A solid Bond movie and Casino Royale act 2

Rating: 7/10 (16 April 2009)

The revitalized Bond is frequently compared to the Bourne series and while stylistically the same, it's the direction the franchise is taking right now so why not? My only real complaint with this is that there isn't enough humour
Okay Bond's girlfriend just died but I had to wait around 50 minutes before I got a chuckle from Bond's comment about the handcuff's, and generally I found the movie improved with the appearance of Field's who is excellent
This movie picks up precisely where Casino Royale left off (the only Bond movie that I know of that has taken this approach).. the SMERSH agent, Mr White, that Bond kidnapped is now in the boot of his Aston Martin and he is being pursued on his way to meet M
Bond's main motive is to uncover Vesper's history and in particular to find out if she really loved him, and to do this he must infiltrate further into the QUANTUM organization who she worked with as a double agent
My main issue with QOS is that everything is too rushed, it's a very short film, and this really contrasts with the pacing of Casino Royale.. the editing in the car chase at the start of the movie for example is so hurried that it is barely watchable. Product placement is also o.t.t, and Bonds main gadget is basically his Sony Ericsson phone. Some unbranded and more imaginative gadgets would be nice
The ending of QOS is very good though and Bond finally gets closure on Vesper, who was basically manipulated into becoming a double agent by a person that did not even love her. Since she was manipulated, Bond can finally forgive Vesper
6.7 puts this on a par with The Man with the Golden Gun and amongst some of the poorest rated Bonds, which is ridiculous
A solid Bond movie. Recommended 7.5