Quantum of Solace

Quantum of Solace: What. A. Train. Wreck.

Casino Royale was fantastic. Daniel Craig is a fantastic bond. The movie's script -- not so much. The action sequences also fail miserably.

In Casino Royale, the first real chase was all in and around a construction site, with Bond and the bomb maker, and it was one of the best, most creative chases I've seen in a long time. What does Quantum get? A car chase that looks like the leftover footage from The Fast and the Furious.

And there's a boat chase, and a plane chase. All these action scenes which have been done countless times before in countless other Bond movies (and other movies in general).

The worst part is that the pitiful action sequences aren't the worst part of the film.

The film attempts to be a continuation of Casino Royale -- a sequel, if you will. Why would anyone ever think that's a good idea? One of the greatest things about Bond is he is free from time, and the films are independent. From Sean Connery all the way to Daniel Craig, Bond remains a suave man in his 30s(-ish). The previous storyline was finished. Yes, Bond is heartbroken from Vesper dying, but let us move on.

Who is our primary villain? Dominic Greene. Mathieu Almaric, so good in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, is not scary. It is that simple. Yes, his weapon is money, but he is ultimately a middleman, and it seems like nothing about him should be feared by Bond -- or us. He looks like a villain who would cry to his mommy if Bond sucker punched him. And who else is there to fear? There are a few other names tossed into the ring, including the Mr. White man from Casino Royale, but none of them do anything important. Then again, neither does Greene.

The 'Bond Girl' is totally useless and ordinary in every way. She's attractive, but barely even succeeds at that. In this role she is so stiff, I think she would have tripped over her own feet if her instructions didn't include how to walk properly. She brings absolutely nothing to the table.

One of the great things about Bond is how he travels across the world and visits exotic locations. Casino Royale was also great for those reasons (I love the shot at the end of CR before Mr. White is shot). Here, not only is our location in the middle of a desert (scenery cannot be more bland than that), but the few times we see something nice to look at, it's so poorly framed that I wait for a boom mic to bob down on screen.

Marc Forster is a very capable director. On the one hand, you have Finding Neverland, Monster's Ball, and Stranger Than Fiction. But, sadly, there is also Stay, and The Kite Runner. I'm afraid Quantum of Solace will be lumped with the latter two.

Rating: 4/7

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Quantum of Solace

Here's a trailer for the upcoming James Bond 22, Quantum of Solace. You're welcome.



A lot of James Bond has been on television lately, but the recent Casino Royale is definitely one of -- if not the -- best. It was one of my favorite films of 2006, and hopefully this sequel will be just as good. A new director, yes, but Marc Forster is very capable and the writing staff is the same as Casino Royale.

Definitely opening weekend material.

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Casino Royale - Great, spectacular, extremely entertaining. First off, the opening credits were innovative and fresh, and I enjoyed them more than any other credit scene in any movie. Also, the first chase scene is straight-up action and badass-ness, so after the first twenty minutes I knew this movie would be a winner.

What a great 'beginning' to the James Bond story. Since I'm a guy, we'll first look at the 'Bond Girls.' Caterina Murino was kinda hot until she opened her mouth, for two reason. A) Her accent sucks and is annoying, and B) she has really messed up teeth. Thankfully, Eva Green, who plays Bond's first (ever) and last (ever) romance, is gorgeous, in a very unique way (which is sure to be pointed out in the movie itself). Despite her being physically beautiful, she's also mysterious and strangely charismatic; however, that doesn't change the one flaw of the movie - buying the romance between her and Bond is hard to do. It seems forced at some points, and towards the end, the small interlude is definitely the weak point of the film.

Daniel Craig fits into the James Bond persona perfectly, and based solely on this movie, I'd put him as my third favorite (after Connery and Roger Moore, respectively). He plays a flawed Bond, a novice, arrogant, self-absorbed character whose cocky attitude gets him into a lot of trouble. Nothing is ever more interesting to watch than a flawed character overcome his weaknesses and become stronger in the end, and this movie puts things into place very well for the rest of the franchise (even explaining how and why he drinks his martinis the way he does).

Being a James Bond movie, it's not too hard to see the plot twists coming, because you know they're going to come, and can usually predict when, it's just a matter of what twist is going to happen. Given that everyone and their mother is suspecting everyone and their mother to be a 'bad guy,' the story still manages to keep at least a few scenes ahead of the audience. Plus, what's the point of going to a movie just to try to figure stuff out ahead of time? Doing so just makes you look like a jackass, and ruins the movie for you anyway. There's a difference between crappy writing, where you can't help knowing what happens next, and good writing where you think more about trying to be ahead of the game than enjoying the excessive action right in front of you.

Sorry, random digression.

This movie was just as good as I expected it to be. Lots of actions, a good plot, some pretty girls, and some long-term explanations. I miss John Cleese, but oh well, we can't have everything. Very enjoyable.

Rating: 8.5/10

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