Fun but emotionally uninvolving

Rating: 8/10 (4 November 2008)

"Quantam of Solace" is a direct sequel to "Casino Royale", and continues the portrayal of superspy James Bond as a deadly, psychotic agent who lives in a threatening and dangerous world.
A car chase is the pre-credits sequence where Bond (Daniel Craig) takes the captured Mr White (Jesper Christensen) to be interrogated about his mysterious organisation. Bond is keen to do his duty and avenge the death of his one true love Vesper, who died at the end of the last film. Bond's mission takes him to Austria, Italy and eventually Bolivia and into conflict with a sinister environmentalist Dominic Greene (Mathieu Almaric), who wants control of the world's water supply...
The film is a lot of fun and benefits from the strong performances of Craig as Bond and Judi Dench as his superior, M. Olga Kurylenko is his paramour with a deadly vendetta of her own, and she shines in a fiercely physical performance. However Gemma Arterton is a mere clothes horse as Bond's fellow agent Fields, and renowned stage actor Rory Kinnear is just a shade too young as M's aide, Tanner. Almaric is good is the main villain of the piece, though I would like to have seen more of Jesper Christensen as Mr White.
The plot is comprehensible and exciting even if the action scenes are too quickly edited and as a result too hard to follow. The usual technical feats are on display here the stunts and special effects are as usual spectacular. For a series now grounded in realism, some of the technology used by Bond and his associates is incredibly advanced. The flat-table computer consoles, for example, come straight out of "Star Trek".
Bond is definitely back on track and I look forward to seeing more of 007 in future pictures.