I thought the shift towards Bourne was a bad idea. The action and the plot in Quantum hurtling along at such a fast pace that Bond never had time to properly unwind and charm us. The action sequences and the punch-ups were pretty exciting except for the underwhelming climax, but I felt Bond lacked what made himself quintessentially Bond; the indulgence, the banter, the cock-sure smugness. Even the quips he makes after murdering someone ring hollow (perhaps intentional, but out of character none-the-less). Casino Royale retained the mirth and the charm; without it, Quantum feels like a derivative of the Bourne franchise.
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I think the whole point of this movie is that it is out of character for Bond. He's motivated by revenge, so that indulgence and smugness is dialed back because he's not feeling it. In Casino Royale, Bond was happy to be the charming, self-indulgent bastard we know and love, but now, he's lost the woman he loves and he's out for blood. It's a different feel entirely, but it's understandable, story wise. To quote Goldeneye:
"For King and Country, James?" "No. For Me."
I think that illustrates the reasoning behind the differing styles. Bond can be detached and make those one-liners when he's doing his job, but not always when it's personal. I think we get a little wrapped up in the mythos of Bond and forget to see the character as a person. Sure, we watch him because he's larger than life, but he can be larger than life and still bleed.
However, by the end of the film, Bond has dealt with his grief and he's back in the fold. The next films will almost certainly be back to the old Bond formula, especially with the introduction of Quantum as a SPECTRE stand-in. Looking forward to them.
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Bond meets Bourne. It's not that bad.
Little was going to top Casino Royale, that's for sure.
Quantum Of Solace is a fairly good Bond film. Arguably it's gotten too Bourne-like and this could have done with good chase sequences associated with the Brosnan years. The camerawork was dodgy and the idiosyrantic location things got a little annoying after a while.
Some great performances all round and a well-written plot, with some great moments. Olga Kurylenko's Camille, apart from one (justifiable) freeze in the climax, doesn't do weak at all.
Daniel Craig is a great Bond. He does do the one liners, they're just subtle. I look forward to Mr. Craig's third movie, which will probably be better than this one. Wilson and Broccoli know what they're doing.
4/5.