As Camille says of Bond, complimenting, "There's something horribly efficient about you."

Rating: 7/10 (7 February 2020)

A kinetic film of rhythms, not unlike Jazz; the wrong notes of the writers' strike leading to each creative and technical department grooving together to create a chaotic, punchy, moody film that is so brisk that it keeps on giving little flourishes and details each time I watch it; a beautiful, immediate and scrappy Casino coda with its offbeat sensibilities, clear sense of direction, dedication to the blistering immediacy of grief, and its total sensory experience.
QoS is the runt of the litter but as such, possibly carries one of the most unique, palpable, and vibrant tones over all of the other Bond films, and certainly the other Craig's.
This Bond film is an art-house action film, an existential rampage, an opera, and as a coda for Casino works better than it gets credit for.
It's a beautiful mess that, without the writer's strike, genuinely could have been a rival to Casino. As it stands it's got personality, and that goes a long way. And also possibly one of the best openings in film history. I'm hooked, I love it, and Craig plays about a hundred emotions, in lieu of a good script, across his face at all times, he really is the gem of this series.
A film that materialises as the antithesis and antidote to Casino Royale, functioning as a tight coda, stylistically and tonally concurrent with the state at which we leave Bond in at the end of Casino Royale.
A blink and you'll miss it arthouse flick with the flinching bone-crunch of a Bourne, the visuals of globetrotting eco-drama, and the editing of a documentary. If viewed with the knowledge of the writer's strike's effects, the film can be seen for its merits; A score that's better than Casino Royale, the genuine mystery of the Quantum organisation, some sharp, economical dialogue, some divine action (the brief, palpable, frightening shootout in the crowded restaurant after the opera for example).
The damaged film is a shadow of what it could have been and not quite a fitting second outing for Craig but it has a spark, something to love, I frequently defend it and find myself reaching for it even more frequently when I need a burst of beautiful, pared down, energy.
The opening sequence flowing ever closer to the tunnel ranks as maybe my favourite film opener of all time, and the simple, and gentle plane sequence drinking with Mathis is rivalled only by that tremendous cut where Bond convinces him to join him at his villa and when Mathis' girl asks where he is, instead we get a quick cut of Bond downing his drink, disconnected out of time, a glee-less grim reaper having claimed his next prize, settling Mathis' fate in that very moment.
If the, clearly out of place, Dominic Greene had been removed and instead more of a focus had been put on the interplay between Vesper's boyfriend and Bond, in order to reframe and enlighten more of Casino Royale, there wouldn't have been so much disconnect between the storylines, as if the writers couldn't have a Bond film without a supervillain in it.
That aside, the theme of revenge is cool and shared between Camille and Bond, as he plays out his wish fulfilment by training her how to take a life in cold blood. One can only dream that the next film has David Harbour's CIA man Beam in it. The air, water, fire, earth themes in the setpieces are a clever little gimmick even if it doesn't translate too well. By the close of the film, the Algerian love knot from Casino, settled in the snow outside, is a lingering image, the quest for Bond's closure is a powerful, achieved one, and the broken raging man is calmed, if not able to ever fix himself.