Bond loses his charm

Rating: 6/10 (6 November 2008)

Bond seems to have lost his way a little bit since Casino Royale. Quantum of Solace, despite being far from the worst instalment ever (Die Another Day still haunts most), is really rather poor overall. The plot is wafer-thin, the action overrated and the directing inappropriate.
Half of the film barely makes sense, and many of the characters feel completely one-dimensional. M has lost her "balls," Mathis doesn't really play much of a role and the Bond girl's history is such a terrible cliché that the film quickly elbows through it, almost as if embarrassed.
Fans have clung to the action as the saving grace of this piece, but at the end of the day the film has geared itself to compete with the Bourne series and has failed miserably. The camera work deserves a special mention here too, as I can only assume the man behind it was drunk most of the time.
Overall, the film isn't awful by any stretch of the imagination, but after finally witnessing Bond getting back on track with Casino Royale it's difficult not to be left feeling stunned at how far it's fallen so fast. In the end, this has left me feeling the most disappointed in a film for a long time.