007Art review

My review, version 1 - 'cause I'm still hot

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Introduction
I’m not a newcomer. I’m 46 years old, starting my Bond addiction in 1973, at the age of 11, screening Live and Let Die in a theatre. Since, except OHMSS, I’ve enjoyed every Bond movie on the big screen. And I’ve been thrilled by reading every Fleming’s novel, becoming a bit paranoid: what I preferred? The cinematographic Bond or the literary one?
Don’t be fooled: I appreciated a lot Under-seas lair, outer space plot, jetpack, worldwide dominion, etc. And at the same time I was waiting for a true Fleming adaptation. Witch is the case with the three Connery’s movies, the Lazenby’s one and Dalton’s LTK. But something was missing. And Casino Royale brought it to me. Now what about Quantum of Solace?
Be sure of one thing: I love the change in the franchise and QoS ranks in my very top three!
Well… I apology about my weak and bad English. Nevertheless, here we go!

Pre-viewing
Well… What they can do after CR? I was confident about one thing: Craig. I was so impressed and happy with both the artistically and the commercial success that I was sure that, now, the Bond’s producers will have to do with quality. Definitively. When the first information came – double action - I was a bit anxious: will they do the same mistake than with TND? Wall-to-wall action? And when reading the first reviews I was a bit annoyed, if not anguished. And if QoS was a pure action movie, screwing what has been made with CR?

Review
For those who still have not seen this brilliant Bond movie I say that: forget the bad reviews (even if I can understand some negative points). This Bond ROCKS both on the action pieces AND the psychological/acting/characterisation matter. YES. QoS is a right balance between action sets and characterisation/exposition. I was afraid of a full action movie and I was wrong. Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli have succeeded and Albert Broccoli would have been proud of this new entry in the Bond “canon”.
Strange. It was announced that a ’70 mood will be sort of a signature. What kind of ’70? DAF? LALD? TMWTGG? Not at all! No reference to that period of the Bond area. No, forget it. 70’ means Steve McQueen’Bullit, Sam Peckinpah’s movies, etc. Which means: tears, blood and feelings. And we get all!
YES, QoS is an awesome success in term of homage without compromise! Since 35 years I have never seen such an artistic approach! I was in the ’70 from the start to the end. THANKS.
To my “old” Bond’s fan point of view, I feel that QoS is even superior to CR. Not in the storytelling: QoS is binary, action/explanations/action/explanations/etc. CR was better on that. BUT QoS is far better in every corner: the action sequences are serving the plot and the story. And they are simply awesome. For those who fear a “Bourne” copy & paste, let it down. It’s Bond. Pure Bond. Inventive, innovative, never seen before, a real enjoyment. And the heart is here. Bond’s heart. Camille’s heart. M’s heart. Leiter’s heart. Even Greene’s heart. It’s really intense. No time for long exposition, you have to be aware to be sure to catch the essential of what’s going on. No waste. It’s straight. Like a bullet. Like Bond. But feelings are here, even deeper than in CR. Just watch and feel.

PTS
A first. A glimpse of Foster’s signature. We are sliding at the surface of a northern Italian lake and we get some brief zoom of the Aston Martin. And the scene is set-up, almost created while we discovered it. A parallel that will remain as a red line during all the movie. Brilliant. Very impressive and astonishing! No dialogue. Just SOUND. Yes and music. But above all: sound. Just pay attention because sound is a key element in that film! Only sound? Not at all. LIGHT and photography. The move from light to darkness and darkness to light is impressive. Some artistic people are here in command, no doubts. Pure Bond. I’ve been in vacation here a few years ago and never, NEVER, I’ve driven so fast! No gadget. Yes the Aston martin is covered with a protective structure but no invisible car here and it’s incredible! Okay: the editing is hard, sharpen, brutal, intense, but I liked it very much ‘cause it gave a sense of urgency. Bond has to save his life and skin. Simple. Direct. No gag. No over-the-top gadget helping our man. And the editing renders it perfectly. Just watch it with the heart opened. It’s breathtaking, with sense and purpose. At last! Like in CR a 6 minutes PTS, short, nervous, changing from the 20 up to almost 30 minutes from the Brosnan’s area! I have always thought that the PTS should be a nervous introduction, a bullet just fired at high speed, a spiced moment to introduce 007 in a new context, environment, and mission. And the ending… humm really Bondian. Welcome Siena. A change in the pace, sound, editing and light. Most of QoS scenes are built like that. The sound and light are very important, as characters. From the beginning, there is style, a true style never seen since a long time, even superior to CR which is more than a compliment or a praise. Remember what is a Bondian moment? A true Bondian scene, full of coolness and irony with a hint of the JB theme? I let you discover it.

Credits
I loved the CR credits, but I prefer this one. Thanks to Mk2, it’s modern, simple, brillant, never seen before, splendid, awesome, very classy and stylish. Even the theme song is fine which shows how the visuals are great. And I was the first one to hate this song – and I still do but when you hear it with the animation, that’s perfect. Well done!

Siena
I have visited, too, that town. Beautiful Toscana! Here we same a piece of action even superior to the CR one! Yes I know: some of you have problem with the editing. Not me. It’s only shows the urgency in Bond’s mind to catch his prey and for his prey to escape from Bond. And it’s excellent, pure art, never seen before. I was never lost during this scene and the whole film. Everything is clear if you just pay attention. Bond is brutal: he wants to knows the truth and save his skin. No interrogation. No time. He kills. Hey! He is a double-zero. Do we forget it?

The rest – ALL the rest
At last! Locations are back! Some were complaining that is was too short: don’t bother, Bond is here and it shows! Beautiful. Gorgeous. And serving the story. A must. See it by yourself.
Austria. Puccini. One of the best scenes ever seen in a Bond movie since… FRWL. Pure artistically, Hitchcock, genius, with a great management of sound. Something never heard in a Bond movie. Taste it by yourself.
Haiti. Incredible. You FEEL it. Pay attention to the relation between Camille and Greene: touch, hard, brutal. A sense of tension never seen since… CR! And even better! And it improves when you move on with the movie. I never felt such tension, thrill, danger, threat since a very long time. And Medrano is a very very nasty guy, believe me!
Here again, enjoy the photography and the editing: it’s pure quality which means pure Bond.
The desert. A masterpiece. Loneliness. Roughness. Tears. Fire. Anger. Suffering. Saving. Beautiful. It’s perfectly captured. Sand, hints of brown orange, underlining both the end and the beginning of something. A dawn. Of what? Just see the final scene with Bond and Camille caught into the fire. One of the most beautiful scene in the whole Bond pantheon. I can’t say more right now. Just moved by the intense feelings I felt between the characters – Bond and Camille.

Bond
Craig IS Bond. A Ian Fleming’s Bond. Powerful. Very impressive. Both hard and classy, now. Incredible. Must be seen. I can’t write more about him. The franchise is safe. We want, now, for more. That’s said.

Greene
French actor Almaric is memorable. Incredible. Evil and human. A pawn in the Quantum “grand” scheme but a pawn of great value. Every scene is pure delight. After CR, the producers offer us great actors and comedians, to fit Craig’s talents. Thanks!

Arnold
I have listened to the score before viewing the movie and my statement was “ohhh well that’s not John Barry. Again pieces of music forgettable except one from here and another from there. Once again, Arnold does not deliver what I expect from a Bond score”. OK I was wrong. Deadly wrong. Sure, John Barry’scrores still haunts me without screening the movie but I must admit that this is the best David Arnold’s score until today! For those who were complaining that there is no JB theme: totally wrong! Where are your ears? It’s full of it! In a subtle and inventive manner. Just listen and you will enjoy it at every times it happens.

Foster
Thanks. We – I – were a bit afraid. Foolish. I have discovered a very stylish style. Art. Symbolic (see the move between two sequences, alternating parallel action, metaphors, the Puccini performance with Bond exposing Quantum’s people and facing his opponents, while drama and murder occur on the scene). Never seen in a Bond movie.

The Gun Barrel
Once again so much people complaining. For what? It is at the end? And so what? This is perfect, once again: Craig moving quickly: thanks it changes from the past where Bond walked so… slowly, “debonair”, cool and, for me, so boring after all these years. Now it changes. At least. Bond IS back!

Conclusion (for now)
Brillant. After 35 years of Bond’s addiction I am still highly surprised by a 007 movie. And I am so happy. Definitively happy. Thanks Craig who is the ultimate Bond actor. Not a comedian but an actor, lifting up the whole cast and production. I can’t wait for the next one. Really. James Bond will return and I am so glad!

Edited by 007Art, 14 November 2008 - 11:09 PM.

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