We meet Bond, fresh from receiving his license to kill (the 007 part of the film’s title) and on his way to Madagascar to sniff out Mads Mikkelsen’s villainous Le Chiffre. Fleming was still trying to find the character’s voice and slowly discovering who Bond really was, so it feels like a very pure version of the character. This might be because this was actually the first of the series in the order that Ian Fleming wrote the books. While we all love Bond, we’ve had several issues with the film series over the decades, most of which found some resolution in Casino Royale. Yes, we know that some die-hard Bond fans out there might find it more than a little insulting that we’ve chosen such a new film as our favorite, but we have a wealth of reasons, and we’re happy to share them all with you now. Of all the films in the franchise, Casino Royale has got to be our favorite. A suave spy who is out to save the world (and countless women in skimpy dresses) from some new threat or terrorist hell-bent on destroying it is undoubtedly a good rock on which to build a film dynasty! The franchise is full of incredible fashions, overflowing with the casino chips that the lucky spy seems to win endlessly and stunning locations. The James Bond franchise is probably one of the best-known and longest-running movie franchises in existence today.
