LITERAL REMAINS

Quantum of Solace is the direct sequel to Casino Royale, marking Daniel Craig’s second outing as Ian Fleming’s James Bond, agent 007, and it gets my vote as the best film I’ve seen all year. Not that my vote really matters, or that I’ve seen every movie of 2008. I’m just saying, this year, Bond is Best.

In Quantum, Bond is on the hunt for the responsible parties behind Vesper Lynd’s death, and all that international tomfoolery of Casino Royale. Bond’s quest for vengeance and, uh, solace, leads him to Dominic Greene, a member of a global crime syndicate and good friend of the CIA, who helps control government coups and puppet dictators and other such things we like to think doesn’t really happen. This film opens with a bang and ends with a sigh, and in between is the intrigue and action that kept me enthralled like no other film this year. Well, the Dark Knight is a close second, but Bond dusts the Batman.

My only complaints are the editing distracts during some of the action sequences (but that’s minor), and the biggest problem is that the movie is too damn short, at least when compared to Casino Royale which seemed to go on for almost forever. Leave’em beggin’ for more, I guess.

Long live Bond.

My score: 5 out of 5

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