By some tortured, objective filmmaking standard it might be possible to make the case that Quantum of Solace isn’t the worst James Bond film of all time, but I defy anyone to argue that it isn’t the least satisfying. After all, a bad James Bond film is still a James Bond film. There is that going for it. Invisible cars and Grace Jones have done no small amount of damage but in the smoking, campy wreckage there still lies a James Bond film. Unfortunately, in the smoking, plodding wreckage of Quantum of Solace that scrap of comfort is nowhere to be found. Quantum isn’t Bond #22, it’s Bourne #4, and the worst of the four but, you know, starring an adult this time.
After Daniel Craig’s knock-out debut in the superb Casino Royale (2006), two fatal mistakes were...