Movies: Quantum of Solace

This movie starts out minutes after the finale of Casino Royale, where Mr. White was, ahem, apprehended by Bond (Daniel Craig). James Bond. This go around, after Mr. White escapes, Bond sets out to recapture the man, though he has to go through a scheming CEO and a bombshell with a revenge plot of her own before getting to him.

Unfortunately, Quantum of Solace is the movie I feared it would be, a relatively poor continuation of the absolutely excellent Casino Royale. It feels like a copycat of Casino Royale, only without the heart, soul and wisdom that that film had. Furthermore, while a decent action movie, it feels even less like a Bond. 

There's more action, sure, but does that make an action movie better? The pieces in between, the elements that form the puzzle and make everything work, just don't. I'll even go so far as to say they're boring. There are a couple of Bond girls, but dull and uninteresting doesn't describe them enough. 

Quantum of Solace sets the stage for a truly intriguing and complicated mess of politics, double crosses and betrayals, yet it appears as though the producers have this planned for the next Bond flick, as they sure as hell never follow through with any of that here. The uber-bad guy is never caught and very little is done; Quantum of Solace feels like the middle film of a trilogy that has no ending.

In other words, the plot sucks. And regardless of its quality, it isn't grand enough, at least visually, to qualify for a Bond flick, even a grittier, more realistic, 21st century Bond flick. 

Anyway, Quantum of Solace is action without plot, a sequel that does what sequels do best: fail to live up to their predecessors. It is entertaining, and like all Bond films I'm sure it will grow on me over future viewings, but it's disappointing. 

Still, because it's James Bond, go see it in theaters anyway.