Craig's Back, and it's a Helluva Stir

Rating: 5/10 (26 November 2008)

Daniel Craig's second appearance as James Bond is an actual sequel to his debut, 2006's Casino Royale. Were Martin Campbell succeeded with characters and plot, Monster's Ball-Stranger Than Fiction-Finding Neverland-director Marc Forster doesn't do what you'd expect him to do, give us some of that heartfelt passion, or some of the quirkiness, of his earlier movies, now he goes full-on the action-button. Fast-paced, explosive and packed with vengeance Quantum of Solace is a spectacle of a Bond-movie, not too many twists or turns, mostly a revenge-story with enough action and violence to shut Mr. Jerry Bruckheimer up.
Craig is awesome as Bond, he's got that rock-hard face and has that emotional depth over his love's death from Casino Royale, no earlier Bond can touch. Two Bond-girls - one throwaway, one angry -, the villain is a French lizard who could have got more screen-space but delivers enough of those bulgy eyes to make him quite memorable, Judi Dench is the inpatient M and all of that Moneypenny & Q jazz is thrown in the sea.
The visuals are Bond's finest yet, and they are elegantly combined with a peculiar and slick credits-intro (although the song doesn't really hit the spot), and charming introductions to Bond's travelogue through the world map. Some may miss Bond's dry-Martini and his wit, but this is a pretty dark and exciting ride with blasts to keep you awake through its surprisingly short runtime.