Mediocre and muddled

Rating: 3/10 (15 November 2008)

Marc Forster managed to make a pretty film. The majority of it looks pleasant, especially the MI6 headquarters. Bond looks much better than in Casino Royale, as does everyone else but compared to everything else in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace cannot be considered anything but a disappointment. It lacks in almost anything that is needed from a Bond movie - the primary thing being the enjoyment the viewer is supposed to get from Bond's violent actions and his overcoming of extreme situations.
The action scenes are incoherent beyond belief with only one or two instances where they pack any punch. Gone is the physical threat and physical extremity that dominated Casino Royale and made it so effective: The sword wielding Africans, the bashing-of-head- against sink and the infamous "ball scratching" scene. The violence here is all implied or worse muddled. We are told constantly that Bond is far gone, a loose cannon but yet we see only hints of it with two pivotal scenes simply cut out (cases of Bond supposedly forcing information out of someone) and most of the violence shot and edited in a manner which makes it a near impossibility to see what is going on.
The villain lacks everything - his plans are boring, his organization unconvincing and he at no point seems to be any threat to Bond. Daniel Craig hardly gets anything to do (barring stumbling through above mentioned action scenes). The only scene where he has to show any emotion (discussing Vesper with Matheas) his eyes are blocked by sunglasses making the scene play like a joke.
Beforehand I was interested in seeing what Marc Forster would do with a Bond film, afterward I was only bored.