Squandered potential

Rating: 6/10 (21 February 2015)

"Quantum of Solace" isn't a great movie (by any stretch), but it does have a few things going for it.
One, it picks up right after "Casino Royale". I like seeing this in movies, and as such, it hits the ground running. And it features both Olga Kurylenko and Gemma Arterton (hello, nurses!). Also, Bond's the real villain here, so consumed with rage and revenge thirst that he barrels through everything and everyone. It's a novel twist for a different kind of OO7 movie. The downside is that Dominic Greene is still a hanger-on for most of the movie; dull as dishwater, that one. As far as this movie's concerned, the idea works better on paper.
But then there are the action scenes, one after the next, each edited to within an inch of its life. Images coming at you fast and furious, leaving no time to get a sense of geography in a fight. Both frustrating an exhausting.
There was probably no chance of living up to the promise of the preceding movie's ending, but cutting out the shakycam would've helped unbelievably. As it stands, There are sections of this movie that I like, but it loses ground by the third act. But there's a pretty great final few minutes, which keeps this from being wholly forgettable. But only just.
6/10