Casino Royale

Sony (DVD, Blu-ray), 144 minutes, Rated PG-13 ($28.96/$38.96)

Grade: B

We’ve grown so accustomed to seeing a suave James Bond that we’ve often overlooked a basic tenet of Ian Fleming’s iconic British spy: He can be a mean SOB.

Daniel Craig brings more menace to the role than anyone since Sean Connery. This Bond isn’t a nice guy with a gun: He’s a government-sanctioned mercenary with a disarming smile.

That makes Casino Royale more character-driven than all but the earliest Bond flicks. Here we glimpse a young 007, when he’s recently acquired his license to kill and a bit reluctant to use it.

The mission: capture a thuggish banker (Mads Mikkelsen) who specializes in investing the money of despots. Force him to lose that cash in a high-stakes poker game and MI6 believes its quarry will turn to the British for protection.

There are fewer action sequences than in the typical Bond film — the ones here are quite accomplished — and parts of the plot are static. A good 30 minutes is devoted to poker games. There’s also a torture sequence that’ll have men squirming.

Craig, with his dirty blond hair and piercing blue eyes, carries the movie. He has a visceral command of the screen. When he falls in love with a beautiful operative (Eva Green), you believe it. When he sets out to get even, you feel like ducking in your seat.

One wishes for a swifter pace (Casino runs nearly 2 ½ hours and feels like it) but on balance the rewards are there. Craig, a time bomb who looks dashing in a tailored tuxedo, makes you feel as if you know what makes Bond tick.

Extras: Features on how Craig stepped into the role, the movie’s stunts and the history of Bond girls. Also, a Chris Cornell music video.

The Holiday

Sony. DVD. 136 minutes. Rated PG-13. $29.98.

Grade: B

The Holiday is a contrived romance that somehow manages to work. It melds the standard plot element of boy meets girl, with an understanding of human frailties.

It can be deliberately corny, mind you, but never insultingly so.

Having recently undergone traumatic breakups, two single women from L.A. and London agree to swap houses for the Christmas holiday. Film insider Amanda (Cameron Diaz) wants to forget a cheating beau (Edward Burns), while newspaper editor Iris (Kate Winslet) is trying to forget an office romance. Will time on the opposite side of the pond give these women a fresh perspective? Absolutely.

That’s because each tumbles into a new romance. Amanda finds herself attracted to Iris’ rakish brother (Jude Law), while Iris finds a persistent suitor in a composer (Jack Black) with his own broken heart to mend.

Knowing where The Holiday is headed make it no less fun. Writer-director Nancy Meyers writes pithy dialogue, and she gets strong performances from Winslet and Law. It takes a while for the plot to find its rhythm — cutting between two plots can grow tiresome — but it eventually settles into a groove.

As romantic comedies go, think of The Holiday as comfort food.

Extras: Commentary and a making-of featurette.

Eragon

Fox. DVD-Blu-ray. 102 minutes. Rated PG-13. $29.98/$39.98. In stores March 20.

Grade: B-

Not since Pete’s Dragon has a movie posited the relationship between a boy and his dragon with quite the sincerity of Eragon.

Pete was live-action and his dragon was animated. In this latest tale of interspecies bonding, the boy Eragon (Ed Speleers) is live action and the dragon is digitized (with the voice of Rachel Weisz). The story is pretty cut and dried: After an evil dragon rider (John Malkovich) wipes dragons and riders from his kingdom, a single egg remains, which falls into the possession of teen-ager Eragon.

At first the boy wants nothing to do with the egg, but once it hatches he forms an instant bond with the dragon inside. It turns out that Eragon is a key part of a prophesy which says that one day a young rider will emerge to lead rebel warriors into battle.

It’s the getting there that largely consumes Eragon, based on Christopher Paolini's popular Inheritance Trilogy. Speleers’ Eragon is suitably cocky; he’s a teen who doesn’t want to be schooled in morality or fighting by a former knight (Jeremy Irons). Eventually he grows into the role of champion, but not before nearly getting himself his dragon killed.

If you’re into Dungeons and Dragons or Middle-Earth lore, you’ll find Eragon enticing. It lacks the epic grandeur of The Lord of the Rings movies, and much of its plot depends on a familiarity with the books. (A dragon egg will only hatch for the rider it chooses. Huh?) Even the digital effects seem a bit clunky at first, but they grow on you.

You can’t help feeling that Eragon should have been more compelling. It goes through all the right motions, but as fantasy films go, it falls short of greatness.

Extras: The special edition of Eragon includes a bonus disc with featurettes on casting, special effects and what’s next in the series.

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