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[bondrules]

Film Review: Quantum of Solace

Bottom Line: All-out thriller with few Bond touches but plenty of high-octane action.

By Ray Bennett
Oct 24, 2008


LONDON -- The meanest and leanest James Bond film yet, "Quantum of Solace" is a breathless splash of high-speed action that hurtles from one reckless chase to another.

There's not much solace and few words as the British secret agent exercises his license to kill in dispatching one bad guy after another in the attempt to avenge the death of the lover who died in "Casino Royale."

Fans of that boxoffice smash and the earlier films might be disappointed that the new picture allows hardly any flourishes of style and character in the 007 tradition, but moviegoers seeking an adrenaline rush will be well pleased. Running almost 40 minutes shorter than the bloated "Casino Royale," the film should do bristling business around the world.

So much of the movie comprises furious pursuits in boats, planes and racing automobiles that you wonder how many scenes were left for director Marc Forster to take care of. Second unit director Dan Bradley and stunt coordinator Gary Powell, both "Bourne" veterans, must take a huge chunk of the credit for all the thrilling encounters that leave credibility in the dust.

Forster's regular cinematographer Robert Schaefer and Oscar-winning production designer Dennis Gassner ("Bugsy") contribute fine work and the intricate assembly by editors Matt Chesse and Richard Pearson is staggeringly effective. A gunfight cut against a lavish performance of "Tosca" is an action triumph.
Jack White's title song passes without notice, but composer David Arnold provides a top-flight action score, keeping the familiar themes to a minimum as they hardly suit Daniel Craig's Bond.

Craig looks incredibly fit, and his manner suggests someone capable of surviving everything that's thrown at him. This Bond is more invincible than ever and shares with Jason Bourne and the kite runner the unerring ability to know exactly where the object of his chase will end up.

Judi Dench has a few good scenes tearing a strip off her favorite agent, and Olga Kurylenko has some serious action of her own, which she renders in high style. Gemma Arterton, however, is a mere bedroom dalliance, and Mathieu Amalric ("The Diving Bell and the Butterfly") tends to let his character's madness show too much with bulging eyes, one of which threatens to start blinking at any moment.

There are the usual lavish locales, and the film is as efficient as its supercomputers and high-powered weaponry and as sleek as the glamorous settings where Bond catches his breath. There is a danger in this version of Ian Fleming's hero, however. A killer in the movies needs something redeeming about him. Bourne had presumed innocence, and Sean Connery's Bond, while nasty, had ironic wit. Craig's humorless Bond is in danger of becoming simply a very well-dressed but murderous thug.

http://www.hollywood...r...;&rid=11864

[Matt_13]

VERY interesting review. The end is particularly intriguing. Sounds like I'll be getting what I want from this film.

[HildebrandRarity]

Shall we count this one as fresh on the Tomatometer?

[Harmsway]

Very interesting review. If this review accurately describes the film, then I'm on board.

However, it does seem like QUANTUM OF SOLACE will not adequately meet the needs of those who weren't over-the-moon with Craig, and on the whole will stir up more controversy than agreement.

[Mister E]

"Jack White's title song passes without notice, but composer David Arnold provides a top-flight action score, keeping the familiar themes to a minimum as they hardly suit Daniel Craig's Bond."

Pretty much what I have predicted.

[Harmsway]

If this is Craig's version of TND, can we expect Bond23 to be more like 'SPY' or MOONRAKER?

If think if you're actually going to cite TOMORROW NEVER DIES, the right follow-up to suggest would be Craig's THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH. I think it's not unlikely that after the criticism QUANTUM has received for being a strict action ride that isn't CASINO ROYALE 2 EON will try to return to the roots of CASINO ROYALE and spin out something that is conceptually more grounded in character.

At any rate, I'm not sure the TOMORROW NEVER DIES comparison really bears out. By all means, TOMORROW NEVER DIES was an exceedingly traditional Bond adventure in most respects, with all the boxes checked off in regards to the Bond formula. Given how many reviewers have criticized QUANTUM OF SOLACE for being un-Bondian, it seems like QUANTUM OF SOLACE is something else entirely.

[Harmsway]

Which begs the question why isn't this film more conceptually grounded in character? Was Forrester really brought on to direct what is essentially a big budget TRANSPORTER 4?

Well, Marc Forster made the film he wanted to make. It's clear his fingerprints are all over this film. He and Craig also seems to be under the impression they did make a Bond film that was rooted in character (Craig even seems a lot happier with QUANTUM than he did with CASINO ROYALE). So I guess it's just one of those things where the director's impression of the film he made doesn't gel with the public.

I think there's a key parallel between TND and QoS, though: problems with the script.

This is quite true. QUANTUM OF SOLACE is the first film since TOMORROW NEVER DIES to have serious re-writes going on late in the process, even during shooting. I won't judge how much that affected the production until I've evaluated the film for myself, but if these reviews are to be believed, maybe that lack of a locked-in story kept QUANTUM OF SOLACE from being all it could have been.

This is some sort of bizarro world we're in, where in 2008 I, of all people, am asking for something more along the lines of CASINO ROYALE and instead have gotten something akin to TOMORROW NEVER DIES. Who'd have thunk it.

I'd still argue that that QUANTUM OF SOLACE looks to still be something that would only happen in a post-Craig era in terms of the overall classiness of the production. Action-driven though QUANTUM OF SOLACE is, what I've seen of QUANTUM OF SOLACE feels like a remarkably classy flick that was produced by some seriously talented individuals, as opposed to the Bruckheimer knock-off that was TOMORROW NEVER DIES. I still have high hopes for QUANTUM OF SOLACE.

And at any rate, what few minutes of character-based scenes they've released as clips seem to put it as one of the best Bond films in that regard. The film may not be talky, but what scenes there are seem to be dynamite.

[Sir James Moloney]

And at any rate, what few minutes of character-based scenes they've released as clips seem to put it as one of the best Bond films in that regard. The film may not be talky, but what scenes there are seem to be dynamite.

Yes! There it is. That´s the point, many of the short scenes with Mathis, Leiter, M, Yusef,..., seem like some of the best in the series. And then we´ve got the all Tosca scene. My expectations are still very high

[bondrules]

I know that if we had the 130 mn version right now, QoS would rank in the Bond saga Top 5


Although highly unlikely, I am still hoping one day Eon/Sony will release the 130mn Director's Cut

[sharpshooter]

the new picture allows hardly any flourishes of style and character in the 007 tradition, but moviegoers seeking an adrenaline rush will be well pleased.

I'm there.