Daniel Craig invigorates the tired character with a youthful energy that Pierce Brosnan simply couldn’t have brought.

Nowhere is that more apparent than in the opening action scene of “Casino Royale” when James Bond chases down a terrorist on foot. The sequence leads from a high rise construction site to an embassy and it lasts about 10 minutes. Every time Craig bursts through a wall or jumps between two scaffolds, you’ll think, “Brosnan couldn’t have done that.” At 38, Craig is no spring chicken. But his body resembles a Greek god’s, and his hardened face makes you think he may have been a boxer before turning to acting.

“Casino Royale,” based off Ian Fleming’s original novel, does to James Bond what “Batman Begins” did to the Batman franchise. It’s the mindset that when there aren’t any more good ideas, simply start over.

Bond has just been granted “OO” status by M (Dame Judi Dench) — giving him a license to kill. His assignment, to follow a money trail that had been used to fund terrorists — leads him to Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelson), a mathematical whiz, card shark and criminal. He attends a star-studded poker tournament in a Montenegro and plans to give the winnings to some bad people.

Helping Bond is Eva Green, an actress Bernardo Bertolucci described as “so beautiful, it’s indecent.” She plays Vesper Lynd, an accountant sent to help keep the money out of terrorists’ hands.

The verbal exchanges between Vesper and James are things of beauty, as is the dialogue throughout. It’s no surprise that Paul Haggis (“Million Dollar Baby”, “Crash”) chipped in on the screenplay. In one scene, Bond tells Vesper she’s not his type. Vesper asks, “Smart?” to which Bond replies, “Single.” The chemistry between the two sizzles and their budding romance gives us a perspective of James Bond we’ve rarely seen.

Director Martin Campbell has crafted the best Bond film since “GoldenEye,” which not so coincidentally, was also directed by Campbell. The Bond he and Craig provide us is more raw and wet-behind-the-ears than any ever. Craig, a theatre star long before turning to film, plays Bond as a man who M accurately describes as “a blunt instrument.” He makes mistakes — lots of them. And he’s not quite as smooth as his predecessors. But this makes him more real and perhaps more appealing.

To give an idea, when asked if he wants his martini shaken or stirred, Bond replies, “Does it look like I give a damn?”