Movie review - Quantum of Solace
Well, it took me awhile to see the new James Bond film - Quantum of Solace - but last week, see it I did.
I thought Casino Royale was an excellent restart to the Bond franchise, which had really ground to a halt. As much as I thought Pierce Brosnan should've made a good James Bond, the films he was in just never distinguished themselves, and seemed to all sort of blur together.
In Quantum of Solace, Daniel Craig firmly establishes himself in the role, much in the way Sean Connery did. The film is the first "real" sequel in the entire series (discounting the opening of Diamonds Are Forever), picking up immediately where Casino Royale left off. The storyline of the film is a continuation of that story as well, although it's not necessary to have seen Casino Royale in order to enjoy Quantum of Solace.
Quantum of Solace feels very much like the early Sean Connery Bond films. Bond is rough around the edges, brutal when necessary, and relies more on his wits and skill than on gadgets and gimmicks. Also, the movie introduces Quantum, which is emerging to be the modern-day equivalent of SPECTRE, and will likely be the focus of the next couple of Bond films. This recalls the huge, evil organizations of the classic Bond films, and there's even the obligatory exploding villains' lair at the end of the film. (There's a funny bit of tongue-in-cheek dialog by one of the villains about the lair - comprised of hydrogen fuel cells - being potentially unstable, so you just know what's going to happen.) So, some welcomed elements from classic Bond films have returned, yet they aren't played so much for camp value, and are all updated nicely. There are some great chases, stunts and fights in the film, a solid (if a bit unconventional) villain, and the hint of much bigger things afoot with Quantum. The directing and editing is a bit jumbled at times, using too much "shaky-cam" footage and fast edits, and making action scenes a bit hard to follow.
Quantum of Solace is still a more serious Bond film than most, but adds back in some more of the fun elements of the series, and even manages to add a little depth to the main character. All in all, a rock-solid effort. It's nice to see the 007 franchise back in good hands.
8/10
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