QUANTUM OF SOLACE
Two years ago, Casino Royale set the platinum standard for franchise reboots with a new emphasis on storytelling over CGI — no invisible cars, thank you very much! — and character development over camp. Expectations couldn't be higher for Quantum of Solace, the first true sequel in the Bond oeuvre, which picks up just an hour after Royale signed out, with Bond cornering the sinister Mr. White. How to raise the bar? Bring in a true actor's director, Marc Forster (Monster's Ball), to give Bond a world-weary gravitas, and cast art-house fave Mathieu Amalric as 007's new nemesis.
