5 replies to this topic

[PlayItBogart]

Spoilers herein.

Quantum of Solace works as an ok action/espionage flick but cracks are starting to show in the reboot of the Bond franchise. Quantum continues the new tradition of ignoring most if not all the campy elements, but it doesn't come up to the standard set by Casino Royale, and with QoS ringing in at about 40 minutes shorter, you have to wonder if some extra time could have fleshed the movie out.

For the record, I'm in the boat of people who disliked both the choice of movie theme song and the title sequence. "Another Way To Die" sounds more like the kind of tune that George Clooney and his merry band of bandits would nod their heads and steal money to in an Oceans film. Also a lot of the shots of the women felt forced. It's almost like a car that just won't turn over. They're trying to get the women into the intro but it stops before it really begins.

A lot of the problems lie with the new Quantum organization, a modern-day SPECTRE. In the 60s, SPECTRE was the kind of organization that could exist behind the scenes, paying people off and conducting all kinds of tomfoolery. "Mum" (Why do they keep calling her that?) sums it up perfectly, "How can they be everywhere and we know nothing about them?" They have an army of politicians, soldiers, and other private citizens under their control, and yet they can't find any evidence or motivation behind Mitchell's betrayal. The only way the film is allowed to progress is because they slipped a couple funky Benjamins into Le Chiffre's money, which begs A] Why they had the forethought to do that in the first place and B] If this Quantum organization has their !@#$ on lockdown, why wouldn't they have wisened up to it. So if Mitchell wasn't receiving any kind of benefit from Quantum, why did he join them in the first place? And for that matter, why does anybody? Do they just hate society but are willing to work for free? So essentially, Quantum is full of people who hate the world who are willing to work for nothing, and nobody ever asks them about the horribly tacky "Q" cuff links they wear.

Another issue I have is with Mathis. I certainly don't mind him being in Bond's party, but now he's innocent? So, wait, why did Le Chiffre say he was a traitor in CR? Was he thinking in the back of his mind "You know, just in case this whole thing doesn't work out and he escapes or I wind up dead or both, let's plant the notion that Mathis was working for me all along just so I can troll them beyond the grave"? So all those ideas about Mathis revealing the tell or anything else for that matter suddenly makes no sense.

Quantum's motives in Bolivia aren't really clear either. Their ultimate goal was...to control the Water Works? Do they want us to throw in the Electric Company too so that when somebody lands on it they pay ten times what they rolled? And use that money to do what, not pay off any of their people who work for free?

The action is OK. Nothing to write home about. It's still missing the Bond feel because you could essentially replace him with any other character and it would still feel the same.

Casino Royale was going to be a tough act to follow. The ending works fine, but everything before it just feels lacking and shallow. An extra 20 minutes of story could have at least put it on par with perhaps the greatest film of 2006. What we're left with is a 100-minute popcorn flick with enough plot holes to drive the Liparus through sideways.

Overall, the movie feels like how a fifth Indiana Jones film would. Indiana Jones being an old geiser only works as a gimmick once. Bond as a tough-as-nails asskicking shooting machine isn't going to work twice.

As a closing note, I finished the PS3 version of QoS prior to seeing the film. I'm also trudging through the PS2 and DS versions. It truely felt like I was watching a movie based on a game.

[Major Tallon]

Spoilers herein.


Another issue I have is with Mathis. I certainly don't mind him being in Bond's party, but now he's innocent? So, wait, why did Le Chiffre say he was a traitor in CR? Was he thinking in the back of his mind "You know, just in case this whole thing doesn't work out and he escapes or I wind up dead or both, let's plant the notion that Mathis was working for me all along just so I can troll them beyond the grave"? So all those ideas about Mathis revealing the tell or anything else for that matter suddenly makes no sense.

I'll stick to this question. Le Chiffre blamed Mathis to heighten the captive Bond's sense that he was alone, making it easier to break him. He was telling Bond that his most likely ally was in fact a double agent, that there was no one he could trust, that there was no one coming to his rescue. If Bond believed that, he wouldn't hold out in hopes that he'd be missed, that someone would come looking for him, or that there was some point in resisting interrogation. It actually seems like a fairly straightforward interrogation technique: make your subject believe that you hold all the aces.

[MicroGlobeOne]

"Mum" (Why do they keep calling her that?)

I'll take this one. The word would be "ma'am," though it's a traditional quirk of British pronunciation to speak it as you're hearing it.

[jaguar007]

Spoilers herein.


Another issue I have is with Mathis. I certainly don't mind him being in Bond's party, but now he's innocent? So, wait, why did Le Chiffre say he was a traitor in CR? Was he thinking in the back of his mind "You know, just in case this whole thing doesn't work out and he escapes or I wind up dead or both, let's plant the notion that Mathis was working for me all along just so I can troll them beyond the grave"? So all those ideas about Mathis revealing the tell or anything else for that matter suddenly makes no sense.

I'll stick to this question. Le Chiffre blamed Mathis to heighten the captive Bond's sense that he was alone, making it easier to break him. He was telling Bond that his most likely ally was in fact a double agent, that there was no one he could trust, that there was no one coming to his rescue. If Bond believed that, he wouldn't hold out in hopes that he'd be missed, that someone would come looking for him, or that there was some point in resisting interrogation. It actually seems like a fairly straightforward interrogation technique: make your subject believe that you hold all the aces.

just to add, it was Vesper who told Le Chiffre "the tell" he just blamed it on Mathis because he wanted to use Vesper as leverage to get Bond to tell him the code. They also explained in QoS that Mathis was found to not be a double agent.

[PlayItBogart]

Yeah, but Mathis himself said that if he got into trouble, "I'm afraid the cavalry won't be coming over the nearest hill".

I think at this point you're just expecting too much of the audience. If they slipped in a line explaining that was Le Chiffre's intention, then OK. Otherwise it's just bad writing.

[Major Tallon]

But Le Chiffre doesn't know what Mathis said. I don't think it's bad writing at all.