Quantum of Solace

Bond is back for the 22th time in the highly anticipated sequel, Quantum of Solace. Following up the best Bond movie ever was never an easy task, and it doesn't fulfill that nearly impossible task. Casino Royale was a story of self-discovery, love and trust. This is a flat-out revenge flick. And it's mighty fine at bringing the action.

The reason that Casino Royale was so great was that it brought a very real, very human side to Bond. (Anyone remember that CGI surfing scene in Die Another Day?) This expands on that, and also partly throws out that gritty realism from Casino Royale. Well, it's still gritty.

The realism? Meh...

Picking up hours after the end of Casino Royale, Bond is vengefully mourning the death of Vesper Lynd. How? By engaging in a 20-minute chase through car, prison cell, parade, and rooftops, to catch a would-be assassin of his boss, M. The man is linked to the mysterious, vast terrorist organization called Quantum.

A transcontinental journey for Bond gives him one lead from Quantum: Dominic Greene, an environmentalist with a hidden agenda: Vanquish the water supply of Bolivia. Bond gets help from Camille, a mysterious Russian woman who is seeking revenge for the death of her family.

If this sounds alot more formulaic than Casino Royale, thats cause frankly, it is. It's not as complex, as human, or well, as good. However, Daniel Craig is still awesome at James Bond, and is probably the most human rendition of Bond out of all 6 Bonds. (Anyone remember George Lazenby?)

Olga Kurylenko is a fairly interesting Bond girl, and another named Strawberry Fields is rather pointless. Take her character away and everything still plays out the same. The action sequences are half adrenaline-fueled, another half you want it to end. The cinematography and editing are quite good, especially during a shoot-out scene following an opera sequence.

Director Marc Forster has done excellent movies (i.e., Finding Neverland) but this is his first action gig. You can kind of see the influence of The Bourne Ultimatum on the cinematography. He's pretty good at the staging and such, and during the character-driven moments his directing skills are highlighted.

Ultimately, it's a mild disappointment, but is still definitely worth seeing. Too bad Casino Royale looms over it. B