Low Key but enjoyable for much of the time

Rating: 6/10 (3 June 2009)

Quantum Of Solace was something of a disappointment for me. I've been a huge Bond fan since childhood, and have enjoyed every movie Danjaq/EON has thus far produced and Quantum is no exception. However i found it lacking in all the key areas that make a superb Bond movie and as is such it just manages to get by with the label of "ordinary", which for a Bond movie isn't a good thing. I think one of the main problems is that it is the first Bond movie made after the stellar Casino Royale, which as far as i'm concerned is The Godfather of all Bond movies and if the series continues for another hundred years is going to be hard to top. So Quantum had a difficult time from the beginning. That said i was delighted when i heard that Marc Forster would be directing, having loved his films especially Finding Neverland and Stranger Than Fiction, and couldn't wait to see where Daniel Craig would take the character after the events of Casino Royale. And so it was a bit of anti climax. The action scenes where kind of run of the mill, the car chases for instance just looked like an average car commercial. These scenes should be iconic but Forster doesn't quite grasp that and they are somewhat bland. Also the under use of Gemma Artheton as Strawberry Fields is a bit gratuitous and a step backwards which is a shame especially when compared to the way Vesper was written and performed in Casino. Mathieu Almeric as the villainous Dominic Greene simply doesn't work and Alamaric will in time prove to be the least memorable Bond villain, he sort of resembles Klaus Maria Brandauers Largo from Never Say Never Again without the panache, or any hint of menace, and therefore just falls flat. So for the pluses, Daniel Craig is totally in command of the part and its brilliant to watch. He handles the action and loves scenes with the right charisma, its just a shame the part this time out is less effective than the previous film. Also i don't like the idea of Bond killing all and sundry, because its putting him in Rambo territory and i hope they curb this in the next movie. I like the under current of tragedy that exists in Craigs Bond and i like his commitment to his mother figure M again played superbly by Judi Dench. The action scenes are good as always, and David Arnolds themes are exciting as is the theme song Another Way To Die by Jack White and Alicia Dixon. Its also cool to see the gun barrel scene at the end of the movie, it really feels like a Bond movie and maybe it should have been at the beginning? So for the next movie the producers really need to take a look at the likes of The Spy Who Loved Me and Thunderball, even Goldeneye. It needs to be a spectacle, bigger, better, funnier, but not cliché or cheesiness. It still needs to have a human story, sharp direction and altogether deeper tone. It needs to be a Bond Movie.