Daniel Craig makes an assured return as James Bond in the first direct sequel in the franchise. The action picks up one hour after Casino Royale left off, with Bond looking for answers after the death of his lover, Vesper Lynd. This leads to Quantum, a mysterious organisation that has infiltrated the world's corridors of power, and, through the front of eco-campaigner Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), is backing regime change in Bolivia. Shifting loyalties and outright betrayals force Bond to defy his paymasters and team up with Camille (Olga Kurylenko), a woman equally motivated by revenge. Director Marc Forster (The Kite Runner) succeeds in balancing the globe-trotting excess of the series with a paranoid and engaging storyline. And although the drama does feel subservient to the stunts, that's a minor quibble given their sheer quality and variety (as well as the noisy chases on land, sea and in the air, there's an artfully mounted gun battle at the opera and a brutal one-on-one encounter in an anonymous hotel room). The close-up camerawork employed to such exhilarating effect in the The Bourne Ultimatum also works wonders here, but never detracts from the performance of Craig, whose focused take on Ian Fleming's hero goes from strength to strength.