Guess what the highest grossing James Bond movie of all time is?

Give up? It’s “Quantum of Solace,” the latest Bond adventure. The film has earned $167.1 million so far in North America, pushing it past “Casino Royale” for the top Bond B.O. slot.

How disheartening.

It reminds me of the “Indy 4″ phenomena – when a highly anticipated sequel ends up making a fortune even though audiences found the product wanting.

Sequels have quite a pull on our psyche. My brother recently rented “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and then dialed me up in a fury to ask why I hadn’t warned him away from the film.

I bet even if I had he would have rented it anyway. We’re a curious lot, and even when word leaks that the latest sequel is a pale imitation of the original we have to see it for ourselves.

So we have only ourselves to blame if the next Bond adventure underwhelms as “Solace” did.

(Photo: Daniel Craig aims for box office glory, if not a great story, in “Quantum of Solace.”)

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Few franchises are as consistent as the “Transporter” series.

Consistent doesn’t mean great, or even good. But sequels should deliver precisely what the first film offered, and those expecting anything more shouldn’t complain when they get the original splashed with a fresh coat of paint.

It helps explain the modest rewards delivered by the Man in Black, Frank Martin, in “Transporter 3.”

He’s nothing if not the most efficient FedEx man in movie history.

It’s hard to describe the plot of the third installment, in part, because the screenwriters clearly didn’t craft it with an easy summary in mind. Or clarity.

Frank (Jason Statham) has a new assignment, and for once he has no choice in the matter. He has to deliver a package (contents are a question mark) for a weasely American millionaire (Robert Knepper) or else. Should he abandon the mission, and move farther than 75 feet from his beloved black Audi, a metallic bracelet on his wrist will explode.

No chance of “Transporter 4, 5 and 6.”

He’s accompanied by a mysterious, heavily freckled woman (Natalya Rudakova) who talks in that funny broken accent known as vaguely Eastern European. She’s a sizable distraction, but Frank works better when he’s grumbling about someone. Plus, she likes to booze it up and wears a pretty short skirt for much of the adventure.

Fellas, start your engines.

Statham remains a reliably engrossing martial arts hero, even if he looks more the bruiser than anything else. The film’s villain may be hard to decipher, but he’s far more wicked, and watchable, than the slug at the heart of “Quantum of Solace.” And Frank’s romantic chemistry with his mysterious gal pal also overshadows the recent Bond+Bond Babe fireworks.

Sure, “Transporter 3’s” dialogue sounds like it was scribbled down on a cocktail napkin, and the stunts defy gravity as well as every other scientific law on the books. But Frank’s still the man, tooling around in his tasty set of wheels and dispatching the bad guys without crinkling his suit.

It’s exactly what we’ve come to expect – consider that either an invitation or a warning.

(Photo: Star Jason Statham is behind the wheel for a third time in the fitfully entertaining “Transporter 3.”)

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Bond, James Bond has survived knife fights, armored assaults … even the casting of George Lazenby.

But the venerable franchise has taken some pretty heavy hits from this five calamities:

• The invisible car: The Bond Gadget era hit its nadir with “Die Another Day.”
• Bond in space: Yes, the Bond folks were trying to capitalize off of “Star Wars” with “Moonraker,” but did they have to stuff an aging Roger Moore into a rocket ship?

• Jaws’ galpal: The moment Bond baddie Jaws picks up a girlfriend, you know the killer with the metal chompers has gone soft … and so has the franchise. Thanks “Moonraker.” Again.
• A-ha: We’ve suffered through many a forgettable Bond song (quick, what was the last really good one??) but hiring band of the moment a-ha to warble “The Living Daylights” proved calamitous.
• “Quantum of Solace:” Really? After all those great Bond titles – “You Only Live Twice,” “For Your Eyes Only” and “From Russia with Love” we get “QofS??”

(Photo: Daniel Craig reprises his role as James Bond in “Quantum of Solace.”)

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Do people really care who the next Bond Girl is? Or better yet, who’ll be warbling the next Bond song?

It’s a media-driven part of the whole Bond franchise, and I think it’s better left in the past. I thought the franchise belonged there, too, until I saw the near-brilliant “Casino Royale.”

For those who still care, the Bond folks just announced the theme song for “Quantum of Solace,” the upcoming Bond feature, will be a duet between Jack White and Alicia Keys.

Frankly, the only song I care about during a Bond film is the “dum-da-da-dum-dum …” theme that kicks in when the action hits a fever pitch. Every other ditty is secondary.

For me, the great Bond songs hail from another era, a time when I actually listened to terrestrial radio to hear the latest hit songs – and would buy ‘em in bunches on 45.

Best Bond song? It’s a tie – “Live and Let Die” and “Nobody Does it Better.”

Match that, Jack and Alicia.

(Photo: David Craig resurrected the James Bond franchise with 2006’s “Casino Royale.”)

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