“Any thug can kill.”

This statement by M, head of British secret service, is exactly what the newest Bond, in “Casino Royale,” struggles with.

“Casino Royale” follows secret agent James Bond (first-timer Daniel Craig) as he gets his first 00-license – a license to kill – and as he tries not to entirely screw up his chance.

“We start right at the beginning of Bond’s career,” Daniel Craig said in the production notes, “when he has a lot of rough edges. He’s a loner, and he doesn’t like to get involved with people. As the movie goes on, though, he becomes more refined.”

Screenwriters Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Paul Haggis (Oscar winner for “Crash”) tried to be as true to the original Ian Fleming novel as possible. As the first James Bond novel, “Casino Royale” is grittier, harsher and more sexual than later 007 books or films. The film adaptation opens with James Bond in his interview for his license, followed by a brutal fight sequence across a slum and up a construction crane.

James Bond has to play some pretty serious poker in this latest feature, though this isn’t unusual. In a behind-the-scenes feature on British television, cast members were shown “practicing” with high stakes on breaks.

“Most of us could already play poker and, as well as rehearsing for the [scene], we played for fun,” Mads Mikkelsen, Bond villain for “Casino Royale,” said in production notes.

Craig is allegedly a master. All this background research will be crucial to the major poker game between Bond and main villain Le Chiffre, or the Number (who does look a lot like Al Gore). Bond must gamble with the government’s money to rob Le Chiffre of his fortune... unless he loses and ends up doubling his nemesis’s cash fund. No pressure.

“This is the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to shoot,” said director Martin Campbell, who also directed “the Mask of Zorro” and previous Bond film “GoldenEye.” “Ten players around a table, playing Texas Hold ‘Em, all looking at their cards and each other. Maintaining the tension and the continuity was a nightmare... Luckily, producer Michael G. Wilson is a genius at poker and very good at numbers. I couldn’t have done it without him.”

New Bond girls Eva Green and Caterina Murino – both of whom could stand to eat a pizza – surprise the young 007 in a suddenly very complicated world. As usual, Bond gets more than he bargained for, by sleeping with Murino’s character Solange, who ends up being the wife of one of the villain’s henchman. Green’s character, Vesper Lynd, however, is the one Bond ends up falling for. Needless to say, she ends up nearly dying more than once.

“There’s more to her than [just the beauty],” Green said in the production notes for the film. “She is the first woman Ian Fleming wrote about, and she has a great impact on Bond’s life. She is the root of all the Bond women that follow and explains why he behaves the way he does with those women.”

“Eva Green is fantastic... we needed someone who had all the qualities of Vesper: beauty, strength, enigma and some sadness. She is Bond’s equal,” Barbara Broccoli said, according to production notes.

The problem with the movie is the problem with James Bond: When are you the quintessential, suave James Bond that everyone looks up to, and when are you just crashing into things?

Daniel Craig, appearing on Friday in his first James Bond picture, has encountered controversy from the international Bond fan community. Many critics have said Craig lacks some of the swagger of the likes of Connery, Moore or Brosnan. Critics have pointed out Craig is largely inexperienced, under six-feet tall, very young (the first Bond under 40 since 1969) and blond.

Craig trained for a lot of his own stunts, and did get thrown down stairs, have his teeth knocked out in a fight sequence and get kicked across a three-story steel crane.

Still, there is a lot of confidence in Craig from the production camp. Past Bonds Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan have all openly supported Craig, as have fellow actors Dench and Green.

“As soon as we met him, Daniel was the obvious choice for James Bond. He is charismatic, versatile and sexy. The role is a big challenge, but he has proven to us that he is an incredible Bond,” said Barbara Broccoli, producer and daughter of famed Bond producer Alfred Broccoli.

Filmed in Prague and the Bahamas, “Casino Royale” does include the signature Bond elements: the opening credits with the stained gun barrel, the reappearance of Judi Dench as agent M and, of course, the Aston. A pair of Aston Martin D85s were made especially for the film. This is not this the first time “Casino Royale” has been made: once, in 1956 as an episode of CBS’s Climax!, and once as a spoof in 1967 that was closer to Austin Powers than today’s 007.

Unnaturally, this will be the first Bond film to have rain, as well as rumored to be the first to feature a naked Bond. While this might please many female viewers, many critics stated that James Bond has always been a lady’s man, without ever actually having to be naked onscreen.

The culmination of all the many elements of “Casino Royale” will make, if nothing else, a hard-core thriller. Lots of gun-fights, lots of cars, lots of twists and turns. No doubt, the film will make plenty of money and amaze viewers. And if the trailers are any indication, all the critics will quickly fall silent. Fans can rest assured: a sequel with Craig has already been set into motion.