An unfairly criticised work - dark, but excellent.

Rating: 8/10 (11 January 2009)

IMHO, many of the attacks on this film just don't stack up.
Firstly - many have lamented that there were no great gadgets in QoS.
Yes, gadgets are a "Bond tradition". However, this 'tradition' - and the ever-increasing expectation of audiences to be amazed by Q's latest shenanigans - ultimately took the Bond films to some silly places. As far back the Thunderball jet pack, gadgets threatened to cross the line between secret agent and camp superhero.
By the time we got to Die Another Day, technology once considered futuristic was everyday, so writers had to come up with the nutty "invisible Jaguar". (If you wanted to know where the invisible Jaguar was, just listen - a Jaguar XKR makes a lot of noise.) QoS features 'gadgets' of the embedded type that is more realistic in 2008. For example: Bond shoots piccies of bad guys on his mobile phone, which are transmitted and face-matched by MI6, who patch in M and Bond for an update within moments. High tech, realistic, and genuinely useful for an agent who's a little too busy not getting shot to do his own googling.
Secondly  to the complaint that the plot can't be followed, or is confusing/silly etc.
Marc Forster is very visual story teller, so much of the plot is revealed with an image. He doesn't labour points or provide much opportunity for characters to repeat the plot for those who weren't paying attention.
But it is all there, if you watch the screen and listen. Admittedly, sometimes clues are delivered in a blink-and-miss-it fashion, but I guess Forster is assuming that he's making a movie that will be watched at the movies and that they'll actually watch it.
And I can't agree that the evil scheme wasn't 'evil' enough. He was diverting water tables, creating droughts and starving whole populations so that water, could be withheld, controlled and sold by an international crime syndicate, through oppressive murdering (and rapist) dictators. Not evil enough!?! Thirdly  the "everything happened too fast" complaint. I admit that the editing pace of the action sequences can be dizzying, and that this trend in editing needs to be checked. But they are usually short, which means breathing space is given to recover.
The opening car chase has come under particular fire, so let's just break it down.
Fly in over the Lake Garda, Italy, where Casino Royale ended. We approach a distant tunnel. Ominous sound track combines with flashes of guns, bullets, wheels, and the steely eye of Bond. Suddenly with a snap gear change we are in the tunnel. No music, just engines, gun shots and crunching metal. Yes, this section is dizzying and confusing. But I suspect that driving an Aston Martin through a narrow tunnel whilst being shot at, rammed by a truck, and performing a 180 turn at speed, is also.
It is so immediate. We are "in the car", people are getting killed and that our hero is in real danger of dying himself. When was the last time that happened in a Bond film? Exit the tunnel as the chase music starts up and into the quarry. A fast, staccato car chase ends suddenly with the shooting of the last car. The Aston Martin then arrives at the MI6 safe house, smashed and missing a door. The boot is opened, the reason for the deadly chase is revealed, the link to where we left off in Casino Royale is clear. Cue credits.
This whole process takes around 3 minutes and establishes the gritty, dark and vengeful world of QoS perfectly.
Finally  the "he's not Bond, he's too dark, no sense of humour, not enough women" thing.
There is humour throughout this film. "Tosca isn't for everyone". "We're teachers on sabbatical who have just won the lottery." "Can you help me find the stationary?" OK  there's no lines like, "Christmas only comes once a year"  but do we need them? And to the idea that Craig is just too cold and vicious to be Bond Well, Bond has always been a bit of a bastard, it's just that this one looks like he really can carry out his threats. He is darker because he is recovering from the loss of Vesper, but he is not heartless. Look at the way Craig plays the final scene, particularly his delivery of the line, "it's OK, I know you do." With his face and voice he is walking the perfect line between being absolutely menacing to the Quantum baddie, whilst showing a sympathy for the Canadian agent who, like him, has now been heart-broken thanks to this man.
And that's the thing about QoS, there is a subtlety to it. The story is told visually and Craig can convey, with a look, more than a hundred glib Roger Moore lines could.
It's not a Bond for those who want everything spelt out for them, followed by bonks with firecrackers in the background (literally).
If you want a contemporary Bond film that is, perhaps, true to how Flemming would create Bond in today's world, then try QoS. Remembering that it is a direct sequel to Casino Royale will help your enjoyment.
If you want all gizmos and puns then just watch Die Another Day again, with its invisible cars, ice palaces, power rangers suits and jokes about MoneyPenny sticking cigars in her orifice. You're welcome to it.