For a film with so much action — chases, a fight in a burning building, an aerial skirmish – surprisingly little goes on in the latest Bond film, “Quantum of Solace.”

    Daniel Craig puts in a solid effort in his second outing as 007 as he continues to evolve into the emotionally disengaged agent we’ve come to know through dozens of earlier films. But he’s ill served by the Paul Haggis, Neal Puvis and Robert Wade script that keeps Bond in constant motion but offers little else in the way of story, conflict, or reason for all the violence.
 
   Picking up where “Casino Royale” left off, the film opens with Bond delivering Mr. White to M (Judi Dench) for interrogation. Wham, bam, he escapes due to a security leak very close to M and the cycle of distrust and suspicion begins. M doesn’t even seem to trust Bond. She spends the rest of the film alternately giving him more leeway and trying to rein him in.

    For his part Bond follows a trail of very tiny breadcrumbs from Italy to Haiti, where he latches onto the trail of eco-philanthropist Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric). Greene is linked somehow to Mr. White’s organization, an outfit so evil and secret that even MI6 has never heard of it.
 
   There’s a girl, a boat chase and next thing you know Bond is in Austria to attend a performance of Tosca. Blink and you’ll miss the reason why. This is where “Quantum” really drops the ball. Sure, we know Bond is gonna be hopping around the planet from country to country. It’s what he does. But the script spends almost no energy at all linking the bad guys and the action bits together. It’s as if they’ve decided to drop any pretense that Bond films are more than just a collection of dangerous moments.

    Another problem is that for a franchise celebrated for it’s villains, Greene just doesn’t do it. Imagine a 30-something guy who made a killing in the tech business, wears Hawaiian shirts and runs his evil empire like an independent record store. Now imagine being scared of him. Doesn’t work. When Greene’s evil plan is revealed it’s done in a near-throw away line as if it’s of no real importance. Sadly, the scheme here could have made for a real threat and a nifty premise, but not as presented here.
 
   What does work are the personal interactions. The scenes between Bond and M nearly crackle with subtext. What these two don’t say to each other is as interesting as what they do. Too bad such scenes add up to less than five minutes.
 
   There’s also a nifty reunion between British spy Bond and CIA man Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright). Again, it only lasts a few minutes but the camaraderie is tangible.

    M’s continual annoyance at Bond’s tendency to kill every witness is a great running gag, especially because it’s a serious concern that develops comic implications but isn’t played for laughs. Top of the list of most likely to die are the women Bond sleeps with.
 
   At least they’re more than eye candy these days. The inevitable demise of one is a direct reference to another death in “Goldfinger.” It’s nice to acknowledge the character’s history, but “Goldfinger” fans may not appreciate the compliment coming from a film this flawed.

    For his part, Craig does a journeyman’s work chasing, running, driving and fighting any number of bad guys while keeping his suit creased. His taciturn spy is still tough and ready, a smart take on a part played by so many others. If only he more to work with.
 
   “Quantum of Solace” has its moments, but it’s a perfunctory action film that serves its lead character, and its actors, poorly. Wait for the video.

    Rated PG-13 for violence, sexual situations. √1/2