Quantum Of Solace (12A) *** - Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Judi Dench, Giancarlo Giannini, Gemma Arterton, Mathieu Amalric and Paul Haggis.

BOND was back to near his best when Daniel Craig took over the reins for 2006’s impressive Casino Royale.

But those expecting a film of equal quality are in for some disappointment.

Maybe it’s not really 007’s fault. It’s the modern, politically correct age we live in that’s to blame.

Bond’s gone all cuddly and touchy-feely who you fear could be too busy with his analyst to save Queen and country from unhinged international criminal geniuses.

Hell this time around, he doesn’t even get to sleep with his “Bond Girl”, the beautiful Ukranian actress Olga Kurylenko.

The world really has gone mad. The words lunatics and asylums spring to mind. What would Sean say about such nonsense?

Maybe James Bond is an anachronism in the modern world.

In Quantum of Solace, Bond is emotionally hung-up, yawn, over the death of his late, true love Vesper Lynd.

Driven by his grief, he tries to unravel the sinister organisation headed by Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) who wants to control the water supply of the whole South American continent.

It’s far from being a bad movie - there is plenty to enjoy including nods to Goldfinger, The Spy Who Loved Me and Live and Let Die, but heart and soul are traded for big explosions, car chases and speedboat crashes.

Not much may have changed in 40 years you may say but the charm seems to have gone.

Craig is OK but lacks the necessary charisma. Still he might not necessarily be the one at fault.