Movie Title: Quantum of Solace
Genre: Action, Adventure, Mystery
Writer: Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade
Starring: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Gemma Arterton, Giancarlo Giannini, Jeffrey Wright, Judi Dench, Anatole Taubman, David Harbour, Jesper Christensen, Rory Kinnear
Review: Following the death of Vesper Lynd, James Bond (Daniel Craig) makes his next mission personal. The hunt for those who blackmailed his lover leads him to ruthless businessman Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a key player in the organization which coerced Vesper. Bond learns that Greene is plotting to gain total control of a vital natural resource, and he must navigate a minefield of danger and treachery to foil the plan.
Quantum of Solace is supposed to pick up where we left off in Casino Royale, but the continuation of the story seems disjointed from the get-go. While the movie is filled with exciting action sequences, the plot lacks a lot of focus, and I had a hard time understanding why things were happening. It seems to me that the script was undeveloped. There were a lot of ideas, plot lines, and sequences that simply didn't connect to the rest of the story or myself as a viewer. At 1 hour and 47 minutes, the runtime actually felt longer, which is never really a good thing. Not to mention, the villain, Dominic Greene, was largely unmemorable and didn't leave a lasting imprint on the franchise like other great Bond villains. This movie certainly had its entertaining moments, and it definitely wasn't all bad. Daniel Craig continued to play James Bond with a sense of authenticity and darkness that makes the character both captivating and fun. Olga Kurylenko did a great job as the Bond girl, but lacked the chemistry that Eva Green had with Craig in the previous film. I think this may have been intentional, as a romantic relationship between Bond and Kurylenko's Camille Montes was never in the cards given Bond's heartbreak from losing Vesper Lynd in the previous film. I just think in this instance, the overall direction of the film let everyone down, and ultimately failed to live up to Casino Royale, which was fantastic and wildly successful. The Daniel Craig Bond franchise does come back with a vengeance in later installments (check our Review Directory for reviews on those movies...coming soon), so I highly recommend you still give this film a chance. There is pertinent information that sets the table for the rest of the franchise, and if anything else, there are some high-flying, exciting action sequences to be enjoyed as well.
Fun Fact: Daniel Craig felt Casino Royale (2006) was physically "a walk in the park" compared to this film; his training was extremely intense, involving more boxing, running, speedboating, and stunt driving. He was injured three times in the making of this film.