James Bond Retrospective: Quantum Of Solace (2008)
The Bond Villain 
After the classic Fleming created villain of Casino Royale, Dominic Greene suffers by comparison. Where Le Chiffre was a traditionally styled archetypical Bond villain, Greene is rather more atypical without any of the usual quirks that have defined many of Bonds foes in the past. Played with gleeful malice by Mathieu Almaric, he initially suggested the character should have a grotesque look achieved by make-up applications but after the scarred Le Chiffre, director Forster wanted the character to look as normal as possible. Instead Greene was modelled on real life politicians Tony Blair and Nicolas Sarkosy. 
The films other villain General Medrano is also not particularly interesting and his role incorporates the revenge story of the lead Bond girl as he is the man responsible for the death of her family many years before. He is the kind of thinly drawn South American bad guy you might expect to find in a Chick Norris film and is given little room to develop into anything more. As a victim of Greenes double dealing himself, Medrano is purely functional to allow Camilles motivation to mirror Bonds mission of vengeance. 
The shadowy Mr. White continues to make his presence felt throughout the film. Surviving his interrogation by Bond and M in Siena after a rogue MI6 agent aids his escape; he re-appears during the opera scene but proves himself to be an experienced member of the Quantum organisation by not exposing his position like many of his associates and falling into Bonds trap to identify those involved in the meeting. Once again played by Jesper Christensen, he brings a certain amount of venom and malice to the small but significant role, in retrospect he would have made much more satisfying lead villain. 
The films coda sees Bond travel to Kazan, Russia where he has tracked down Vesper Lynds former boyfriend, Yusef Kabira who is in fact a Quantum agent who seduces women in positions of trust to gain information useful to his organisation. When Bond finds Yusef, he is in the process of making the same promises to a Canadian government agent that he had made to Vesper even down to presenting her with the same piece of jewellery he had previously given to Vesper. In a deft twist to the tale of revenge, Bond allows MI6 to arrest Yusef rather than killing him himself. The scene brings the whole story of Vesper to a neat close allowing Bonds next mission to be a completely new adventure. The Bond Girl 
In contrast to the films villains, the lead Bond girl Camille Montes is one of the more interesting and fully formed of the series. Played by Olga Kurylenko, she is afforded a whole sub-plot of her own and unusually for a Bond girl; she does not end up in bed with Bond at any point during the film. Her personal mission for revenge is similar to that of Melina Havelock in For Your Eyes Only but where in that film Melina was encouraged not to pursue her parents killer, Camille is actively assisted by Bond to track down and kill General Medrano. 
Following Bonds relationship with Vesper Lynd, the bond he shares with Camille is much more realistic as he still mourns for Vesper he is hardly likely to form a similar connection with the first woman he meets. Kurylenko is a much tougher Bond girl than most bringing to mind Michelle Yeohs Wai Lin and Carey Lowells Pam Bouvier. She is allowed an independence lacking in most female roles in the series past and as a result she is presented as a much more believable and complex character. 
When M requires Bond to be returned to the UK she sends British consulate agent Strawberry Fields to meet him at La Paz airport in Bolivia. Fields is a young, inexperienced agent who Bond warms to straight away and despite her insistence that she is to follow orders and get Bond on a plane back to Britain, she is quickly seduced and persuaded to let him stay assisting him in infiltrating a party held by Greene. The feisty Agent Fields is played by Gemma Arterton in a similar role to that of Mary Goodnight in The Man With The Golden Gun. Typically she lasts only a few scenes before her untimely death which in a homage to Shirley Eatons appearance in Goldfinger, sees her covered in oil and left for dead on a bed in Bonds hotel room.
After the classic Fleming created villain of Casino Royale, Dominic Greene suffers by comparison. Where Le Chiffre was a traditionally styled archetypical Bond villain, Greene is rather more atypical without any of the usual quirks that have defined many of Bonds foes in the past. Played with gleeful malice by Mathieu Almaric, he initially suggested the character should have a grotesque look achieved by make-up applications but after the scarred Le Chiffre, director Forster wanted the character to look as normal as possible. Instead Greene was modelled on real life politicians Tony Blair and Nicolas Sarkosy. As the supposed leading force in Quantum, Greene is one of the least interesting villains Bond has had to face. He is no match for the likes of Blofeld, Goldfinger or Scaramanga. Almaric gives a good performance as Greene imbuing a degree of creepiness and wide eyed menace but this is not enough to make the character memorable. While his schemes are grounded in reality there is no real worldwide threat and as a result renders the idea of Quantum relatively ineffectual when compared to SPECTRE, SMERSH and other criminal organisations from the Bond universe. As was the case with Le Chiffre, Bond does not actually kill Greene; instead he leaves him to die stranded in the middle of the desert with nothing but a can of motor oil to drink.Classic Line
Dominic Greene: My friends call me Dominic.
James Bond: Im sure they do.
The films other villain General Medrano is also not particularly interesting and his role incorporates the revenge story of the lead Bond girl as he is the man responsible for the death of her family many years before. He is the kind of thinly drawn South American bad guy you might expect to find in a Chick Norris film and is given little room to develop into anything more. As a victim of Greenes double dealing himself, Medrano is purely functional to allow Camilles motivation to mirror Bonds mission of vengeance. Classic Line
Mr. White: The first thing you should know about us is...we have people everywhere.
The shadowy Mr. White continues to make his presence felt throughout the film. Surviving his interrogation by Bond and M in Siena after a rogue MI6 agent aids his escape; he re-appears during the opera scene but proves himself to be an experienced member of the Quantum organisation by not exposing his position like many of his associates and falling into Bonds trap to identify those involved in the meeting. Once again played by Jesper Christensen, he brings a certain amount of venom and malice to the small but significant role, in retrospect he would have made much more satisfying lead villain. The films coda sees Bond travel to Kazan, Russia where he has tracked down Vesper Lynds former boyfriend, Yusef Kabira who is in fact a Quantum agent who seduces women in positions of trust to gain information useful to his organisation. When Bond finds Yusef, he is in the process of making the same promises to a Canadian government agent that he had made to Vesper even down to presenting her with the same piece of jewellery he had previously given to Vesper. In a deft twist to the tale of revenge, Bond allows MI6 to arrest Yusef rather than killing him himself. The scene brings the whole story of Vesper to a neat close allowing Bonds next mission to be a completely new adventure. The Bond Girl In contrast to the films villains, the lead Bond girl Camille Montes is one of the more interesting and fully formed of the series. Played by Olga Kurylenko, she is afforded a whole sub-plot of her own and unusually for a Bond girl; she does not end up in bed with Bond at any point during the film. Her personal mission for revenge is similar to that of Melina Havelock in For Your Eyes Only but where in that film Melina was encouraged not to pursue her parents killer, Camille is actively assisted by Bond to track down and kill General Medrano. Following Bonds relationship with Vesper Lynd, the bond he shares with Camille is much more realistic as he still mourns for Vesper he is hardly likely to form a similar connection with the first woman he meets. Kurylenko is a much tougher Bond girl than most bringing to mind Michelle Yeohs Wai Lin and Carey Lowells Pam Bouvier. She is allowed an independence lacking in most female roles in the series past and as a result she is presented as a much more believable and complex character. When M requires Bond to be returned to the UK she sends British consulate agent Strawberry Fields to meet him at La Paz airport in Bolivia. Fields is a young, inexperienced agent who Bond warms to straight away and despite her insistence that she is to follow orders and get Bond on a plane back to Britain, she is quickly seduced and persuaded to let him stay assisting him in infiltrating a party held by Greene. The feisty Agent Fields is played by Gemma Arterton in a similar role to that of Mary Goodnight in The Man With The Golden Gun. Typically she lasts only a few scenes before her untimely death which in a homage to Shirley Eatons appearance in Goldfinger, sees her covered in oil and left for dead on a bed in Bonds hotel room. Classic Line
Agent Fields: If you attempt to flee I will arrest you, drop you off at the jail and take you to the plane in chains, understand?
James Bond: Perfectly.
Mathis: I think she has handcuffs.
James Bond: I hope so.