Daily Record - 4 stars

[The Sweeney]

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainm ... -20856743/

Quantum of Solace (12A) ****
Oct 31 2008

QUANTUM of Solace? Well, if the action is anything to go by, it's more like the Bond Supremacy. Still, nobody does it better than 007, not even Jason Bourne.

Jason looks like a spy school freshman by comparison. But director Marc Foster (Finding Neverland, The Kite Runner) doesn't just try to compete with the Bourne movie's edginess, he embraces it, hiring the same technical team to create the gritty realism in every fight sequence and thrilling chase.

From the opening moments, where we zoom across Italy's Lake Como to find Bond dodging assassins and bullets at full throttle in his Aston Martin DB8, to the explosive finale, we're barely given a chance to sit back and catch a breath.

As the best blond Bond, Daniel Craig is leaner, meaner and deadlier than ever.

The film picks up the action immediately after events in Casino Royale. Bond is on a mission to avenge the death of his lover, Vesper Lynd (Eva Green). Teaming up with M (Judi Dench) in Tuscany to interrogate Mr White (Jesper Christensen), the guy he captured at the end of the last movie, they discover the existence of a modern day S.P.E.C.T.R.E like organisation called Quantum. M has never heard of it, but Mr White reveals its members are everywhere, including MI6.

The trail leads to Haiti where Bond jumps into a car driven by Camille (Olga Kurylenko), who turns out to be another one of those highspirited, "not your typical" Bond girls.

Inadvertently she leads him to the movie's villain, eco-warrior Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric). Oozing smarm not charm, he's her deadly lover, who keeps trying to bump her off.

Now you'd think Camille would take the hint, but she's got something she's hiding.

Ah, that's what makes her "not your typical" Bond girl - it's not a death wish, it's a back story and her own agenda to match Bond's.

Hell-bent revenge is what it is. So, while that subplot bubbles underneath, Bond goes after the mysterious Quantum believing them to be responsible for Vesper's death.

Although Quantum is a fine sequel and a great action flick, it doesn't quite match up to Casino Royale's brilliance. And it comes minus even more of the traditional Bondisms.

The producers may think they are naff and don't fit New Bond's gritty reality for the Noughties, but that's why Bond is Bond, and not Bourne. The franchise makers need to be wary that 007 doesn't distances itself too much from the ingredients that's endured him for so long. It's a bit like having Doctor Who without his Tardis.

Minor gripe aside, we've still got the fantastic cars, girls, locations and villains.

Foster's direction is at times ingenious, particularly when Bond goes to the opera to infiltrate Quantum.

Talk about a way to discuss business.

And considering his arthouse leanings, he handles the action like a well seasoned pro.

This is the darkest Bond yet. Cold, emotionless and devoid of humour. Still, there's some fine sparring between him and Dench's always reliable M.

You can't fail to be impressed by this movie. And so the Bond reinvention continues apace.

Casino Royale was a hard act to follow, impossible perhaps. But the actionfest that is Bond 22 is a worthy addition to the catalogue.

Bourne, watch your back there's a professional at work.

'From zooming across Lake Como to Bond dodging assassins, we barely get a chance to catch a breath'