Quantum of Solace (Marc Forster, 2008): UK | USA

Reviewed by Keith Chancey. Viewed in Santa Barbara.

Quantum of Solace picks up exactly where Casino Royale left off, only this time there is more CGI.  The CGI is done tastefully enough, but it’s still very there, and not very Bond.  Actually, I would say the film watches more like a Bourne installment than a Bond. Maybe after twenty-one previous films, someone felt that this was just the right way to go, but maybe not. Either way, Bond is now a killing machine with no witty jokes.

Bond’s mission is to find the man who killed the women he loved, without acting out of revenge. The man he pursues is part of an international terrorist organization that has people everywhere, even inside of MI6.  So Bond must act on his own, with no help from M or any of the others he usually calls.  Bond eventually discovers a plot that needs stopping, and not much later the man he was after.

My favorite Bond film is Goldfinger, and my favorite thing about the 007 series is that all of the films are flawed in their own way.  So the Goldfinger reference that happens towards the end of QoS, and even the serious flaws that I found while watching it went over well with me, actually that would be two of the three things I liked about the film.  At best, I would say that this is a great popcorn flick, which is not exactly what I was hoping this film would be.  Still, overall I am not disappointed.

Somewhere along the line Bond went cold.  The style in which Bond goes after his enemies is more like a terminator than a secret agent, which does make for strong action scenes that the general populous will eat up, but the emotion and wit most have come to like is gone.  Daniel Craig and Marc Forster both did what they do to the best of their abilities, and as actor and director they make a good team.  But it is almost as if they got stuck with the wrong script and something is missing.  One could also say an American director is not the wisest choice for a British CIA film.

You can skip seeing Quantum of Solace in theaters and just pick it up on a different format later on; I would, however, recommend the matinee showing two weeks from now.  The shaky camera work is hard to take in, but the ending merits being seen at least once.

Read the names in the credits.  Ms. Fields as she is called in the film, did not escape without getting a classic Bond girl name. Best part of the whole movie.

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Published:
11.14.08 / 1pm
Category:
Films