Quantum of Solace is a disappointment. Particularly when stacked up against Casino Royal. In fact, Quantum doesn't feel so much like a follow-up as it does an extension of the last movie. It plays more like the missing final act of Casino Royal. Does this make it a bad film? No. At the very least, it's far better than Pierce Brosnan's last two Bond outings.

Quantum of Solace literally picks up where Casino Royal left off, making it the first official James Bond sequel. Following a slam bang car chase, Bond and M interrogate the mysterious Mr. White, hoping that he might lead them to a dastardly organization known as Quantum. Shortly following the interrogation, Bond is plunged into yet another adventure, this one revolving around environment conscious super villain Dominic Greene (played by Diving Bell and The Butterfly star Mathieu Amalric). Fueled by revenge after the death of Vesper Lynd, the rugged super spy teams with Camille, a stunning beauty with ties to the enemy and a secret mission of her own.

As the trailers suggest, this is a Bond for the Bourne era. It's full of gritty hand on hand combat and quick cut action scenes, and truth be told, I was won over by director Marc Forster's techniques through the first thirty minutes of the movie. From the big car chase, to the rooftop leaping sequence, to the duel in the skylight tower. Pretty amazing stuff. But then, about halfway in, the set pieces become less and less inspired. There's a boat chase that's so muddled and so choppy that it's damn near impossible to see what the hell is going on. Then there's an aerial sequence that, if you ask me, has nothing on the skydiving theatrics in Rocco DeVilliers' rousing and far less expensive The Flyboys. It's as if Marc Forster is completely out of his comfort zone. Come to think of it, I guess he sort of out of his comfort zone. When one thinks Bond, the director of Monster's Ball, The Kite Runner, and Stranger Than Fiction doesn't exactly spring to mind. But then I suppose that's exactly why the producers wanted him for the job. They probably figured this exceptional film maker would bring something new to the table. The problem is, the screenplay by Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis, and Robert Wade is more action driven than character driven and Forster isn't really an action kind of guy. Martin Campbell, who did an expert job rebooting the franchise with the stellar Casino Royal, had the luxury of having a Bond screenplay that, while heavy on action, benefitted from being a character piece. Quantum of Solace by comparison, is a cut to the chase kind of a picture. There is a plot here. It involves bad man Dominic Greene and his involvement with the aforementioned Quantum, but mostly, everything is an excuse to get to the next big action sequence. While Bond has always been about action, he's also been about joy, and that joy is sorely lacking here. In Quantum of Solace, Bond is only given a few moments of humor and very seldom is Daniel Craig given the opportunity to showcase that suave demeanor that makes Bond such an iconic character.

Some might argue that the brooding and vengeance filled nature that drives Bond has no place in a 007 film, but it's not like these themes haven't been played with in past Bond adventures, most notably Licence to Kill. In Quantum of Solace however, it all just feels a little bit stale. And if you haven't seen Casino Royal, Bond's rage probably wont make much sense to you.

In the end, this is supposed to be James Bond, not Jason Bourne. I could accept the edgy nature of Casino Royal because it was an origin story. We discovered first hand why Bond has trust issues and why he refuses to get too close to any woman. Quantum further deals with these issues, but Bond's apparent character arc isn't terribly interesting. By the end of the picture, we're supposed to believe that Bond has had a moment of clarity. A cathartic release. Unfortunately, it doesn't entirely come across. Happily though, now that all this darkness is out of the way, the gifted Daniel Craig will be able to evolve into the Bond we all know and love.

Grade: B-