Casino Royale, they said, would show us a new darker, edgier Bond. It would reinvigorate the franchise, they said. This will truly be Ian Fleming’s Bond, they said.

Were they telling us the truth, or is it all just hype? Has Bond been replaced by the likes of Jason Bourne, Jack Bauer and Ethan Hunt?

Happily (especially for producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson) the gamble has mostly paid off. The crucial element of the film, the new Bond, is a resounding success. Daniel Craig has proven all the nay-sayers wrong with a supremely confident performance. His portrayal of Bond as a charming, cold hearted, ruthless assassin is totally convincing and really is the closest yet to Fleming’s original. He brings a physicality to the role which gives the fight sequences a visceral impact that only the memorable scrap between Sean Connery and Robert Shaw in From Russia With Love has previously come close to. This is the best Bond yet, better even than the great Sean Connery.

The film itself, however, isn’t quite such a success. It starts well enough, with a pre titles black and white depiction of the kills which earn Bond his 00 status then continues at an incredible pace with a breathtaking stunt-packed chase sequence showcasing the free running skills of Sebastien Foucan. As Bond continues to track a bomb plot, a second action packed scene at Miami Airport isn’t quite so original and comes across as extremely derivative, while still entertaining. When Bond becomes embroiled in an effort to bankrupt terrorist financier Le Chiffre by beating him in a high stakes poker game at the titular casino, the film starts to lose its edginess. The poker game is almost ruined by some of the most excruciating dialogue ever written, and as the romance between Bond and Vesper Lynd, the treasury official sent to keep tabs on the government’s money, develops, the darkness promised by the earlier scenes begins to dissipate.

At close to two and a half hours, the film feels bloated and would have benefited from some judicious editing. Shades of the old Bond begin to creep back in and the energy built up by the explosive start runs down. While never less than entertaining the promise isn’t fully realised.

The rest of the cast perform well with some genuine chemistry between Daniel Craig and Eva Green (sporting a slightly dodgy accent) and a decent villainous turn by Mads Mikkelsen, whose torture of Bond in the final third of the film is one of the highlights. Dame Judi Dench puts in another sparkling performance as M (the only link remaining from the Brosnan era) and her interplay with Craig works well.

So, the final verdict…..The best Bond ever, but still in search of the best Bond film ever. Hopefully Daniel Craig will stay around as long as Sean Connery did.