Bond 2: Electric Boogaloo

Rating: 7/10 (19 September 2009)

Having the rebooted James Bond series, 'Casino Royale,' become my favorite of all Bond movies, it was going to be tough to follow it up with the first direct sequel: 'Quantum of Solace.' At first, I didn't like it, hardly at all. The plot was all over the place – OK, I admit, I really couldn't follow it, the first go-around, there were a lot of dry scenes, and the rejuvenated Bond took leaps backwards with his sexual encounter with a "Strawberry Fields." My second and now third viewings, I enjoyed it a lot more. I suppose its one that grows on you. Sure, nowhere near as good as 'Royale,' heck, not in the top Bond films, but still enjoyable.
It's 10x more gritty and dark than 'Royale,' yet I loved the feel and style of the film. Thankfully, they did fix one of 'Royale's biggest problems by shortening this down 37 minutes. Also, the cinematography, landscapes, locales, fight scenes were all well done.
The yellow-toothed villain left a lot to be desired, and even though they needed to give the audience the typical Bond Bimbo, I still cringe at reducing this mature Bond to a 15-year-old.
Taking place within the hour of the 'Royale' finale, Bond is bent on revenge (despite his consistent attempts to state otherwise) and in turn taking down the big-evil corporation known as 'Quantum.' You don't get the whole story on them, so I suspect this isn't the first sequel to be made in the Bond movies, though I wish it were. Move on. Get Bond back where he needs, fresh missions. (I think they did state that's where it's going in the final shot.) I liked the song, though, listening to it outside the movie, it seemed very edited in the title sequence. I still think the story has a lot to be desired, but still recommended for action/suspense buffs.