Quantum Of Solace (2008)

Revenge can sharpen a person's focus, but it also has a way of blinding them to everything else. Daniel Craig hasn't lost a step since "Casino Royale." His James Bond is still dangerous, a man who clearly earned his license to kill through brutal hand-to-hand combat, yet still looks sharp in a tailored suit. Marc Forster's "Quantum of Solace" picks up directly from the previous film in a way no Bond movie had before, with 007 still seething over the betrayal and death of Vesper Lynd and bent on vengeance against the shadowy organization responsible. The new villain is Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a slick eco-entrepreneur who secretly plots to seize control of water supplies in impoverished Bolivia and is more than willing to help topple a government to get his way. Olga Kurylenko plays Camille, a Bond girl firmly in the tough, capable mold of Ursula Andress rather than the decorative variety, with Gemma Arterton adding charm as the ill-fated Agent Fields. Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright and Giancarlo Giannini are welcome returning faces. Forster and the longtime Bond producers sometimes seem too eager to copy the frantic, choppy style of the Bourne films, especially in a nearly incomprehensible opening car chase, but the film soon settles into a dark, focused groove. The theme song, "Another Way to Die," written by Jack White and performed by White and Alicia Keys, is a real winner, with Keys at times channeling the great Shirley Bassey. In the end, it all comes down to Craig, and he nails it.