Lighten up James.

So I'm aware that the point of reviewing a film is to do so before everyone on the planet watches it, but I didn't get a chance to see Quantum of Solace opening weekend as I had hoped so maybe some of you haven't watched it yet either (yes, i'm talking to all you Twilight-ers), and this post will still be relevant.

Hm so...I have to give the highly-anticipated 22nd Bond film an A for action but a D for missing the mark on what makes the 007 franchise so great. As in...a D for major disappointment. Then again, this tends to happen when I go into films with high expectations.

To start with the positive, this movie was definitely an hour and 40 mins (shortest Bond film to date btw) of pure adrenaline rush. Bond managed to do battle while operating every kind of vehicle possible...cars, boats, planes with explosions occurring around him every 30 seconds or so. I barely had a moment to catch my breath between action sequences. The hand-to-hand combat scenes were some of the longest I've ever witnessed on film and for some reason involved a serious amount of throwing people into and through all things glass. But as exhilarating and sensational as the action and special effects were, they didn't leave much room for a plot. Or even dialogue for that matter. Which is fairly surprising coming from such a plot-driven director like Mark Forster (Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland, Stranger than Fiction) or a writer like Paul Haggis (Crash, Million Dollar Baby, Flags of Our Fathers and of course Casino Royale).

The first 007 film to start exactly where the previous film left off, James Bond is trying to find the organization responsible for the death of his love Vesper (Eva Green) and well...kill them all. His efforts lead him to ruthless businessman Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a major player in this mysterious organization, whose villainous activity consists of trying to gain control of an entire country's water supply. Needless to say, it's up to Bond to stop him, but instead of the usual capture and questioning...Bond pretty much just kills everyone. And at the end of the film we still know virtually nothing about this organization other than the fact that they're called 'Quantum'. I found this to be a bit irritating. Then again...maybe I just have to wait til the next installment to get the big picture.

I don't care what anyone says though, Daniel Craig is one sexy man. A little leaner this time around but still looking pretty damn hot. While I adored Daniel Craig's hard-ass, rough-around-the-edges but still playful Bond in Casino Royale, I think they took the character a little too far to the dark place for this film. The suave and smooth Bond who never loses his cool, who delivers witty one-liners and double entendres and generally radiates confidence and control was totally buried by this angst-ridden, deadly serious, grim Bond out for vengeance. (I mean one of my favorite scenes from Casino Royale was the banter between Bond and Vesper when they first meet on the train, but there was none of that this time around.) Call me cheesy but as a diehard James Bond fan, I needed just a little more of the elements that were quintessential Bond to elevate this film beyond just another action flick.

So there were no catchphrases, shaken martinis or cool gadgets, but at least the Bond girl remained true to form. Olga Kurylenko was born to play a Bond girl. Although 007 unconventionally never nails her (sorry guys), she was just walking talking pure sex. Not sure what else there is to say beyond that since we all know no one really cares about her acting abilities. Judi Dench was business as usual as M, and Mathieu Amalric made an ok villain I suppose though I found his fight scene with Bond to be mildly awkward for some reason. Maybe it's the mismatch in sizes (Amalric is little!). A quirky cute Gemma Arterton provided a little playfulness to the film but her bit was over before it even began.

Overall, I expected something a bit smarter, a bit more stylish but all I got was just an endless chain of explosions. Instead of creating a Bond film that could stand in its own right, Forster's Quantum of Solace merely felt like an extension of Casino Royale. The film felt like a stepping stone, something that sets up Bond for potential future greatness but has fallen short in achieving anything on its own. Somehow, this Bond film has managed to end up as just another action flick with nothing to offer to the franchise.

Next time around, it might be helpful to be reminded just once that our hero is...Bond, James Bond.