Fails to maintain the magic that is James Bond
Last year, in my review of The Kite Runner, I had this to say about director Marc Forster:
“For a film that has an overriding theme of hope, The Kite Runner should excite moviegoers to leave the picture with another optimistic notion, that Forster has finally proven that he has what it takes to tackle his next project, Bond 22.”
In some sense this statement is still absolutely true, Marc Forster has what it takes to boldly continue the new tradition that the James Bond reboot, Casino Royale, set for the franchise. What Sony and Barbara Broccoli had in mind for the British secret agent certainly has elevated the series to a whole new level of intensity, and with Forster’s dramatic background, the filmmaker was the perfect match to continue doing just that. However, in accomplishing this effort Quantum of Solace proves to be a solid, stoic actioner, but the picture fails to maintain the magic that is James Bond.
Minutes after capturing Mr. White, James Bond (Daniel Craig) continues to uncover the mysteries behind the organization responsible for the cataclysmic events in Casino Royale. Chasing after the intricately connected group, Agent 007 finds answers in Dominique Greene (Mathathieu Amalric), a seemingly innocent environmentalist, dead set on seizing control of Bolivia’s water supply. With MI6 questioning 007’s agenda, believing him to be acting out of vengeance for the death of Vesper Lynd, Bond must go it alone in hopes of not only revealing this terrorist organization to the world, but to find out who is truly responsible for the loss of the only woman he ever loved.
The first true Bond sequel, Quantum of Solace ignores the traditional opening of a new installment in the 007 franchise and gets right to business. The dizzying spectacle of the opening car chase will likely thrill some, but right from the get go, 2nd Unit Director Dan Bradley’s “Bourne” influence will become extremely apparent to all. Quantum of Solace doesn’t look anything like a Bond move you’ve ever seen before. The action is shot tightly and edited ferociously. The suave, smooth action found in the previous twenty-one installments has been replaced by a new formula that takes Bond’s trademark drink a little too seriously; it is extremely shaken.
Director Marc Forster could partially be to blame for this. Perhaps he put a bit too much faith in Bradley; after all, the action specialist did help make the Bourne series a rousing success. However, Forster also toys with Bond traditions, adding in his own sense of style. For example, Bond’s jet setting is explained through flashy subtitles placed stylishly around the frame, not unlike a technique found in his excellent film, Stranger than Fiction.
Luckily Foster brings his dramatic punch in full force with Quantum of Solace. This is a brooding, angry James Bond and Foster makes sure to lead his actors to exceptional performances across the board. Daniel Craig continues to prove why he is a strong contender to be the best 007, Judi Dench gives her most memorable in her run as M yet and Mathathieu Amalric is quite villainous, except for a god awful battle cry repeatedly uttered during the picture’s climax.
While all the performances certainly advance the tone established in Casino Royale, everyone behind the scenes of Quantum of Solace has seemingly forgotten a key ingredient to making a James Bond film: fun. Aside from a gleefully wonderful moment when Bond surprises all of the mysterious organization’s high profile members, Quantum of Solace doesn’t offer much in the way of a sense of humor. The action has seemingly forgotten about spectacle, and has instead been channeled to be more about ferocity and aggression. Does this sound like the 007 you grew up with?
While Die Another Day went way too over the top, one has to wonder if viewers really want to give up the charm that makes James Bond the dashing secret agent we’ve come to know and love for half a century. Hopefully with the next go around a better balance can be reached, and 007 can stop brooding like Batman and start acting more like James friggin’ Bond.
Actors: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Judi Dench
Director: Marc Forster
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Universal Pictures
Release Date: November 14, 2008
Run Time: 106 min
Russo Rating: 6/10
vlad says
I read an article about the preview, where Tom Cruise got laughed at when his preview of his movie came on. In the movie Cruise wears an eye patch. http://www.observer.com/2008/o2/quantum-solace-offers-peek-2009-watch-out-tom-cruise
Chris S says
“Does this sound like the 007 you grew up with?”
Not at all. And thats a GOOD thing! There are 22 other Bond films available if one wants to see that same old interpretation again. This is new and different and really good.
s says
OK. Perhaps my last comments were really a review of Casino not having seen QoS. Now I have seen it and there are so many problems with it I do not know where to begin. All the chases are herkey, jerky, shaky stuccato film clips. You can never really see what is going on. This is contrary to the taditional Bond flick replete with detail. And if Craig is gritty, moody, mean & vindictive one can still see a path by which he becomes a cooler if not cold uber-professional agent with a dry, sardonic sense of humor. This Bond clearly appeals to a feminine perspective that escapes me. I understood him not becoming ‘involved’ with the other women in the 2 flicks as having high standards and was at least relieved to see his response to Fields as, what we would term a normal orientation! (The women seem to love that Bond does NOT ‘hook up’ with the main girl in either film and broods ceaselessly like a forlorn Hamlet for his unrequited lover from Casino). Even the opening chase, usually one of the best, is almost visually incomprehensible. Car chase, rooftop chase, sewer chase, apartment knife fight chase, boat chase, plane chase, Chase-Morgan, certainly they all were purloined from the Bourne genre but somehow Bourne’s were more believable.
The opening graphics were not as bad as I feared, but were definitely not 007 quality. Far too much of Craig shooting his Walther PPK .380; (don’t make me go into why that is a problem). We have grown accustomed to the sultry, sexual/sensual and awesome graphical intro to the Bond films. This one was not of the same caliber. Ditto on the theme song. It was not a good as past songs but I was fearing worse and it was actually passable relating somewhat to the general theme of the film. The barrel scene was placed at the end of the film. I prefer the beginning but in either case it should be presented with high quality graphics and punctuated with 007 theme song riffs. It was not.
Lots of chases. Most are barely watchable. I actually liked the reference to the traditional 13th century Italian Palio horse race in which the riders can use their longer wooden canes to encourage their steeds or discourage their opponents; and the actual event was supposed to be occurring outside of the chase area.
The knife fight was lame. How did the baddie die anyhow? Please tell me not with the little pair of cuticle scissors Bond had. And if the death blow was to the only wounded area shown, the left jugular, where did all the blood go as Bond let him ‘bleed out’. Not to worry the details because we are soon introduced to THE BOND GIRL. Well, a little anti-climatic because she is not quite as attractive as we are used to although she has very pretty lips. The rest of her seems strangely disproportionate for some reason. It’s also strange that she would return to the baddie who just tried to have her whacked. That has little probability for success for someone who we later learn is “Bolivian Secret Service”. Oh well, not to worry, we are off on another chase, this time with boats. It is perhaps the best done but for the last scene in which the grappling hook is somehow thrown onto the rubber speed boat and flips it from the front of Bond’s boat over the top to the rear…… can’t quite figure the physics out on that one. Not to worry, we’ve docked and Bond mysteriously hands the unconscious maiden who he has just rescued over to a dock attendant…what?
Well were off to track this baddie and somehow reconnected with the GIRL in Bolivia where we eventually learn that the baddie, Mr. Greene of the evil Greene corporation in conjunction with the even eviler Quantum Criminal Consortium LLC has concocted a plot wreaking with the venom of true corporate greed, evil capitalism and nefarious financier-ship; to wit, steal all the fresh water in where? Why Bolivia of course and sell it back to them Bolivians at double the price! MUAHHAHAHAHAHA (evil laugh). We learn at a big party that times are tough in Bolivia because it is costing a weeks wages for an average Bolivian to buy a gallon of clean water! As I remember, the average Bolivian earns about $0.25 per day making the water cost about $1.75 a gallon; pretty much on par with market values in Cleveland. Perhaps this is not the best country for our get richer quicker scheme.
No matter, we are off to the evil opera where the evil baddies are meeting to plan, well, evil. This is where we juxtapose a modernistic version of the Tosca operatic bloodshed whilst Bond dabbles in the real thing dispatching the body guards of the evil biggies who, now discovered & uncovered, are making a hasty retreat for the exits faster than attendees at an Al Gore speech.
No matter, while in Bolivia we are matroned by the closest thing to a real Bond girl, agent Fields. Unfortunately we never really figure out what is beneath that trenchcoat although it appears that Bond does. Also unfortunately for Fields and us, she is quickly eliminated by the baddies in what can only be termed as a ‘crude’ theft of the Goldfinger modus operandi. I would have expected more of a mess but why waste camera time on the slickened Fields when you can spend it on bathroom scenes with….who else….M of course. Perhaps the most difficult what seemed to be15 minutes of the film (as if minutes were hours Mr. Spock) was watching M in her bathrobe apply & remove cold creme. The threat itself would have sent Mr. Greene permanently into pro bono philanthropy. Not finished with us yet, M draws her bath and the tension in the theater built noticeably as we all began to fear that we would be greeted with an au natural scene of her slipping out of the robe into the tub. Fortunately we were spared that experience (wait for the unedited version coming to DVD soon!). However, it just calls into question what fob with a mommy complex of some sort is calling the shots in these films.
M continues to demonstrate why she should not be “M” vacillating from suspecting Bond to needing him back in 00 some 4-5 times during the movie. We did get a glimpse into the possible personality of M’s hubby when he meekly announced, “the calls for you dear on your private line”. Whatever.
M may welcome Bond back with open arms or have him captured or killed, no matter, the BOND GIRL is rescuing Bond in her getaway car, a 1964 VW Beetle. I guess the Bolivian Secret Service does not get to roll like the 00’s in MI6. At least it was a 40HP!
No matter. We are now off to a hotel in the middle of a high plains Bolivian desert. Time to charter a plane…no, not the little Beachcraft Bonanza that would actually be faster and more maneuverable. Choose the DC-3 with a load of cargo on board. Watch out though, you’ll get shot down by the Bolvian Air Force in a single engine Cessna. I guess the BAF doesn’t get to roll like the 00’s at MI6 either.
No matter because they are both jumping out of that crate with the only parachute. Somehow everything turns out ok after wrestling for 10,000 feet with the BOND GIRL & parachute falling at 120 MPH because the chute opens 20 feet off of our LZ, a nice big soft slab of granite. BTW, the BOND GIRL walks for miles on granite stones in her bare feat…she’s a hearty lass.
It’s off the hotel to find the baddies. The hotel, located in the high plains desert of Bolivia, is called the Plaza del Sol. It is completely self-sufficient and powered by…solar….no you idiot, hydrogen fuel cells. In fact, each room appears to have its own hydrogen fuel cell and its accompanying hydrogen supply tank. The maids must make your bed and refill your hydrogen tank when they replace the shampoo in the bath, I guess. Naturally the hotel, located in the high plains Bolivian desert is made substantially of steel & stone. Unfortunately, the steel & stone in Bolivia is not quite as durable as the steel & stone you and I have grown to love as we discover when Bond causes a baddie car to crash through a wall igniting a hydrogen tank. The rest of the hydrogen tanks ignite sequentially. Darn it, I hate when that happens, you just can’t get good hydrogen tanks anymore. Again, unfortunately, the Bolivian steel & stone burns more like paper mache. Bond battles the Greene baddie but aborts to rescue the BOND GIRL who is caught up in her own subplot vendetta too trite to be explained here. Mr. Greene escapes into the desert only to meet a cryptic fate induced by other unknown baddies and Bond’s 10W-40 payback for the treatment of luscious Agent Fields.
You would be better off waiting for this to hit DVD. At least then you can slo-mo or replay the chase scenes making sense of them, spend more time with the slick Agent Fields and most importantly, FFW or skip over M’s bathroom escapades. You have been warned.