I was beginning to think the morning was turning into a disaster. On the rare occasions we tolerate a theater environment, we normally go across town to the well-regarded Ultrastar Cinemas. They were an early adopter of exclusively presenting movies digitally, have good seating and reasonable matinee specials. Today though either their scheduling was botched or their manager couldn’t/wouldn’t handle a group overstaying its welcome. We were kept waiting in the lobby until the scheduled showtime, then sent down the hallway to the scheduled theater to find it occupied by a group doing its Sunday morning meeting, and were eventually herded to another screen back near the lobby. Being nearly first in the queue for our original screen left us near the back of the herd for our final destination, with seats that matched even on a Sunday morning matinee.

But once the movie started the irritation subsided. Quantum of Solace rocked. The pace was fast – certainly faster than any Bond movie I can remember. The story was solid though, and without naming anyone by name, very timely in its slam on certain American agencies at the end of the Bush era. Not that I indulge in escapist fantasies like Bond films for reality, I’ll even say they nailed the portrayal of rural Bolivia on the altiplano, though the city the producers called La Paz clearly wasn’t. Not even close. I’ve since learned they substituted Panama City during filming.

Really liking that, as in Casino Royale, Judy Dench’s M is becoming a more central and complete character instead the empty suit it was with prior Bonds. I think seeing more of the M-Bond relationship certainly adds something to an appreciation of the Bond character. If you want to catch the cool gadgets this time around, forget Bond himself and keep an eye on M.