Quantum of Patience....

Rating: 2/10 (15 August 2010)

I've never been much of a Bond movie fan. There had been about 20 offerings from the franchise, all containing the same core plot: some nut-job gets his hands on a nuclear weapon, and Bond saves the day just in time. Okay, maybe that's the way Bond movies are supposed to be. No complaints there.
But then came Casino royale, packed with mind-blowing action sequences and Daniel Craig, and no nuclear bombs. It made me believe that maybe it's turning into a real action-movie franchise. No doubt expectations were running high long before Quantum of solace released. The opening car chase made me wonder if I was about to watch one of the best action movies ever.
But hello, what was that, what followed? A string of 'action' sequences sewed together in order, with no credible storyline in between them to make them seem justified. The climactic scene turned out to be the bottommost point in the abyss: explosions, fire, collapsing buildings - all tailored just to give the movie an ending.
And finally what did Bond achieve? Most of the top-level people in the evil organisation are killed. Done. Nothing else. Any idiot with a gun could do that. I would have preferred a nuclear weapon about to detonate and the world being saved in the nick of time, over all this mindless killing.
The characters are all hollow shells: Bond is only grieving his dead love all through, and the two ladies come and go and do nothing in between their entries and exits. Eva Green, who had such a core character in Casino..., was sorely missed. Felix and the other CIA agent seem to be just a bunch of drunk punks meddling in terrorists' affairs. M seemed like a schoolteacher unable to rein down a naughty kid. The villains? Oh, please, Bond himself looked more menacing than those idiots.
This better not be the theme for the Bond movies to come.