All my fears and doubts have melted away, despite all the negative things which have been said about this remarkable follow up to Casino Royale.. Ok I can understand some things like the "unique" style of editing, particulary during the first few action scenes may not agree with all, but I had no real problems with them myself. The story is tight, and I suppose I was glad that I had read the plot details via spoilers, but even if I hadn't I would have been able to follow the plot perfectly!! And now some other thoughts on the various elements of the film...The Cast...
Bond: What can I say? Daniel Craig IS James Bond.. he surpasses his effort from Casino Royale, and I think that the fact that this film explores more of Bond's mistake-prone and emotional side was the icing on the cake for me as far as showing me that EON made the right choice in picking him as Bond #6.
M: WOW!! Judi Dench was absolutely fabulous and I am really enjoying the fact that her M is getting more substantial screen time and more relavent parts as each Bond film is made.. Too bad Bernard Lee or Robert Brown's M's were just the re-hashing of the same part film after film.. One of my favorite line's from Judi Dench in this film.. " I don't give a
about the CIA!!" DAMMM!!! 
Camille: Finally EON have gotten it correct when it comes to a female companion who joins up with Bond on a quest.. Wai Lin in TND was a disappointment, Jinx in Die Another Day was even worse, but this time Olga Kurylenko's Camille is perfect!! I reallly did feel her emotions as she goes after Gen. Modrano for what he did to her family, was equally strong as Bond's feelings after Vesper's betryal and death.
Agent "Strawberry" Fields: Gemma Arteton was great!! Not a huge role, but thank god she did NOT turn out to be the 2008 equivilant of Britt Ekland's Mary Goodnight in The Man With The Golden Gun.. Fields' "sticky end".. a perfect hommage to Goldfinger, and as others here have said I was able to spot several other hommages to previous Bond flicks..
Mathis: Wow!! Some very powerful scenes between Bond and Mathis.. I had tears in my eyes, not only during the death scene, but also where Mathis is consoling a too-upset to sleep Bond who's downed six Vesper martinis. A real friendship between the two.
Felix Leiter: Nice to have Jeffrey Wright back.. Greg Beam was a bit annoying for me, and you do find yourself wanting Felix to smack him or stand up to him a bit more than he does..
Dominick Greene and Elvis: Elvis was somewhat a disappointment for me (didn't really hope for much from him to begin with) as others have pointed out..he was underdeveloped as a character. Dominick Greene on the other hand, AWESOME!! I was a bit worried before hand whether he would not stand up to the quality type villian that Le Chiffre was in CR, but he does many times over!!
Other tidbits..
Pre-titles, titles and gunbarrel: All worked very well surprisingly for me.. Ok I can see how others may complaine about the choppyness of the car chase.. but I was happy with it.. and the pretitles had a different feel to them than previous Bond films.. hard to say exactly at this point.. will develop my thoughts on these after i see the film again.
Titles: MK12 did a very good job, but I do hope Daniel Kleinman is brought back for Bond 23.. Quantum's title sequence did have some nice effects and there is one point where a circular pattern appears that looks exactly like the You Only Live Twice titles!! The song by Jack White and Alicia Keys worked great..I am glad they cut out the scat vocal vs guitar section..perhaps the weakest part about the song, which I like very much.
Gunbarrel: Works very well at the end of the film and definitely does suggest Bond is ready to become the loveably old Bond for the next film.. Didn't think the walk was too rushed or anything.
Action thoughts: Why do people whine and whinge that this film has too much action??? It doesn't!! Its a perfect balance of action vs plot development scenes.. Anyways.. I did like the DC3 plane fight (reminded me of a mix between Top Gun and The Living Daylights!!) the boat chase was ok, could have been better I suppose. However I loved the Sienna foot chase between Bond and Mitchell and the fall through the glass celing of the art gallery.
Opera scene: A Classic 007 moment.. Nuff said!!
Slight disappointments: Michael G. Wilson's cameo...too boring!! Elvis, come on they should have at lease one Elvis Presley quip by Bond to him!! LOL.. Umm.. can't think of much else at the moment.
Overall, I give Quantum of Solace a 9.5 out of 10.. It's just as impressive as Casino Royale, in its own way. True it doesn't over take Casino Royale, but as a sequel that closes the Royale story its a true winner in my book!!
Questions? Comments for me, let me know!!
