Quantum of Solace
It may have the dumbest title in the history of the James Bond franchise (and that's saying something), but Quantum of Solace combines wild energy and economy of purpose into a brutally efficient tome on the misguided obligation of revenge and its unintended consequences.
Picking up mere minutes after the end of Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace could be viewed as a sort of epilogue to its predecessor with two purposes: tie up the loose ends from Casino Royale and lay the groundwork for 007's future adventures.
To the first point, Bond hunts the people responsible for Vesper Lynd's death with almost reckless abandon, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake as he circles the globe in pursuit of Dominic Greene, the apparent mastermind of an organization called Quantum. Along the way Bond teams up with Camille (played adeptly by Russian newcomer Olga Kurylenko), a Colombian agent with an ax of her own to grind. They're perfectly suited to each other—both of a single mind and purpose, only with different targets.
This brings us to the second point. Something akin to Bond's old nemesis, SPECTRE, Quantum's profiteering objectives are far more subdued and mysterious than the absurdly silly global blackmail schemes concocted by Ernst Stavro Blofeld. The new reality in which James Bond now exists demands a more realistic enemy, and a shadow society like Quantum fits the bill perfectly. Quantum is so secretive, MI6 and the CIA don't even know anything about them.
This concerns M far more than her best agent's ruthless pursuit of the people who killed the woman he loved. Judi Dench is marvelous again as the head of the British Secret Service, trying desperately to get Bond to ask questions first and shoot later so they can uncover just what the hell this Quantum thing is and what they're up to. The more leads he kills, the more aggravated she gets; but she also knows Bond is onto something and determined to see it through.
Determined is a fair word to describe this latest incarnation of 007—an angry, bruiser of a secret agent. A non-stop barrage of fists, body slams, crashes and bullets leave Bond battered, bruised and bleeding at every turn (yeah, but you should see the other guys). No wonder Daniel Craig needed reconstructive surgery on his shoulder after production wrapped.
Marc Forster, previously a director of very fine dramas like Monster's Ball and Finding Neverland, steps into the action realm with set-pieces and camera work even more chaotic than Paul Greengrass' jumpy photography on the Bourne films, which isn't necessarily a good thing. However, Forster's real talent in character study actually adds extra gravity to those action scenes (let's face it, the whole movie is damn near one big action scene) by making the unpleasant notion that things might not turn out so well for our hero seem like a real possibility. After all, without extracting the humanity from a character, there can't be any real danger.
The most important player in presenting the human side of the world's most famous secret agent, of course, is Daniel Craig, who isn't just the most physical actor to play Bond, he's also the most emotive. In some respects, the James Bond of Ian Fleming's novels is a simpler man than the one we've come to know in the movies. His appetites and priorities are somewhat normalized, and so are his weaknesses. Follow the mold created by Fleming, Craig's Bond is a real man with tangible emotions and qualities (rage, heartache, fortitude). No longer an invincible, erudite sophisticate, this new Bond must confront the true gravity of his job and how the consequences of his actions can sometimes affect the lives of one or thousands.
As he no doubt continues to do battle with the bad people behind Quantum in the future, hopefully that is the tact the writers of this refreshed franchise take; because it's easy to see how quickly this new Bond could become as stale as the old one if he has nothing personal at stake and just keeps fighting the same old battle again and again.