To whomever didn't like Chris Cornell's 007 song: May I present "Another Way to Die"

In Casino Royale, James Bond assesses Vesper over what turns out to be a premature victory dinner. "I think something is driving you," he says. "And I think I'll never find out what that is."

If I were to have the good fortune to find myself sitting across a dinner table from James Bond, I would have almost the same assessment of his latest mission. "I think something is driving you," I would say. "But I know exactly what it is." And that, unfortunately, is where Quantum of Solace goes wrong.

Casino Royale took us through parts of Bond's psyche that we never thought we'd see. First, he was a narcissistic newly-minted 007. A brush with emasculation and a taste of genuine human connection turned him into a soulful, loving ex-spy. (Seriously, who would have imagined James Bond even had a soul!?) Loss and confusion left him embittered and hardened.

Quantum of Solace takes us through parts of the world we never thought we'd see. It starts in Italy, at most an hour after Casino Royale has concluded. Next up is London, then Haiti, where we catch a glimpse of one of the best characters from the last film: Felix Leiter of the CIA, who is looking about as pissed off as Bond was at the end of Casino. Then it's off to Austria, where Bond gets unfairly blamed, and thus has his Black AMEX cut off. He goes to Italy to find another returning character, Mathis, who helps him get to Bolivia, where (most of) the rest of the movie takes place. The film concludes in Russia.

Even after all that traveling, Bond is essentially the same person he was at the beginning of the film. The only thing that changes is that he has finally found proof, beyond even an unreasonable doubt, of something the rest of us have had faith in since 2006, and that he should have realized by the second scene of this movie: Vesper had a heart.

This is not to say that Bond is without any additional motivation: he is doing what he believes is right for the people of Bolivia, and in turn what is right for the world. The problem is that all of that gets lost in the unnecessary "mystery" about how the same formidable "organization" that has taken down Le Chiffre and infiltrated MI6 is out to cause a drought. Except that you're meant to think they're after oil. I'm guessing that the person who thought that plot twist would be exciting is the same person who thought Jack White and Alicia Keys would make a good musical combination, and the same person who decided Mathis should play only a minor role in this film. Giancarlo Giannini is a fine actor who deserves more screen time.

One pivotal scene, during which Leiter and Bond meet in a bar in Bolivia, is rushed and was hard for me to understand. The writers missed a golden opportunity to create a catch phrase people would have been uttering until Quantum comes out on DVD. Instead, Leiter said something in Spanish that's hard to hear.

I have a feeling this is the sort of movie you like better the second time around, after you've had some time to put it into context. I'm not sure where the next Bond film will go, but I hope it spends at least a few scenes reminding us of what we learned in Casino Royale: Bond has a heart (and a soul!). And I sincerely hope we get to see more of Leiter.