Review - Quantum of Solace

I wasn’t as enthused as everyone else by Daniel Craig’s first outing as James Bond in Casino Royale. Although reasonably enjoyable, in my mind Bond does not have sandy hair and a face like a beefy Sid James, and it was all a bit too serious. Quantum of Solace continues in the same vein, as our hero grieves Vespa Lynd by moodily killing people all over the world.

Bond is on the trail of a new, and very secretive, terrorist organisation. One of its members is Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric, playing a slightly more evil version of Jools Holland), a supposed environmentalist who likes staging coups and ruining the lives of poor people. Bond’s determination to stop him, against the wishes of MI6, leaves him a target.

Craig is robotic and emotionless – Bond is still so upset about his girlfriend dying in the last film that he is not allowing himself to feel. It may be intentional, but his ice blue eyes are so cold that it is hard to sustain one’s interest. Judy Dench is suitably matriarchal as M, but I was upset by her incongruous use of a short ‘a’ sound in the word ‘bastard’; she may be from Yorkshire, but that’s not the RP she was taught at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

My main concern is that most of what made Bond films special has gone out the window. The villain, though creepy, is perhaps not quite evil enough, and the Bond girls (Olga Kurylenko and Gemma Arterton) don’t get much screen time or a chance to be glamorous. If it wasn’t ‘cool’ enough, maybe they shouldn’t make them at all. Hopefully, with Casino Royale an origin film and Quantum of Solace about getting over that origin, the next instalment will see Bond emerge as a confident, suave and slightly more cheery fellow.

The action scenes here are gritty, exciting and numerous, almost making up for the shortcomings; this Bond is not averse to getting into fist fights, and looks like he could handle himself. Overall this is solid action fare, with car chases, explosions and plenty of hanging off scaffolding to enjoy, but it will not be anyone’s favourite Bond film.