Quantum of Solace
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Bond#22 has Her Majesty's Thug hunting down a kingpin from the secret organisation, Quantum, who means to acquire ground water sources in Bolivia for his own personal profit. Quite what this has to do with the same organisation brokering deals between terrorists and rogue bankers (the residual plot thread from Casino Royale) is anybody's guess and herein lies the central flaw of Quantum Of Solace (what does that title even mean, anyway?)
Quantum Of Solace was intended to be the sequel to Casino Royale, indeed it follows on directly from its predecessor without so much as an introduction. But the problem is that the script makes little effort to clarify the overall objective of the Quantum group, with the result being that Casino Royale and Quantum Of Solace come across as two completely unrelated stories when we are expecting quite the opposite. With the exception of the carry-over alpha villain, Mr White (who is swiftly written out of the plot), this new film quietly departs from the plot of its predecessor and this merely serves to create confusion as to exactly what the plot of this installment is. Indeed, Quantum Of Solace has so little to do with its predecessor that one wonders why the "To Be Continued..." style ending of Casino Royale was even used. It all smacks of over-zealous marketing and a rushed script. This is also evident in a marked continuity error in M's attitude towards Bond between the two films. Her statement, "When you can't tell your friends from your enemies, it's time to go", is a direct contradiction to her congratulating 007 on his "trusting no-one" at the conclusion of Casino Royale.
The film has much in common with the Bourne movies in terms of style and setting; the roof-top chase sequence is almost lifted in it's entirety and the action editing (particularly the car chase sequence) is even less discernable than those from the Bourne films - do we really care about all those split second gear changes and throttle pedal stabs?
Performance-wise, most are adequate but replaceable, the exceptions being Giancarlo Giannini, who brings much heart to the character of Mathis, and Judi Dench who, as always, is a treasure. Jeffrey Wright is criminally underused as Bond's intriguing American opposite number, Felix Leiter. The films key asset, however, (as was the case in Casino Royale) is Daniel Craig who is an excellent 007 and, arguably, the best yet. If nothing else, Daniel Craig deserves a better vehicle for his talents.
6.5 out of 10
Originally Posted by Godzilla
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