Quantum of Solace might be better named Quantum of Satisfaction for all of the joy James Bond fans are likely to gain from the latest installment in this 45-year-old franchise.

The first thing that prospective cinemagoers must take into account is that Quantum of Solace picks up around fifteen minutes after the end of the spectacularly successful Casino Royale. In fact the entire plot is a carry-over from details mentioned in Daniel Craig’s first outing as Britain’s super-spy. Which means that if you haven’t re-watched the Casino Royale recently, you are going to find comprehending what is going as tough as one of 007’s right crosses.

Bond is on the hunt for the people responsible for the death of Craig’s first love interest, Vesper Lynd, the treasury representative who betrayed him, then saved his life. It’s not until the end of the film that we realise this organisation’s name is Quantum – sorry for the spoiler, but believe me it’s not integral to the plot. Bond actually spends 99% of the film haring after Dominic Greene (played by Mathieu Amalric), a super-rich environmentalist who is actually about pillaging the world for his own gain. The connection between Quantum and Greene isn’t obvious to MI6 or the audience… but he’s a bad guy, right? And surely all bad guys must know each other in the end. But if you’re confused, just wait ten minutes and the film will distract you with another gorgeous location…

In short Quantum of Solace is a fairly stock-standard James Bond film, following in the footsteps of the much more expansive Casino Royale. It begins with a pulse-raising car chase, includes lots of gun battles and is not short on leggy femme fatales. Frankly it is easier to judge this film on the Bondisms it neglects. It confirms Casino Royale’s rejection of quirky one-liners, elaborate gizmos, and colourful characters like Q and Miss Moneypenny. Furthermore, its rejection of the self-contained plot makes it even easier to see how the Bourne series has given this much older spy fiction the shakes. The result is a harder, crueler Bond whose psyche seethes with unresolved issues. I liken the reworking of Bond to the re-imagining of Batman. Both franchises seem to have decided to burn everything that has come before the last two films, in favour of finding the man behind the cliché.

And this is where the Christian interest rises in Quantum of Solace…

Bond is presented as a hardened killer with cracks in his façade. It’s obvious to his handler M (Judi Dench) that he is more bothered by the death of Vesper than he is prepared to admit. “I think you are so blinded by inconsolable rage that you don’t care who you hurt,” she warns him. Bond tries a few familiar remedies in his search for his ‘quantum of solace’ but casual sex, expensive playthings, work and revenge fail to deliver the peace he is looking for. The desire to deliver justice drives the plot, but it doesn’t given Bond any sense of peace. In the end he confesses to a similarly inspired agent, “I don’t think the dead care about vengeance”.

The revenge solution remains open to Bond thanks to the very open-ended conclusion. However in so far as this film is concerned, 007 is left to conclude that the best way to deal with his dramas is just to buckle down and get on with the job. It’s not much of a solution, but it is the best he – and it seems we – can hope for in a world that refuses to deliver lasting happiness. However CS Lewis pointed out decades ago that the desire to be at peace, combined with the inability to remain at peace in this world, does not necessarily prove that peace itself is impossible. Quite the contrary –

“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)