian Fleming's iconic spy.