Photo: Sony Pictures
'The action picks up where Casino Royale left off – literally.'

Steve Couch reviews the new Bond movie, Quantum of Solace

Each age remakes Bond in its own image. Following in the footsteps of Jason Bourne and standing in the shadow of 9-11, Quantum of Solace is a serious-minded film, with little time for the sense of fun that underpinned earlier Bonds.

That’s not to say it isn’t good though – it’s a cracker.

The action picks up where Casino Royale left off – literally: the opening scene takes place an hour after the end of Casino Royale.

More than any previous Bond film, this is a genuine sequel, not just the next mission. When the interrogation of Casino Royale’s behind-the-scenes Mr Big goes wrong, a terrible revelation throws MI6 into paranoid meltdown.

Bond is soon isolated and forced to rely on his own resources. What follows explores the tensions between Bond’s patriotic duty, his conflicted feelings for dead lover Vesper, and his desire for revenge.

Closure

By the end of the film Bond gains some kind of closure, if not the emotional healing that would invalidate the entire back catalogue of Bond films.

If you didn’t see Casino Royale, some of the plot points may pass you by, but you’ll still be able to enjoy the breath-taking action sequences and brutal fight scenes. From the word go, Bond does what nobody does better.

There is a high speed car chase, a foot chase and shootout, a fight in a hotel room, a motorbike chase and a boat chase – and that’s just the first half hour!

The run time of 105 minutes is half an hour less than Casino Royale, and all the better for it. Director Marc Forster is confident enough not to waste time on unnecessary exposition or demonstration of gadgets for later use.

The movie is driven by the action, which is skillfully used in service to the plot, not merely as an excuse to put fast cars and guns on the screen. That said, there’s no shortage of fast cars and guns on the screen.

This is unashamedly a Bond movie, walking in the traditions of the series’ finest hours but unafraid to cast off the bits that just don’t seem to fit any more.

Sidekick

Sidekick Camille’s (Olga Kurylenko) back story owes more than a little to For Your Eyes Only’s Melina and Goldfinger is also given an honourable referral.

Another character’s ultimate demise gives an unglamorous nod to the franchise’s most golden moment.

Less apparent is Bond’s womanising tendency – a post-coital scene with Gemma Arterton’s Agent Fields and a farewell snog with Camille is about the limit.

It’s a grown up Bond, more serious and with less time for fun than previous incarnations.

Maybe those days have gone for good, but what it loses in humour, it gains in adrenalin.

You may not be amused, but you’ll be shaken, if not stirred.

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