The Single Greatest Thing In Each James Bond Movie

Casino Royale rebooted the series for a post-9/11 world and gave us one of cinema's greatest origin stories in the process.

It isn't quite the best of the series (thanks to occasionally sluggish pacing and a revolving conveyor belt of under-developed side villains), but it's definitely one of the best, not to mention the finest piece of storytelling in the history of this franchise.

The film absolutely nails the introduction of a more vulnerable, human Bond and his journey from a cocky, optimistic agent to a broken, emotionally closed-off killer, and it adds emotional dimensions to Bond's character that were never there before.

Casino Royale also deserves praise for how it uses its action scenes to tell the story - for example, the legendary Madagascar chase concisely summarizes both Bond's skill set and his character flaws.

Furthermore, its unconventional but terrific antagonist Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) is one of the best Bond baddies ever, and there's a strong argument to be made that the film's lead Bond Girl (Eva Green) is the GOAT when it comes to that archetype. Her tragic storyline is gripping as all hell.

Thanks to the film's absolutely superb writing, it's one of the very finest action films of the century, and one that hits just as hard emotionally as it does on a visceral level.