Quantum of Solace

Daniel Craig's second outing as James Bond had a famously troubled production, which may explain why it fails to deliver on the promise of its predecessor, Casino Royale. Picking up events directly after that film's climax, it sees Bond looking for answers after the death of his lover, Vesper Lynd. The trail leads to Quantum, a mysterious organisation that has infiltrated the world's corridors of power and is moving to instigate a regime change in Bolivia. Marc Forster's take on 007 was hit by a writer's strike during its making, and the script suffers as a result, with the paranoid storyline as nonsensical as the Ian Fleming-inspired title. But viewed solely as an action spectacle, there's still plenty of excitement, not least a close-up, shaky-cam fight in an anonymous hotel (très Bourne) and an artfully staged gun battle at the opera. Craig may be ill-served by the material on this occasion, but his committed performance as the spy hero remains eminently watchable.