It's not easy being Bond. There's still the slick R100 000 tuxedo to get you noticed, the R3.6-million car to cruise around exotic locations, the vodka martinis to swill, and some not unattractive women to bed. But Her Majesty's finest is no longer just a lover, he's a fighter. And in his second outing as the British superspy, Daniel Craig has the scars to prove it: six surgical shoulder pins, a sliced-off fingertip, a trip to the plastic surgeon for eight stitches in his cheek.

"As far as I can tell we've doubled the physical action," the battered actor sighed to a reporter visiting the set — and he's not wrong. Opening dramatically in the chaos of a stomach-in-your-mouth car chase (that put two stuntmen in hospital, five Aston Martins into the wall, and one into Lake Garda), 'Quantum of Solace' rarely pauses for breath. This Bond doesn't waltz across the rooftops of Siena, Italy; he shatters tiles and obliterates a classic glass dome in a hyperkinetic footrace. No quiet seaside cruise in Haiti for the tougher 007; his aggressive powerboating causes more white water mayhem than that shark did across four 'Jaws' films. And in an airborne canyon pursuit he vividly brings new meaning to "shaken, not stirred" by outmanoeuvring a fighter jet in his bomber plane.

But for all its emphasis on bone-rattling action, with sequences cut so tightly they're sometimes more disorienting than exhilarating, this direct sequel to 'Casino Royale' doesn't throw out anything quite as heart-stoppingly hypnotic as its predecessor's crane-top pursuit. And even though the 22nd film in the series cans Bond's signature lines, there's no hiding the familiarity of it all. While Craig's debut could have spent less time around the poker table, its more reflective moments offered previously unimagined insights into the character's fractured psyche. Now, given the rapidfire succession of set pieces expected from the franchise, there's just no time for that, — surprising considering the director's background in nuanced character-driven studies 'Monster's Ball', 'Finding Neverland' and 'The Kite Runner'.

We know Bond's upset by the betrayal of his lover Vesper Lind and taking a personal vendetta approach to his latest mission of uncovering a global secret society, but our hero seems stuck in anger autopilot. Between the brutal fights and quiet rage — which he embodies so well — even an actor of Craig's talent can't quite convey the solitude and loneliness this hard, yet emotionally-scarred, man is clearly supposed to be feeling, overpowered instead by his driving need for revenge.

And without that deft human touch, the film settles into the patented formula of globetrotting, bedding women with decidedly delicious names (Strawberry Fields, anyone?), and borderline-ludicrous stunts. Still, 'Quantum Of Solace' does that all exceedingly well. Original it may not be, but the new, streetfighter Bond still kicks the pretenders in the teeth — and the stomach, and the ribs, and…