Movie: “Quantum of Solace”
Rating: Rated PG-13 for intense violence and action, some sexual content.
Release: November 14
Running Time: 1 hr 35 min
Starring: Daniel Craig, Mathieu Amalric, Olga Kurylenko, Gemma Arterton, Judi Dench… IMDB listing
Verdict: Daniel Craig falls far short of his processors in the role of Bond and I was heart-broken that there was no scene with Q or some other gadget guy, but Quantum of Solace has all the marvelously cliche thrills you’ve come to expect from the James Bond franchise, so goes down as a “must see” in my book.
Seriously, I don’t know why you’re even reading a review. Every straight male under sixty and over ten in the western world is going to see this film at some point in the next eighteen months. Just give in, and go see it on the big screen where it was meant to be seen, already!
Synopsis:
Picking up just hours after the end of the previous Bond film, Casino Royale, Bond’s turns his captive, Mr. White over to M, only to have him assassinated right under their nose. Bond’s only link to truth regarding his fallen lover Vesper is a hotel room number linked to the dirty agent who pulled off the assassination.
Striking out on his own, Bond pursues the lead to Haiti in search of the mastermind behind the secret organization of which White spoke before dying. There, driven by a need to unravel the truth behind Vesper’s death, he kicks off a rocky relationship with a mysterious maiden in distress, is forced to flee MI6 agent, and is drawn deeper into the mysterious organization plotting to exploit the planet’s most precious natural resource.
Review:
The truly wonderful thing about the Bond franchise is that you can lay back, completely disengage your brain, and just veg out. You know what you’re in for when you sit down: Vehicular chase, gadgets, at least two hot chicks, one over-confident villain, a couple of shoot outs, a man-on-man chase, exotic locals, etc. The films practically write themselves. As such, it’s really hard to throw stones.
However, I must admit that I do have two complaints regarding this film.
First, actor Daniel Craig just doesn’t do it for me. He’s darker and more more menacing than his predecessors, but he’s also less debonair and witty. The film’s director is clearly aware of the shortcoming. He attempts to compensate for Craig’s less dynamic performance with big, faster, louder action sequences that are difficult to follow when while watching the film for the first time and by placing Judi Dench in front of the camera as often as possible. I don’t mind either the faster sequences or Dench’s outstanding performances.
My second complaint is the sub-par gadgetry of this film. Armed only with a fancy iPhone, Microsoft Surface desks, and his signature sidearm, this is far and away the most poorly equipped Bond audiences have seen since Dr. No, which came as a HUGE disappointment. When I buy a ticket to a Rambo film, I expect machine guns, when I buy a ticket to a Star Trek film, I expect the Enterprise to be all but crippled in the middle of a life-and-death battle, and when I buy tickets to a Bond film, I expect to see gadgets, damn it! There are about a dozen other franchises I could get my chase-shoot-boom fix. Bond is the only place I get to guess how an exploding pen will save the day.
Even in the face of these complaints, it’s important to remember this is Bond film, which still makes it top-shelf material in my DVD collection, heedless of its flaws.
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