A BLAST of gunfire, the screech of tyres, a perilously snake-like Italian mountain road and a bullet-riddled Aston Martin driven at break-neck speed by Daniel Craig – this is how the new Bond film kicks off. It's the fastest start to a 007 adventure ever, and one of the best too.
It's also the first pre-credit sequence in the franchise's 46-year history in which the traditional big-action blow-out takes place just moments after the previous instalment ends – with a neat little surprise clueing us into that fact.
It's no secret Quantum of Solace is a direct sequel to Casino Royale. But while its hit-the-ground-running approach will be compared to The Bourne Ultimatum, the idea is not entirely alien to 007. Ian Fleming's novels followed on from each other and the plot kicker for 1963's adaptation of From Russia with Love revolved around SPECTRE's attempt to take revenge on MI6 for Bond foiling Dr No.
Nevertheless, this is the first time the films have tried to give Bond a consistent ongoing emotional arc rather than simply resetting him to his default position each time. If Casino Royale was an origins story that attempted to show in a more credible, post-Bourne way how Bond became the ruthless, well-tailored, homicidal secret agent we're all familiar with, Quantum of Solace tries to get to grips with the psychology of that character: how feelings of anger and grief manifest themselves in a guy who has suppressed his emotions but hasn't yet managed to block them out all together.
Here director Marc Forster (Monster's Ball) seems to have taken F Scott Fitzgerald's edict that "action is character" to heart, ditching dialogue and stripping away expository scenes to send Bond tearing across the globe to avenge the death of true love Vesper Lynd by taking full advantage of his licence to kill and dispensing bad guys in the most brutal and bloody fashion yet seen in a Bond film.
It's a ballsy move and sometimes quite thrilling stuff (it's certainly more satisfying than the turgid, wildly over-praised Casino Royale). Alas, the problem with cutting so ruthlessly to the chase is that plot holes abound, which tends to detract a little from Daniel Craig's meaty portrayal (he really has made the role his own). Its makers – among them Oscar winning screenwriter Paul Haggis – are not as adept at creating an overarching narrative to complement the work they've done re-inventing the character.
Nowhere is this more evident in its absence of a menacing villain. After its breathlessly orchestrated opening salvo introduces the QUANTUM crime syndicate (hinted at in Casino Royale), the film never delivers on its sinister implications. It remains too shadowy, never posing enough of a threat to Bond. As with Casino Royale, it feels as if something is being held back for a future film. That's symptomatic of current franchise filmmaking in Hollywood, though. Very few studios or filmmakers these days seem interested in telling satisfying stories in the time frame of a single film.
It's all about establishing trilogies, which often just short changes audiences by spinning single stories across several films instead of concentrating on making one that stands on its own two feet. Craig has already had one experience of this (The Golden Compass), so it's a shame that Bond, as the longest running film series in history, should feel the need to follow trends rather than set them.
There are rare exceptions to this modern curse: the Bourne trilogy and Christopher Nolan's two Batman films each work fantastically well in their own right. But, in some ways, Quantum of Solace, with its admirably brief running time, non-stop action and elliptical plotting, sometimes plays like an extended trailer for a much bigger, yet-to-be written film.
Naturally the credits end by promising Bond's return. Perhaps next time it will be in a film that concentrates on telling a rounded story, rather than distractedly planting seeds for future instalments. After 22 films, it should be obvious Bond isn't going anywhere. That doesn't mean the plots have to follow suit.
More Bond - As his latest escapade hits the screens, has 007 finally defected from the secret service to become a sales rep, asks Stephen McGinty* Quantum of Solace is in cinemas from Friday 31 October. Read Alistair Harkness's full verdict on Quantum of Solace in Friday's Scotsman Review.
