Quantum of Solace

Two years ago the Bond franchise rose from the ashes of "Die Another Day" with the blunt and blistering "Casino Royale." Daniel Craig gave us a different take on the character and it was most welcome. Now that the novelty of the brand new Bond has worn off the question becomes is this new style still interesting? The answer is yes even if it isn't an unabashedly enthusiastic yes.
Picking up mere moments after the end of "Casino Royale," "Quantum of Solace" opens with a wild car chase reminiscent of the "Bourne" trilogy. This sequence sets the tone for every action sequence in "Quantum." Director Marc Forster ("Finding Neverland," "Stranger Than Fiction") is not exactly known for this and it seems as though he overshoots quite often. The sequences are good but they could have been better without the frenetic editing which makes these scenes difficult to follow. As for the plot, it's a bit murky. One thing is clear however. Bond wants blood for Vesper's death at the end of "Royale."
Being benched by M (Judi Dench) is not going to stop Bond from going after self-proclaimed environmentalist Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), whose plan is to seize control of a country's entire water supply. Also setting out to stop Greene is Camille (Olga Kurylenko). Greene is in league with the man who murdered her family as a child and she's been plotting her revenge ever since.
Story wise that's really all you need to know. With these new Bond films audience interest is primarily on style as opposed to story. The stories in these 22 movies have all been essentially the same anyway. So how well does the new style work?
Like its predecessor, "Quantum of Solace" maintains a sense of reality for the most part (save for a ludicrous sky diving sequence). The new style also gives us a new kind of Bond girl. This worked splendidly for "Casino Royale" due to Vesper (Eva Green) being a well developed character who played well off of Craig's Bond. Camille however is nowhere near as interesting. Kurylenko's performance isn't terribly memorable, though to be fair she is given little to do with the role.
Craig is once again in top form. Some have complained that his Bond has no sense of humor, but at this point it wouldn't make a lot of sense for him to. He's still becoming the 007 we have known since "Dr. No." His anger has yet to give way to the cool detachment of Connery. For this film Craig's surliness is just right.
Written by the team that penned "Royale" (Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis, and Robert Wade), "Quantum of Solace" is a good movie that could have been better. They continue to do a great job of developing Bond but the lack of interesting supporting characters (including the villain and the love interest) keeps this from being all it could be. Still Dench's M, Jeffrey Wright's Felix, and Giancarlo Giannini's Mathis are worth noting.
Forster's direction of the non-action sequences is good, though not as sharp as his work on his previous films (I think "Stranger Than Fiction" is one of the most underrated movies of this decade). His best flourish is a super cool opera sequence which is far more "art house" than we're used to from these movies.
"Quantum of Solace" is a flawed but fun adventure with James Bond. It's not "Casino Royale," but few movies are. 7.5/10.