Quantum of Solace
Director: Marc Forster
Stars: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko
Classification: PG
Rating: ***

The best Bond films have always lived up to their theme song, and unfortunately the blaring — but tuneless — Jack White/Alicia Keys intro to Quantum of Solace too ably sets the tone for what follows.

The movie starts literally minutes after its predecessor, Casino Royale, ended, with a pre-credit car chase that sums up director Marc Forster’s brisk approach to the story.

Action scenes are the meat of Bond movies. Most of what we see in Quantum of Solace is at least as good as the standards set in previous films; relentless, and more than a bit improbable — if done properly.

One scene, set during an opera performance, is actually groundbreaking, an almost abstract action set piece that owes its success as much to sound editing as stunt work.

There seems to be a bit missing from the film, though. It’s short for a Bond film, and the deliberately anticlimactic ending makes the experience on the whole a lot less draining — and thrilling — than the best of the series.

Politics intrudes with the clumsy, didactic gracelessness that’s a hallmark of too many movies today. Though, the film’s basic flaw is intrinsic to the story, which is focused around an emotionally wounded Bond with little time — or inclination — for the reckless pleasures or black humour that have defined the character in the other movies.

Daniel Craig’s Bond is still an excellent incarnation of the character, and the decision to beef up Judi Dench’s role as M, his spymaster, is paying subtle dividends that will, hopefully, start paying off more generously in the next film — which will start gracing us with a new Q, or a Moneypenny, at the very least.

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