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 1/2 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.

Movie Bond-age

Actors who've played 007 during the past 45 years:

• Sean Connery

• George Lazenby

• Roger Moore

• Timothy Dalton

• Pierce Brosnan

• Daniel Craig

New dvds this week

• Shortbus: John Cameron Mitchell's controversial look at relationships in New York City, in which the actors have real sex

• The Holiday: Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet play jilted women from Los Angeles and London who swap houses and then find Jude Law and Jack Black to console them.

• Without a Trace: Season 2: more of the CBS series about investigators on the trail of the disappeared

• In stores next week: Blood Diamond, Rocky Balboa, Eragon, Everyone's Hero, The Nativity Story

Top five dvds

RENTALS

1 The Departed (Warner Home Video)

2 Man of the Year (DreamWorks Home Entertainment)

3 The Prestige (Touchstone Home Video)

4 Babel (Paramount Home Entertainment)

5 Flushed Away (DreamWorks Home Entertainment)

SALES

1 Flushed Away (DreamWorks Home Entertainment)

2 The Prestige (Touchstone Home Video)

3 The Departed (Warner Home Video)

4 Babel (Paramount Home Entertainment)

5 Man of the Year (DreamWorks Home Entertainment)

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