Quantum of Solace - Review

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Length: 106 min

Rated: PG-13

Distributor: Sony Pictures

Release Date: 2008-11-14

Starring: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Giancarlo Gianni, Mathieu Amalric, Olga Kurylenko, Jeffrey Wright, Gemma Arterton

Directed by Marc Forster

Produced by Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson

Written by Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade

Visit the movie's Official Site!

Reviewed by Josh Tyler : 2008-11-06 15:20:53

It’s been speculated by some that this new direction for Bond may have been borne in part out of Jason Bourne envy, but Casino Royale never dipped into outright Bourne copycatting. Quantum of Solace does, going so far as to duplicate entire Bourne scenes, only done much more clumsily and with only a fraction of the artistry found in Matt Damon’s roof jumping or close quarters knife fighting in The Bourne Ultimatum. Yes the second installment in the new Bond franchise is just as gritty and dirty as the first one which everyone loved, but it’s quickly becoming less original, less surprising, and less exciting. Maybe Quantum of Solace would have been helped if someone had taped Bond to a chair and punched him in the balls. It did the trick last time.

Other critics are bound to trumpet Daniel Craig’s 007 performance as the movie’s saving grace. Quantum of Solace picks up shortly after Casino Royale, with James still stinging over Vesper’s death and though he denies it, looking to get even. This is a revenge tale, and that should mean plenty of breathing room for a great Daniel Craig performance. Unfortunately the script, in yet another blatant borrowing from the Bourne franchise, seems to contain very little dialogue at all for James. Even more than he was in Casino, Bond is now a silent killer, walking through the film like a brutish pitbull shooting and driving and murdering without expression or remorse. His mask breaks only very rarely and in the most extreme of circumstances, as in a scene where he pauses to stare intensely at the camera while holding a dying friend. Bond does a lot of that intense staring, his substitute for actual emoting. Anyone else starting to miss Pierce Brosnan’s impish grin? Daniel Craig’s performance as Bond is largely silent and mostly stoic, though the film seems to hint repeatedly that he’s suffering from immense inner turmoil. I’m not buying it.

I’m also not buying this shadowy secret organization Bond is up against. The plot of the film involves hunting down a mysterious group named Quantum, whose goals are never readily apparent and whose connection to the death of Vesper is as clear as mud, though the number of intense stares Craig directs at the camera whenever he’s around one of their operatives seems to confirm that yes indeed, there is one. I’m not sure, but I think Quantum is out to destroy the rain forests, or maybe steal all of our water. Perhaps both! They’re just that evil (we know this because their members snivel and speak with French accents), and even though James kills at least a two-hundred people over the course of the film, you can just bet that Quantum has surely killed more than that somewhere off camera, and maybe even slaughtered a few innocent camels. It’s not so much about how or why Bond is killing all of these people as that he is doing so because he’s miserable. Some people drink, Bond grabs a glock and starts slinging bullets. That’s one of the movie’s strengths really, it doesn’t waste time. It moves along at a blistering pace, with few annoying plot pauses to keep us from the next exciting… well whoever it is that Daniel Craig is doing in for whatever reason.

It doesn’t matter why Bond does what he does, his supposed inner suffering is the movie’s excuse for everything, including numerous instances of inexplicable behavior. In theory he’s tracking down a big, all-encompassing mystery and at the same time looking for Vesper’s killer. In practice, he simply shoots everyone he meets without asking them any questions, making detective work impossible. You don’t learn a prisoner’s secrets by slitting his throat. I get that this new Bond is supposed to be more brutal and vicious, but is he also brain dead and stupid? This Bond achieves success only because, well, it’s written into the script. Much of what he does or how he gets from point to point in the movie’s plot makes very little sense.

Maybe the plot’s not particularly strong but there is something good to be said for Quantum of Solace’s production design, which harkens back to the early days when Bond was still Sean Connery. The film contains a great deal of homage to previous, classic 007 installments and it gives the entire thing a somewhat retro feel in spite of sporting a lead character with recently refitted warp nacelles. Where am I going with this? Now that I’ve spent four paragraphs slagging the movie, this is the part where I repent and tell you that even though it is filled with major missteps, it’s also still a lot of fun.

With the help of director Mark Forster, Bond has never looked better. This is a slick looking picture, one packed with plenty of action, guns and explosion. Maybe some of the action isn’t exactly original, but it’s well staged, the film moves fast, and things blow up. Mix in a few romantic encounters with beautiful women and in the end isn’t that all a decent James Bond movie is about? It’s at least as good as your average Michael Bay endeavor and we guys eat that stuff up. Anyone expecting more than the ordinary will be disappointed. Despite many reservations, beautifully shot fireballs and frequently bedded babes is enough for me to recommend this particular spy adventure at least as entertaining as any other empty shoot-em-up blockbuster. If you have to watch someone get shot, why not watch him get shot by James Bond?

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Chuck
November 19, 2008 at 00:40

This film was boring and added very little to the Bond franchise. Nothing exciting about what we have seen before. The title comes from one of Ian Flemming's short storys about Bond contmeplating the grief of loss of a loved one. Here they turn it into an early cover name for SPECTRE maybe? What does the title mean? Very confusing. And was was up with the iodine colored Ukranian actress? She was hot in "Hitman." She was just orange in this film - maybe an Umpa Loompa's big sister?

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ratna
November 18, 2008 at 05:52

hi jerry, thanks for the same ... so lets wait for the next move of Bond to unfold the quantum ... bye.

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Jerry
November 17, 2008 at 14:33

Just saw the movie and loved it despite all the criticism. The action sequences were cut so that they were hard to see clearly, but I think it conveyed the sense of adrenaline rush and intensity well. Now that he's got the revenge bug out of him, I think it sets up a cooler and more composed Bond in the next film. Can't wait!

Ratna, I think Greene's death by 2 bullets in the back of his head, execution style, is meant to tell you that Quantum is "everywhere" and they killed him for telling Bond their secrets. He probably wandered the desert, drank the motor oil, was found by Quantum, and then got killed.

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Justin Niemeyer
November 14, 2008 at 12:29

Tribute to release of Quantum of Solace -
'The Incredible Quantum of Solace' Trailer Mashup

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd_I1tWIG6k

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Ratna
November 14, 2008 at 00:04

Hello!!! Anybody out there ? Knock ! Knock !....
Please reply to my earlier question ... which is haunting me too much ... inspite of seeing the movie 2 times .... bye ...

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Ratna
November 12, 2008 at 01:19

In the movie, at the last scene, madam M says that Greene was to have been killed in the mid desert / shot by 2 bullets and found to have oil in his body. Can anybody tell how he could have been killed ? because bond only left him alone with a can/tin of lubricant oil.

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franky
November 11, 2008 at 16:33

I am totally agree with the review writer, i really missed pierce brosnan,
daniel do not have that attitude of james bond, he looks like a hitman or a ransom killer.
My big dissappointment was the action of the movie, it was actually disaster.
The only component of the movie which was good was new bond girl OLGA, she looks amazing, stunning...........

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Ratna
November 10, 2008 at 23:49

I saw the movie and really it was nice... espeically our Bond did not talk much but his body language was too good to see again. The lead heroine was too qute and childish and it was also a positive to see again ... though story wise and plot it lacks much ...

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grimmy
November 10, 2008 at 14:02

If it's Bourne-y, it's in a bad way - the idiotic, stupid shaking-camera style that makes the action unitelligible, even car chases and boat chases. Bond's escape from an elevator is a prime example of this terrible filming style. Something happened in there, but what?

It's somewhat unfair, though, to complain about his killing people vs. taking them alive - in many cases, he's left no choice. It's kill or be killed. He didn't kill the guy on the bike, right?

I didn't enjoy it as much as Royale, but it is a character piece - somewhat confusing, though. Has he come to terms with Vesper? Yes and no. His "field burial" of a fellow agent is also confusing. The film brings on what looks like tender moments, then discards them as brutally as Bond discards various objects on-screen.

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rabjam
November 7, 2008 at 20:57

i just watched the movie in lebanon as it is released here b4 the united states..anyway its not as good as casino royale.the plot is all mixed up but action scenes are goood.olga i think i love u.lol.

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Stuart
November 6, 2008 at 15:07

This is Bond for the attention-deficient generation.

Die Another Day was the all the old Bond cliches taken to their logical and therefore absurd extreme. Quantum of Solace makes just as serious a mistake and goes too far the other way.

Not only is this not a Bond movie, it is so influenced by The Bourne Ultimatum it's silly. Rooftop/balcony chase? Close quarters apartment fight? Plot-through-action mandate? Hiring two key members of the Bourne crew to unit-direct and edit the movie?

This movie undoes the delicate balance between Old Bond and New Bourne that Casino Royale established. In this they just throw that out and decided Bond isn't a spy any more, he's just a supersoldier killing machine.

In that case, why bother?

If you can't tell the difference between your franchise and your enemy's, it's time to go.

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Brogz
November 6, 2008 at 03:50

@ raz3r

"everything a real bond fan wants to see"

No Moneypenny
No Q
No "shaken, not stirred"

And may of missed it but...

No "Bond, James Bond" !!!

(still liked it tho)

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raz3r
November 5, 2008 at 17:44

this movie is amazingly insane !!! just saw it a few hours ealier it contains everything a real bond fan wants to see If you have to watch someone get shot, why not watch him get shot by James Bond?

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Gordon
November 3, 2008 at 14:16

"duplicate entire Bourne scenes, only done much more clumsily and with only a fraction of the artistry found in Matt Damonâ€™s roof jumping or close quarters knife fighting in The Bourne Ultimatum" but "maybe some of the action isnâ€™t exactly original, but itâ€™s well staged"?

These two comments seem to... well, not completely, but almost contradict each other. The action scenes in both Ultimatum and QofS were shot by Dan Bradley. Was the action edited together poorly in Quantum or something? I'm not really sure what your problem with the action was.

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Ron
November 3, 2008 at 13:43

I wish Mr. Tyler had not reminded me of the testicular agony we witnessed in the Casino Royal sequence. It is much too painful to recall in a detached manner.

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shadethegrey
November 3, 2008 at 03:06

"If you have to watch someone get shot, why not watch him get shot by James Bond?"
Quite possibly an epic quote if i've ever seen one

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movie junkie
November 3, 2008 at 00:52

Whether your review is positive or not I don't think it will affect the box office at all. I still would love to see it.

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Kevin
November 3, 2008 at 00:52

This was a huge disappointment. It lacks everything that was right about Casino Royale, and possesses none of the charm of the traditional Bond films. I can't believe they screwed this one up.

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David
November 2, 2008 at 19:46

Heavily disagree. Thought it was fantastic. Would say more but you'll probably not allow it past moderators.

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Quantum of Solace - Review

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