Nothing About This Bourne-Again Bond Is Breathtaking . . .

Rating: 5/10 (25 November 2008)

Cobra-faced actor Daniel Craigthe fifth to play James Bondis in better shape than the new 007 epic "Quantum of Solace." If the previous Bond outing "Casino Royale" struck you as abysmal, the threadbare "Quantum of Solace" scrapes the bottom of the barrel. David Bradley's rough & tumble second-unit action sequences and Simon Crane's stunts provide the only bright spots. Unfortunately, neither Craig's virile 007 nor the gripping fisticuffs can salvage this mundane melodrama that resumes the narrative where "Casino Royale" left off with Bond confronting one of the villains. Subsequently, if you missed "Casino Royale," "Quantum's" plot convolutions may mystify you. Since Bond producer Cubby Broccoli died, the Bond movies have hit the skids. "Quantum" is the briefest Bond in history and the least compelling if you're a traditional 007 fan. In fact, "Monster's Ball" director Marc Forster looks like he is making a Jason Bourne thriller rather than a James Bond movie.
Ian Fleming's James Bond debuted in 1962 with Sean Connery in "Dr. No." The Bond movies revolutionized spy thrillers. Before most people could buy the next Fleming novel, United Artists churned out a sequel "From Russia, With Love." The third 007 caper "Goldfinger" created the template for Bonds, and "Thunderball" ensured the longevity of the franchise. No sooner had Bond redefined spy thrillers than everybody cloned them. Of course, Bond extravaganzas have always embraced adventure more than espionage. Incredibly, in the Cold War era, the Bond producers refused to censure the evil Soviet empire. Instead, 007 battled S.P.E.C.T.R.E, a.k.a. Special Executive for Counter-Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion with larger-than-life villains straight out of old cliffhanger movies like Ming the Merciless from the Flash Gordon serials. The Bond movies displayed no qualms about occasionally slamming the Red Chinese. After "You Only Live Twice" in 1967 the Bonds backed off Mao's minions.
Since "Casino Royale," the new Bonds have forsaken everything that made the longest running franchise original. Audiences watch Bond movies for 007's gadgets, the girls, the exotic locales, and the outlandish stunts. Not only were Bondian foes arch villains who sought to destroy society, but they hatched bizarre plans to achieve their ends. Sometimes, Bond movies scuttled credibility to keep up with the times. For example, "Star Wars" inspired "Moonraker." Nevertheless, 007 gallivanted from one bed to the next for nymphs with naughty names, trumped a gallery of heinous henchmen, and saved the world from extinction.
By 1989, Cubby Broccoli overhauled the series with the gritty, hard-as-nails "License to Kill." The strategy backfired, and United Artists refused to promote the picture. After the "License to Kill" debacle, Pierce Brosnan donned the tuxedo and Cubby restored the Roger Moore formula. When production costs escalated, the new Bond producers sacked Brosnan and started from scratch. "Casino Royale" harkened back to the level-headed "For Your Eyes Only," but the success of prequelsprimarily George Lucas's second "Star Wars" trilogy prompted daughter Barbara Broccoli to re-start the franchise with Bond earning his license to kill.
"Quantum of Solace" breaks more rules that "Casino Royale." The trademark gun barrel opening scene that started the 20 previous Bonds now precedes the end credits. Actually, "Quantum" qualifies as a sequel to "Casino," something the Bonds have never done. Neither Ms. Moneypenny nor Q return. "Casino Royale" wrapped with Bond getting the drop on the villainous Mr. White. "Quantum" opens with 007 careening in his Aston Martin through scenic Italy with a carload of trigger-happy thugs blasting away at him. Bond has Mr. White of "Casino Royale") stashed in the trunk. He delivers White to M for interrogation. No sooner has their interrogation begun than M's bodyguard Mitchell (utility stunt man Glenn Foster) starts shooting and White escapes. Before he does get away, White chuckles about how the anonymous criminal syndicate that he belongs to has infiltrated virtually every intelligence agency in the world.
Bond chases Mitchell and kills him. Meanwhile, British Intelligence traces the money that Le Chiffre, the "Casino Royale" villain, used to a geologist in Panama. Bond tangles with a goon hiding in the dead geologist's motel room. He recovers an attaché case that leads him to a mysterious dame. Camille (Olga Kurylenko of "Hitman") has been sleeping with Dominic Green (Mathieu Amalric of "Marie Antoinette"), a hypocritical megalomaniacal environmentalist. Every time 007 collars a bad guy, Green's people ice them and frame Bond for the killing. Green plans to topple the Bolivian government so he can buy up the country's water supply and resell it at higher prices to its new president. Green installs the corrupt General Medrano (Joaquín Cosio of "Hitgirl") in the presidential palace. Medrano, it turns out, murdered Camille's father, strangled her mother and her sister. Camille's pursuit of Medrano resembles the Roger Moore Bond movie "For Your Eyes Only." Bond teams up with Camille to thwart Green and Medrano.
Just as the villains in "Casino Royale" were lightweights, the "Quantum of Solace" villains are twerps who endanger their own people more than 007. Green wields an axe against Bond but is so incompetent that he whacks his own foot. Green's scheme to monopolize natural global resources is negligible compared with better Bond villains. The fights and the shoot-outs grow monotonously repetitive. "Quantum of Solace" barely registers on the Richter scale of excitement.