First Hit: Daniel Craig is easily and solidly my 2nd favorite Bond. He brings a view and character that has definitely moved this franchise forward.
Daniel Craig has, by far and away, been the best choice to move this 22 Bond film franchise forward.
This isn’t to take away from the small incremental steps the other Bond men tried to take after Sean Connery. But, they were always trying to be somewhat like Sean and none of them made Bond their own. Craig has done this splendidly.
However, if they don’t scale back on the action just a tad and up the deepening of the character, then this franchise might hit another lull. Casino Royale was filled with action but also it let the new James Bond be developed through the action.
In Quantum of Solace, the development of the story and character slipped a bit and depended too much on action and action sequences. The story begins where Casino Royal left off (which is a good thing and something maybe a practice they can continue).
James is not only doing his job but he is also looking for an answer as to why is big love, Vesper, died and maybe betrayed him at the end of Casino Royale. Joining him on this journey is Olga Kurylenko playing Camille a woman who has a deep rooted grudge against the upcoming leader of Bolivia.
This country is in play in this film because the antagonist, Dominic Greene (played by Mathieu Amalric) is destabilizing the government so that he can grab a parcel of land. Bond is trying to find out why and along the way he is being set up by the CIA and others for the deaths of co-workers and allies.
My biggest issue with this film is the lack of character development for Greene and Camille and a lack of continued character development of Bond. I also felt that the action sequences needed to use less hand held cameras because they muddled the action (or hid the preposterousness of the action). I would like all directors to start letting the action speak for itself and not use the camera to create action. I do really like the energy and feeling Craig brings to Bond. I like that there isn’t a telegraphing of the use of gizmos and Judi Dench brings a bit of humanness to “M.”
Overall: Although well below Casino Royale (yes there are mistakes in Royal) in many ways, Craig manages to keep this film above board, watchable, and exciting.