Nice fights, shame about the plot.

Rating: 6/10 (31 October 2008)

I'm writing this as a long time lover of the Bond series. Despite my skepticism about the reboot concept, I thoroughly enjoyed Casino Royale. Unfortunately, QoS does not live up to it's predecessor, although it is far from being a bad film.
A smart and fast-paced opening starts the film well, setting the action shortly after the events of Casino Royale. Bond is out for revenge, and this is reflected in some very brutal action scenes, which surely push the 12A rating imposed by the BBFC. Hints are dropped about mysterious groups, which will surely become a plot point in future films.
Unfortunately, this seems to be the only point behind QoS. The plot involves a lot of political squabbling over the treatment of third world countries that frankly feels like it has been written by a Year 12 Marxist sociology student. Whilst Mathieu Amalric provides a suitably slimy villain, you feel that the role is wasted. The shadowy Quantum feels like a sub-par Spectre, and we can only hope their role will be beefed up in future films.
However, it's not all bad. Fight scenes are excellently choreographed, and there are some touching scenes between Bond and Camille. The series continues to go darker, and we can hope that this future films will be better executed than this effort.
Worth a watch, but it could have been handled so much better.