Quantum of Solace Review
Quantum of Solace
Directed by: Marc Forster
Written by: Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade
Starring: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Jeffrey Wright, Gemma Arterton, Judi Dench, Giancarlo Giannini
While most movie franchises are usually lucky to make it past three installments, it takes a pretty timeless and adaptable series to successfully produce 22 separate movies over 40-some-odd years. Film history certainly hasn’t seen many characters with the staying power of James Bond, having been played by six different actors thus far, and managing to remain relevant to multiple generations of fans. Just when it looked like Bond might be on his last legs after Die Another Day, EON Productions gambled on casting the rough and tumble Daniel Craig for Casino Royale, and it paid off in spades.
Bond was back in a big way, and fans were looking ahead to the next installment, hoping for even greater things. With a story that picked up right where Casino Royale had left off, acclaimed art house director Marc Forster behind the camera, and a number of key members from the Bourne franchise involved in crafting the action scenes, there was no reason to think that Quantum of Solace didn’t have potential. Unfortunately, lofty expectations are a killer, and a lot of people really wanted this to be the perfect Bond film.
I guess I should say right up front that I wasn’t among the vast majority of people who thought Casino Royale was the best thing to ever happen to the Bond franchise. While I appreciated the more serious direction and I liked Craig’s performance, I still found that the movie was confusing, dragged on too long, and was filled with action scenes that were far too contrived (admittedly, a tricky criticism to level at a Bond movie).
This time around, we’re hit upside the head almost immediately with multiple scenes of Bourne-esque action that is more exciting and involving than anything in Casino Royale. While it’s impossible not to draw comparisons to the Bourne series, I had no problem with the shaky camerawork and quick edits that Marc Forster and his team put together on screen. He is clearly not as skilled as Paul Greengrass, but I think that’s more a testament to Greengrass and his editor than it is a knock against Forster. My only complaint is simply that there was just too much deja vu with respect to the specific scenarios. Motorcycle chase throughcrowded streets? Check. Rooftop footrace? Check. Hand to hand combat with improvised weapons? Check. But when the rooftop chase ends in a complicated aerial struggle involving ropes, and we eventually get some high speed boat-on-boat action in the mix, I was won over.
The problem comes after this initial burst of bone-crunching action, when the movie retreats to a typical convoluted Bond plot instead of staying the course as a straight up revenge flick. While attempting to track the organization that killed Vesper Lynd, Bond crosses paths with Camille (Olga Kurylenko), a plucky Russian/Bolivian who has aligned herself with environmentalist Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric). Greene, it turns out, is making deals with shady characters and buying up barren land in Bolivia in order to control the water supply for profit. Bond’s drastic methods get him suspended from MI6, once again forcing him to “go rogue” in order to follow his leads (and eventually earn a shot at finding Vesper’s killer).
Mathieu Amalric (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Munich) was great as the villain of this particular flick by playing it cool and despicable without being corny or over the top. Unfortunately, we never really see why Bond should take an interest in him, and his scheme doesn’t really compare with some of the villains Bond has faced over the years. His character is kind of bland, and ultimately the whole plot feels like a mere diversion from Bond’s main goal of avenging Vesper’s death. Jeffrey Wright and David Harbour seemed a bit out of place and unnecessary in this movie as the C.I.A. agents that Bond collaborates with, and Gemma Arterton is probably the most wasted of the whole cast, as she is quite literally a throwaway character (Bond sleeps with her, then ditches her at a party immediately afterward). Olga Kurylenko, on the other hand, was feisty and memorable, harbouring a vendetta that mirrors Bond’s own.
Overall, I thought Quantum of Solace was a bit better than Casino Royale, which is why I’m so surprised that a lot of people have harsh words for it. They continued to bring some depth to Bond, and also some consequences to his actions. He’s not portrayed as Superman, and his job as a secret agent is not as glamourous as it once seemed. The movie simply follows up on what we saw in Casino Royale, pushing it a little bit further and taking it a little bit darker. I do miss some of the campy fun of the previous 007 movies (although I thought Quantum had a bit more humour than Casino Royale) but why were people praising the lack of this stuff before, when now all of a sudden it is a necessity?
If anything, perhaps Quantum of Solace proves that there is simply no way to make a perfect Bond movie. The series has been through far too many iterations, and one fan’s pet peeve will always be another fan’s key component. If you look at this film as just an evolution of the franchise and another new direction for the character, I think there’s some edgy and compelling stuff here that hasn’t really been done before in a Bond movie. Unfortunately, it’s still plagued by many of the old problems that we’ve seen time and time again, and I only wish they could have truly broken from the mold to follow through on the potential here.
I suppose it goes without saying that when you’re dealing with a franchise this big and well-established there are just too many cooks in the kitchen — even with the right ingredients in place, the meal still leaves something to be desired. What’s worse is that in this case they overlooked the simple fact that revenge is a dish best served cold! — Sean
SCORE: 
Recommended If You Like: Casino Royale, The Bourne Supremacy, Body of Lies
Comments (6)
I still prefer Casino Royale to Quantum of Solace, but QoS was ridiculously satisfying and enjoyable and definitely surpassed my expectations to the point where I’m not sure what a lot of the critics are complaining about.
“why were people praising the lack of this stuff before, when now all of a sudden it is a necessity?”
That’s what I want to know. I definitely did not miss all the campy stuff from the previous films and didn’t even notice it was missing until I started marathoning the older films over the weekend and was dying at how completely cheesy and terrible some of them are.
Posted by Liz on November 17th, 2008Thanks so much for your thorough review! Too Shy to Stop writer Adam Shuler also wrote about Quantum of Solace. You can read his review here.
Posted by Laryssa on November 17th, 2008When I first saw Casino Royale, I thought Daniel Craig did an awesome job, playing the part. It had the best (most professional) dialog, out of all the Bond flicks I had ever seen. However, I felt the movie had the least amount of action, out of all. Don’t get me wrong… some of those action scenes were pretty good; especially the scene when he was chasing the free running bomber. But when it came to all the card playing… I didn’t know what the hell was goin on, cause I never really played poker. So it was like almost an hour of confusion (with the poker scenes). I’ve learned to play poker since then and now those card playing scenes are my favorite;(surprisingly more than the action parts). I really enjoyed Quantum Of Solace, for different reasons. It surely brought more (Bond feeling) action to the screen. What I mean by that, is there were actually chase scenes involving “vehicles”. They went from roads, to water, to sky, chases; which I felt was a step up, compared to Casino’s “Bond action”; which didn’t really have one speed chase in it.
Posted by Derek on November 17th, 2008After Die another day it is the best movie I ever watch. The cars and the weapons used by the bond was super cool. I need to see it for several times. So much action and adventure also did not feel the difference of the actor too. I think it is because the stronger appearance of the bond culture http://www.80millionmoviesfree.com allows me to enjoy it glad to see movies like this.
Posted by certinora on November 18th, 2008OK. 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.
Posted by s on December 9th, 2008I never thought a Bond film could be worse than Casino Royal, but Quantum of Solice out did it by far as the worse Bond film yet.
Bond has always been an attitude, a persona, not an action hero. Daniel Craig in in my opinion, along with the poor scripts has turned Bond into just another shoot-em-up, chase filled, action adventure.
I think it is time to end the Bond films if this is what the future holds.
Posted by Kevin Dunn on March 11th, 2009Leave a Reply