I believe in the Multiple Bond Theory. It postulates that James Bond is not one man but an alias adopted by whoever achieves 007 status. How else would Bond have managed to stay kicky and wrinkle-free for 22 films and nearly 50 years (with the exception of those last few Roger Moore iterations)?

If you're still on the fence about this theory, consider the six actors chosen to play Ian Fleming's Average-Joe hero: Sean Connery set the playboy standard, George Lazenby was a stand-in, Roger Moore worked overtime, Timothy Dalton got us through the cultural deficiency that was the late '80s and Pierce Brosnan was, simply put, adorable. Note the varied hair colors, the range of wits, the spectrum of clothing trends, the presence or lack of chest hair. Those superficial features alone support the theory. Call me crazy, but each actor seemed to bring his own brand of unique charisma to the table, too. The arc (or canon, or oeuvre, or whatever you want to call it) of Bond in prose and in pictures has evolved with time, despite having been written in just over a decade.

Now we have Daniel Craig. He's blonde, he's somewhat mysterious, he's got killer pecs and he wears khakis on his off-days. He's a beacon of hope in a sea of brunettes. Even my grandmother can't resist his cinematic charm. But maybe he's the bad apple-the one who spoils the barrel that is the Multiple Bond Theory. After all, the contrast in Bond's character before and after true love Vesper Lynd is enough to suggest that Bond is indeed capable of changing nearly everything about his personality. What's stopped Britain's most infamous secret agent from tacking on a facelift or some highlights, either?

"Quantum of Solace" picks up right where Craig's debut left off, only this time, Bond has left his refreshingly fleeting emotional baggage to rot, presumably somewhere underwater. He goes from man to robot in under 60 minutes; supposedly, "Quantum of Solace" begins an hour after "Casino Royale" ends. Given that the two films are based on sequential plots, Bond's inhumanity makes sense. He's still stuck on that first stage of grief, denial, during which he shows no acknowledgement of his complicated "Casino" loss. The problem is, he stays in that stage for the entire film.

It's pretty weird seeing a man-nay, James Bond-who was literally just brimming with actual feelings suddenly jump back into the impossible mission game. Craig employs a cold, empty stare in this film that's scary rather than sexy. To top it off, his chemistry with Bond girls Camille and Strawberry (Olga Kurylenko and Gemma Arterton, respectively) is almost non-existent. To be fair, he did just lose the love of his life, but when "Quantum of Solace" is placed in line with the other films, the consecutive transition from monogamous to machine to "Martini shaken, not stirred" is almost schizophrenic. Were "Casino Royale" and "Quantum of Solace" to contain different actors, I might have evidence to support that pesky theory. Instead, I have a faulty argument and confirmation of Craig's acting talent. He deserves it anyway.

"Quantum of Solace" is one of those films dumped in the dreadful "highly anticipated" bin. All the hype sets the public's expectations soaring into the sky. The filmmakers were blatantly aware of this, though, and attempted to compensate with ample action montages and gunshots. Although a standard amount of violence-vomit is to be expected in Bond films (and it only gets worse with time and technology), in "Quantum of Solace" it's often impossible to see what's actually going on or to figure out why half of the nauseating jump cuts were kept in the film. Are we really this entertainment-needy? If the filmmakers are on to something, then Americans should seriously lengthen their attention spans.

Major props to the screenwriters, though, who did a lot more work than usual this time around (since it was adapted from a short story rather than a novel). They inject many diverse cultural textures to the film; Bond starts in decadent Italy, which contrasts visually with the stark poverty when he travels to Haiti and the lush foliage when he arrives in Bolivia. "Quantum of Solace" addresses many timely issues, too: The strikingly believable (read: short and lacking major physical deformities) villain, Dominic Greene, entangles Bond in an intrigue connected to drilling for foreign oil and fuel cell development. And Bond even drives hybrid cars! What a guy. But not to worry, the usual high-impact chases and spontaneous explosions bring "Quantum of Solace" full circle. I'm looking forward to seeing the third facet of Daniel Craig's Bond in the next one.