I'lladmitthatIwentintoQuantumofSolacemoreorlessdreadingarepeatoftheLicenceToKilldebacle.Allthedangersignswerethere-arushedscriptbecauseofawriters'strike,threatsofBondgoingrogueagainplustheproblemthatgreatBondfilmsareusuallyfollowedbynaffones.Theshortrunningtimewasn'tencouraging,northebiggerbudgetandpromiseofmoreaction.

　　Well,thisisn'toneofthegreatBondfilms,andCasinoRoyalesetthebarfartoohighforittocompete.Butit'scertainlynotadisappointmentifyougoinawareofthat,andmoregratifyingly,thesimilaritiestoLTKaresuperficial.WhereCasinoRoyalewaslikemakingloveallnightlong,thisismoreofagratifyinglyfrenzied*beep*ofafilm.Therunningtimeisn'taproblembecause,likeFromRussiaWithLove,thisisapareddownmachinewithnofattotrimaway,throwingoutalltheoverusedtouchstonestogetdowntobusiness.Fromaplotpointofviewthere'smaybealittletoomuchonecorpseleadingtothenextplotpointinthefirstthird,butthefilmwiselyditchesthatapproachearly.

　　DanBradley'sactionscenesarethankfullynotasineptlyover-editedandincoherentasinPaulGreengrass'films,butaren'tasimpressiveasGaryPowell'sworkonCR.Therearemomentsoffamiliarity–amotorbikesequenceborrowsfromtheunimpressivelyshotharboursceneinJackieChan'sTheProtector,butwithoutthelethargicpacing,whileanaerialdogfightowesalottoafamouslyrejectedstuntoriginallyintendedfortheopeningofGoldenEye–andtheopeningcarchasethroughheavytrafficcouldhavebenefitedfromnottryingquitesohard.ButwithinthemtherearemomentsofstylisationthatfewotherBondshaveattemptedandfailedatbutwhicharefarmoresuccessfulhere,mostnotablyanimpressiveoperasequencethatcouldhavedonewithafewmoreshotstoclarifytheoddmechanicaldetail(somethingotherpartsofthefilmcouldbenefitfrom).It'salsosurprisinglyvicious-forperhapsthefirsttimeinaBondfilm,innocentbystandersaredeliberatelykilled.Thatsaid,therationalefortheexplosionsattheendismorethanalittledubious.

　　Thefilmisn'tashumorlessassomehavecomplained:there'salotofdryhumorwhereappropriateandadelightfullyplayfulgameofcat-and-mousewithBondandMinahotel,butnoneoftheoutrightslapstickcomedythatdraggedtheseriesdownbefore.NorisForster'sdirectionortheeditingasawkwardassomefoundit:there'sapleasinglyepicscaletothefilmalliedwithanon-nonsensestraight-down-to-businessattitudethatworkswellforthisparticularstory.

　　Themostcuriouscomplaintisthatit'sjustactionwithnocharacterdevelopment,whennothingcouldbefurtherfromthetruth.Whilethereismoreaction,thecharacterisationisintegratedintobothplotandaction.Bondisonceagainonanemotionaljourney-forgiveness,believeitornot,isultimatelythequantumofsolaceofthetitle-thoughthistimetheheartandsoulofthefilmisGiancarloGiannini'sReneMathis,thekindofmanBondmightbecapableofbecomingandonehelearnssomethingabouthimselffrom.Oneoftheirscenes,alternatelysurprisinglytenderandgenuinelyshockinglycallous,iseasilyoneoftheveryfinestmomentsintheentirehistoryoftheseries.

　　CraigstillownstheroleimpressivelyandJeffreyWrightstartstocomeintohisownasFelixLeiterthistimeround.MathieuAmalricisoneofthebettervillainsofthepasttwentyyears.Hewon'tb