by Karyn L. Beach

Let's play word association. I'll give you a word, in this case a name, and you tell me the words that immediately come to mind. James Bond. Words like suave, debonair, sexy, and witty come to mind don't they? Phrases like "Bond, James Bond" and "Shaken not stirred" might pop into your head too. The whole Bond franchise is built on that image, and while I understand the need to update the image, it disheartens me to see that they have strayed so far from that formula in the Quantum of Solace.

What is the Quantum of Solace, you ask? I still don't know. Here's what I can tell you. Quantum of Solace picks up where Casino Royale left off. Bond (Daniel Craig) is in an intense car chase through the winding Italian hills. With him is the villan from Casino Royale, Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) who reveals to Bond and M (Judi Dench) that he's part of a whole organization of bad guys that MI-6 and the CIA know nothing about. Next Bond is off to Haiti to find the new villan, Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), who seems to be buying up land in an effort to find oil, but is it really oil that he's looking for?

After losing the love of his life, Vesper Lynd, in Casino Royale, M is concerned that Bond is too consumed with revenge to do his job. He insist he isn't but quickly runs into Bolivan Secret Service agent, Camille (Olga Kurylenko) who is consumed with revenge and who has infiltrated Greene's organization in an attempt to get it.

I'll start with the pros. There is lots of action to be had in Quantum. Car-chases, air duels, roof-top chases, and tons of stunts. This film works best when it is focused on the action. Bond girls have always been a big deal but it wasn't Kurylenko who stole the show, it was Gemma Atherton as Strawberry Fields who lit up the screen with Bond in her few scenes.

I had one problem with Quantum of Solace, but it's a pretty big problem. There were none of the little things that make Bond so irresistible and fun to watch. I get that they don't want the overly campy Bond of the Roger Moore days, but a little bit of wittiness and intelligence would have been nice. I get the fact that they don't want to make a movie full of old Bond cliches, but a little nod to the history of the character would have been good.

Instead what we get is robo-Bond - a Bond lacking personality, wit, or even a lot of sex appeal. What is left is an action hero that moves from one action set-up to the next. I know Daniel Craig is capable of more but director Marc Forester and writers Paul Haggis (Crash), Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, just didn't give him enough to work with. As a result, I was, well, bored. And that is one word that should never be used to describe a Bond film.

Finally, Bond movies are also known for great theme songs - from Shirley Bassey's Goldfinger to Paul McCartney and Wings Live and Let not to mention killer contributions from Tina Turner and Gladys Knight among others. I was curious to see how Alicia Keyes and Jack White of the White Stripes were going to work Quantum of Solace into a song. I mean, what rhymes with Solace? Bodice? Telly Savalas? The last name Gonzales? Well, they wisely stepped around the tricky title and came up with a song called Another Way to Die.

I hope the next time around they find another way to update Bond.