In this image released by Sony Pictures, Daniel Craig stars as James Bond 007 in pursuit of an Mi6 traitor in a scene from Quantum of Solace. (Sony Pictures, Susie Allnutt, The Associated Press)

When Casino Royale was released in 2005, it surprised many people by not only having Daniel Craig give a great rookie performance as James Bond but by also being a great reboot to a series that had strayed far too far from its roots and gotten plain silly. So understandably, expectations were high for Quantum of Solace, the 22nd entry in the Bond series. Unfortunately, this film is doomed to not meet the lofty hopes of Bond fans, as it is not truly built like a Bond film but more like a generic big-budget action film.

Gone is the suaveness and sophistication of the regular Bond. Even Casino Royale, while being drastically different from what had come before it thematically, still maintained a sense of the Bond tradition, such as having Bond bed every woman he comes in contact with and making the character appear to be more than just a run-of-the-mill assassin. That’s what it essentially comes down to with Quantum of Solace; this isn’t James Bond we’re watching, it’s Jason Bourne.

The filmmakers so desperately want to replicate the success of the Bourne trilogy that the movie feels exactly like those films: quick-cut action scenes with Bond using regular home objects as weapons, chases that involve jumping from rooftop to rooftop and even Bond talking to his enemies over a telephone.

If Quantum of Solace needed to be compared to one of the previous Bond movies, it is closest to Timothy Dalton’s 1989 effort Licence to Kill. It picks up mere moments after the end of Casino Royale, with James Bond (Daniel Craig) still seeking out the true killer of his former lover Vesper. While doing this, Bond stumbles upon a plot set up by a man named Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), who wants to take control of one of the world’s resources by purchasing land all over the world that contains it. Bond also becomes acquaintances with Camille (Olga Kurylenko), a woman who is out for revenge against an accomplice of Greene. The plot may sound simple, but it is played out extremely incoherently with characters making what appear to be random decisions. This movie also suffers from having an extremely weak villain who is not in the least bit menacing.

Regardless of the content, Daniel Craig still does a wonderful job as Bond and continues to establish himself as possibly becoming the best Bond since Sean Connery. Kurylenko also gives a good performance, instilling some emotional depth into her role, and as always, Judi Dench is wonderful as M.

The movie isn’t wholly bad. The cold opening car chase is exciting, and Bond’s scene with CIA agent Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) is classic Bond. As an action film, Quantum of Solace isn’t bad, but as a Bond film, it feels shoddy. I feel the same way about Quantum as I do about Live Free or Die Hard: decent action movie that doesn’t live up to the franchise’s good name.