The name's still Craig...

Rating: 8/10 (10 November 2008)

For forty years, the line "The name's Bond, James Bond" was a gimmick, a nice tradition that was carried on from actor to actor (and from generation to generation). However, the use of that sentence at the end of the superb Casino Royale was more of a necessity, for two reasons: a) that film was all about Bond becoming who he is today; b) it was Daniel Craig's way to prove the naysayers wrong regarding his ability to play the role. As such, there's no need for him to say it in Quantum of Solace: we already know he is James Bond.
Being the first direct sequel in the franchise's history, Quantum begins exactly where Royale ended, with the grief-stricken 007 kidnapping a certain Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) to find out more about the death of his beloved Vesper. After a pulse-stopping car chase on Lake Como in Italy, he learns the following: White works for an organization known as Quantum, which makes deals with all kinds of people for profit's sake. If Bond wants a definitive answer to his questions, he must find the real brains behind Quantum, the sleazy Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric). In order to do so, though, he has no choice but to go rogue, since M (Judi Dench) is justifiably convinced he is driven by a pure desire of revenge. And so begins a chase around the world, with our favorite spy's only allies being the beautiful and angry Camille (Olga Kurylenko), who's after Greene for personal reasons as well, René Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini), the only man in the business whose allegiance isn't in question, and good old Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), who doesn't give a damn about the CIA's orders to protect Greene and kill Bond.
Even more than Casino Royale, Quantum is heavily indebted to the Bourne trilogy, with the hectic camera-work and amazing stunts (the whole first act tops anything in Royale), which could have been a liability in the hands of new director Marc Forster, an action ignoramus who prefers character-driven dramas (Monster's Ball is the prime example). But, with the new century and the Cold War long gone, that's exactly what the series has become, also thanks to Paul Haggis's scripting inputs: what matters is Bond himself, nothing else. And what is he like? Well, he's still edgy, impulsive, emotional, with no fine taste when it comes to drinks (he just gets drunk) and no interest in bedding every woman he sees. In other words, he's human, and that's where Craig's battered, vulnerable performance really shows its best side, bringing out something viewers had never seen in previous films, even, dare I say it, the ones starring Sean Connery (the closest anyone ever came to a similar result was George Lazenby in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and we all know that didn't end well, despite the film's quality). Even the action scenes are beyond pure spectacle because they are vital to finding the essence of the character.
This being a Forster & Haggis picture, it also means the story is suited to fit our times instead of providing overly implausible sci-fi scenarios (read: the ice palace and invisible car in Die Another Day): the sociological theme, unheard of thus far for a Bond movie, is the environment, and how businessmen are ruining it to make money. It's not very original, but with the right approach and characters it works: Greene, as far as that matter is concerned, isn't just a great villain as played by the talented Amalric, he's also a believable one - no world domination or other overblown stuff on his agenda, just plain and simple financial security, much like Le Chiffre in the previous installment. Kurylenko does a remarkable job too, giving depth and charm to the latest Bond girl in the same way Eva Green did before her, and the established cast (Dench, Giannini, Wright) is spot-on as expected.
A perfect sequel, then? Not quite: for one thing, Gemma Arterton's presence is basically an excuse to insert references to a few classic Bond moments, Goldfinger especially (she has a nice name, though), and the climax, while realistically huge, is a bit rushed and unsatisfactory (perhaps because Haggis did the last rewrite with the writers' strike just behind the corner), but then again it is hard to top the exquisite last act of Casino Royale. Whatever defects Quantum of Solace has, though, should not be taken as a sign of the usual drop in quality kicking in gradually. It may lack some of its predecessor's extra punch, but it has emotion, excitement, and humor that make up for any minor losses. In the end, it's just what people expected: Ian Fleming's James Bond. And when he returns, there will be more of the same.