I enjoyed it, and I'll probably try to catch it again when I feel better. but I wasn't in awe of it, as I was in awe of Casino Royale. With Casino Royale I felt that the Bond franchise had been overthrown and renewed. That was directed by Martin Campbell, director of possibly the greatest TV drama ever made: Edge of Darkness.
Quantum of Solace by contrast is an instance of a James Bond film, rather than a redefinition of it. I thought it used the James Bond character-grounding of Casino Royale, rather than extending it. Similarly the relationship with M. However, it was enjoyable, with good action sequences, and nothing that violated what has been achieved. I like body-level fighting sequences much more than cars and airplanes and explosions, so I cheered up whenever they started punching each other.
I think Casino Royale worked for me partly because it tore the James Bond masculinity down, and found something different inside it. This James Bond is more straight-forwardly macho. I always link James Bond in my mental symbolism to the astrological sign Scorpio, and this Scorpio is more Mars (fire and metal and killing) than Pluto (death and loss and unconsciousness). If that even makes sense.
