Quantum of Solace

Quantum of Solace: What. A. Train. Wreck.

Casino Royale was fantastic. Daniel Craig is a fantastic bond. The movie's script -- not so much. The action sequences also fail miserably.

In Casino Royale, the first real chase was all in and around a construction site, with Bond and the bomb maker, and it was one of the best, most creative chases I've seen in a long time. What does Quantum get? A car chase that looks like the leftover footage from The Fast and the Furious.

And there's a boat chase, and a plane chase. All these action scenes which have been done countless times before in countless other Bond movies (and other movies in general).

The worst part is that the pitiful action sequences aren't the worst part of the film.

The film attempts to be a continuation of Casino Royale -- a sequel, if you will. Why would anyone ever think that's a good idea? One of the greatest things about Bond is he is free from time, and the films are independent. From Sean Connery all the way to Daniel Craig, Bond remains a suave man in his 30s(-ish). The previous storyline was finished. Yes, Bond is heartbroken from Vesper dying, but let us move on.

Who is our primary villain? Dominic Greene. Mathieu Almaric, so good in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, is not scary. It is that simple. Yes, his weapon is money, but he is ultimately a middleman, and it seems like nothing about him should be feared by Bond -- or us. He looks like a villain who would cry to his mommy if Bond sucker punched him. And who else is there to fear? There are a few other names tossed into the ring, including the Mr. White man from Casino Royale, but none of them do anything important. Then again, neither does Greene.

The 'Bond Girl' is totally useless and ordinary in every way. She's attractive, but barely even succeeds at that. In this role she is so stiff, I think she would have tripped over her own feet if her instructions didn't include how to walk properly. She brings absolutely nothing to the table.

One of the great things about Bond is how he travels across the world and visits exotic locations. Casino Royale was also great for those reasons (I love the shot at the end of CR before Mr. White is shot). Here, not only is our location in the middle of a desert (scenery cannot be more bland than that), but the few times we see something nice to look at, it's so poorly framed that I wait for a boom mic to bob down on screen.

Marc Forster is a very capable director. On the one hand, you have Finding Neverland, Monster's Ball, and Stranger Than Fiction. But, sadly, there is also Stay, and The Kite Runner. I'm afraid Quantum of Solace will be lumped with the latter two.

Rating: 4/7