Casino Royale (2006)

Cast your mind back to 2005 and the phenomenon that was ‘Blonde Bond’.  At the time one of the longest running franchises in movie history, the James Bond series had been enjoying a successful renaissance for almost a decade. The so-dour-it-hurts reign of Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill had been a bold move to mature Bond into something more akin to Jason Bourne than the suave and silly Roger Moore flavoured vehicles that had gone before it. An admirable if not misguided effort on behalf of the studios. Whilst it was clear that the Bond mythology was overdue for an invigoration, the world was not ready for a rougher, tougher 007 at that time and the franchise looked to be on its last legs, with Bond relegated to the annals of movie history. After a hiatus of six years however 007 triumphantly returned with Pierce Brosnan at the helm. Goldeneye, the first of the Brosnan era sought to re-establish Bond with credible plot lines, Bond girls with acting clout to match their looks and perhaps more importantly the role of Bond’s tough taskmaster M recast in the form of Judi Dench.