Casino Royale completely changed the James Bond franchise for many years. After the Pierce Brosnan era, where the franchise turned gadget heavy to the point it bordered on fantastical, Daniel Craig took over the role and things got dirty and grimy, and the franchise became almost more Bourne Identity than James Bond.
Daniel Craig ended his run as Bond with No Time to Die, and out of his entire run on the movies, most fans consider Casino Royale to be the best of the bunch. There are even some who consider the movie to be a masterpiece in movie history, with several fans praising it on Reddit.
It's A Cornerstone Of The Action Genre
Casino Royale took a struggling James Bond movie franchise and reinvigorated it. One thing that the movie did was move the series away from over-the-top gadgets and instead focus on the intrigue and action.
Reddit user zhawk122 wrote that they consider Casino Royale to be a masterpiece. They wrote, "I truly believe it’s a cornerstone of the action genre. It fully encapsulates the Bond character, with great action and witty dialogue." They finished by saying it is the "most complete" movie of the Craig releases.
It's A Top 3 Bond Movie
When Daniel Craig came into the franchise with Casino Royale, replacing Pierce Brosnan, it changed everything about the feel of the movies. The closest the series came to the Craig movies before was Timothy Dalton, but it was enough to drive the movie to box office success.
jobi987 wrote on Reddit that he considers it a top-three Bond movie, with it standing as number one on his list. "I personally was absolutely floored by the film," they wrote, praising the cast and action. "Casino Royale took Bourne’s blueprint and used it to rebuild Bond for a modern audience," they continued. "And it worked."
It Made Bond Relevant Again
With movies like The Bourne Identity proving that spy adventures can not only be exciting, but violent and realistic, James Bond was starting to lose its footing. Fans were seeing Bourne in realistic fight and chase scenes, while Bond was using invisible cars and ice castles.
As a result, Redditor akimboslices wrote that "these homages and nods made Bond relevant again." The movie took what made Bourne great and then adapted it to the Bond franchise.
The Parking Lot Scene Is Flawless
While one scene does not make a movie a masterpiece, Casino Royale had several that rank highly. However, one that showed the tension and excitement of the movie was the parking lot scene, where Bond almost died and was lucky his story didn't end right there.
According to missanthropocenex, the parking lot scene was "one of the most flawlessly executed scenes and tells so much to the audience by barely saying a word." They added, "In one fell swoop, it showed Bonds insecurities, his ability to quickly adapt and acquire his goal, while also getting back at the guy who wronged him in a single, economic move."
Daniel Craig Brought New Depth To The Character
While fans loved Pierce Brosnan when he took on the role of James Bond, it was really time for him to move on after Die Another Day. It wasn't necessarily his fault, either, it was just that many felt that the movies didn't give him much to do when it comes to depth.
Redditor reverend-mayhem wrote that Casino Royale is a masterpiece because Craig brought a new depth to James Bond that wasn't there before. "He didn’t always know what do, he made mistakes, he got hurt … but that only made it more impactful in the moments when he knew exactly what to do, recovered from the mistakes, & kept going through the pain."
They Returned To Ian Fleming's James Bond
Casino Royale not only changed up everything with the movie, but it took James Bond back to the beginning of his career, with a movie based on Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel. It showed how the heartbreaking tragedies that struck James Bond in this movie helped alter his path and turn him into what fans had grown accustomed to over the years.
On Reddit, fnordius wrote, "I think a big part of it is how they returned to the Ian Fleming novel, as his vision of Bond was slightly different from where the Broccoli Bond ended up."
Casino Royale Did Something Fresh With A Struggling Franchise
After a movie where James Bond drove over the ice in an invisible car, it was time for a change. Fans were ready for something different and for the more realistic and violent James Bond that Craig brought to them, and this James Bond film exceeded all fans' expectations.
StandsInQueueAndTuts wrote on Reddit that "It's still the best Bond film for me. It is a perfect example of taking a struggling franchise and doing something different with it. It's pacing, it's action, it's dialogue are all on target."
Perfect Characters, Perfect Storyline, Believable Plot
What makes a movie a masterpiece? It is a mixture of many things. There are great characters, from the antagonist and protagonist to the supporting cast and crew members. The storyline is always top-notch, with little room for breathing and tension ramped up. Finally, it rarely forces a viewer to suspend their belief in what is happening.
According to _Lunchalot, this is what Casino Royale gave fans in its cast and crew. "Best Bond film bar none. Perfect characters, perfect storyline, believable plot without all of the usual gadgets, and rebooted the series like no other film before it," they wrote.
The Best Version Of James Bond
The one thing that Casino Royale had to do was satisfy long-time James Bond fans on top of bringing in new ones. This is easier said than done, as many fans threatened to boycott the franchise when Daniel Craig was hired. By the end, Craig was perfect in the role and won most fans over.
However, Retikle went one step further and made a polarizing claim. He called Craig the "best Bond ever," eclipsing even Sean Connery. "They finally got the Bond character right," he wrote. "The entire character arc and set of mannerisms follow logically from the super simple bottom line: Bond is more manly than the next guy."
The Movie Was More Nuanced Than Normal Bond Movies
If there is one thing that James Bond movies rarely are, it is nuanced. From the days of Sean Connery as the suave 007 and the double-entendre days of Roger Moore movies growing more and more ridiculous to the fantastical nature of Pierce Brosnan, Bond movies never took themselves seriously.
That changed with Casino Royale. Redditor grandarcticskies wrote that it's a masterpiece because "they didn't go overboard like the subsequent bond movies as far as turning it into some crazed action film," adding that "Casino Royale was good because it had a lot of nuance and intricacies."