There were doubts when Daniel Craig was cast as 007 in 2005. Some hardcore fans complained that his eyes were too blue and his hair too yellow. But the 40-year-old actor turned out to be the best thing to happen to Bond since Aston Martin introduced the ejector seat. Not only did Casino Royale become the highest-grossing movie in the franchise's history — raking in $594 million worldwide — but Craig gave 007 a gritty gravitas that might have had Sean Connery tugging nervously at his shirt collar. Other stars have left their imprints — Roger Moore turned the Bond mot into an art form, Pierce Brosnan made 007 a more modern action hero — but Craig is the first to truly embrace the role as a serious dramatic acting challenge. He's certainly the first to generate so much as a whiff of Oscar buzz over a Bond film. ''I had some silly little wishes in the back of my head about how Casino Royale would be perceived,'' he says. ''But we surpassed them all. We hit all the targets.''
Now Craig is deep into his second mission — Operation Do It Again. He's shooting a scene in which Bond corners the villainous Mr. Greene (Mathieu Amalric) in his Bolivian desert hideaway. The sleek, gleaming set is a throwback to the Bondian decor of the 1960s, as if Greene hired the same decorator who did Blofeld's volcano in You Only Live Twice. Otherwise, though, Quantum of Solace is cutting-edge. For one thing, it's the first straight-out sequel, picking up the action just after Bond captures Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) at the end of Casino Royale. Turns out White and Greene are part of a conspiracy of bad guys with colorful last names. Sneakier than SPECTRE, more sinister than SMERSH, this new evil organization — called QUANTUM — is so secret not even Bond producer Barbara Broccoli can say what its initials stand for. ''If you think of something, let us know,'' she half jokes.
NEXT PAGE: ''It's better than picking a title just because it has the word die in it. At least Quantum of Solace evokes the spirit of Ian Fleming's writing.''
You Might Also Like
- DVD Review Quantum of Solace (Mar 24, 2009) | Chris Nashawaty
- Movie Review Quantum of Solace (Nov 14, 2008) | Lisa Schwarzbaum
- Photo Gallery 'Quantum of Solace': Your MUST movie!
- Tech Q&A Olga Kurylenko on 'Solace' game | John Gaudiosi
- Movie News James Bond's killer instincts
- Movie Commentary EW critics' fall movie picks (Sep 12, 2008) | Owen Gleiberman, Lisa Schwarzbaum
