It is all about the water and the writer's strike

Rating: 7/10 (7 December 2013)

Quantum of Solace is not as portentous as Casino Royale the movie which partially rebooted Bond as a newly qualified Double 'O' but retained Judi Dench as 'M.'
Quantum of Solace starts 20 minutes after the events of Casino Royale with a grinding car chase sequence and revealing Quantum's double agents.
Marc Forster, the first non Commonwealth director for a Bond film is someone known for serious dramas at the time and it shows in the action sequences which were more Bourne rather than Bond.
One of the editors had worked on the Bourne franchise. It meant the action sequences lacked coherence which the audience found off putting yet looking at it again some years later, it looks better as we have got more used to with this type of fast and choppy editing.
Forster gives the film more substance with some set piece sequences such the opera scene that is the meeting point for Quantum participants.
The setting in Bolivia with its dispute about water gives the film a political edge as did the more cynical view of corporate politics. Corporations making dubious alliances with dodgy dictatorships where the bottom line is mutual exploitation and the ordinary people suffering.
The short running time meant the film did not outlive its welcome but the way Bond treated poor Mathis after he was shot did leave a nasty taste.
Bond always respected fellow agents and would not treat a fallen colleague in such a distasteful fashion.