Falls flat where Casino Royale succeeded

Rating: 4/10 (20 November 2008)

The general rule of thumb is that sequels rarely surpass the original, and while Bond films tend not to be categorized as sequels, this rule applies when it comes to Quantum of Solace.
Given the high benchmark set by Casino Royale, the franchise re-boot, one can almost forgive QS for not hitting the same high notes, were it not for the fact that this time around it seems as though it's all everyone can muster just to attain a bare minimum of the quality of the former, let alone equal or surpass it.
Craig once again reprises his role as 007, with the movie picking up literally moments after the point where Casino Royale ended, this time with a blistering car chase that suffers from too many close-ups of the action, blurry shots, and the decision to use vehicles that appear all too indistinguishable, particularly when coupled with the flurried manner in which the sequence was shot, leaving the viewer wondering at times which car is which.
Similar gaffs are made by Director Marc Forster when shooting hand-to-hand combat, with far too many fights photographed from close in, rather than pulling the camera back and allowing the viewer to take in the full spectacle of violence.
Even one of QS's best sequences, a foot chase along the roofs, balconies and precipices of Siena, Italy, was executed to better effect in The Bourne Ultimatum.
Though Casino Royale opted to deliver a stripped down Bond, eschewing the techno gadgetry which the franchise had made its stock and trade, it did hold true to the axiom that a Bond film requires a credible and engaging villain, and it's in this area that QS also falls short. The tepid Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), who fronts a bogus environmental group which itself is a player in the larger, secretive, Quantum criminal collective, comes across as little more than a mousy eurotrash dweeb. Hardly a bookend to the enigmatic Le Chiffre who wept blood in Casino Royale.
Sure Greene's quest to hold third world countries hostage by hoarding their natural resources is inspired by real events (in this case the U.S.-based Bechtel's short-lived privatization of water resources in Cochabamba, Columbia), but comeon, this is Bond here! Sure the producers wish to buck the genre but some things are sacrosanct, like evil villains with plans of global domination by the most nefarious means possible.
Sure QS entertains, but when compared to its predecessor, and indeed to many others in the Bond cannon, it represents a sizable step down from what was a promising new beginning.