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QUANTUM OF SOLACE
(***)
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Movie Review by:
Jim "Good Old JR" Rutkowski
Directed by:
Marc Forster
Written by:
Neal Purvis,
Robert Wade, Paul Haggis
Starring:
Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Giancarlo Giannini,
Running time:
105 minutes
Released:
11/14/08
Rated PG-13
for intense sequences of violence and action, and some sexual content. |
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"...it's the shortest of the series but is so bloated with breathless,
high-speed action sequences that neither your pocketbook nor your watch will
feel cheated."
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The inelegantly titled "Quantum of Solace" is the leanest and the meanest James
Bond film ever made. At 105 minutes, it's the shortest of the series but is so
bloated with breathless, high-speed action sequences that neither your
pocketbook nor your watch will feel cheated. Dark and humorless, "Quantum" is
devoid of Bond's witticisms, clever one-liners and even ingenious gadgets.
Fans of the more traditional aspects of the series will be disappointed, though
those looking for an adrenalin fix have come to the right place. This time
around, Bond is on a mission, not for queen and country, but for himself - to
scorch the earth of all those responsible for the death of the woman he loved.
Unlike past stand-alone Bond entries, "Quantum of Solace" is a direct sequel to
the critically acclaimed "Casino Royale," picking up just minutes after that
film left off. Vesper Lynd is dead, and Bond (Daniel Craig) still doesn't know
whether she was devoted to him or betrayed him. All he does know is that she was
somehow connected with a shadowy organization know as The Quantum. Although MI6
has no knowledge of it, The Quantum's tendrils seem to be everywhere.
While M (Judi Dench) - as much a mother figure to her favorite disobedient son
as she is infuriated chief to her obstinate agent - tries to unravel the
mystery, Bond stalks his best lead, the peculiarly androgynous Dominic Greene
(Mathieu Amalric), an eco-warrior businessman buying up South America's water
supply in an illusory bid for environmental protection.
To get at him, Bond hops the globe, careening down Alpine roads in his Aston
Martin, pursuing prey by foot over the rooftops of Siena, playing a deadly game
of bumper boats in a Haitian harbor, and leaping from flaming aircraft in the
skies over Bolivia. Unrepentantly rogue, Bond runs afoul of his own government,
becoming every bit as much the hunted as the hunter.
While "Quantum of Solace's" first half is tight and chiseled, (there is little
letup or time for reflection, instead surging from one chase/shootout/fisticuffs
to another) the second half is surprisingly underwhelming. It incorporates
traditional elements (the time-honored exploding villain's lair) that feel
anachronistic and at odds with the 21st-century Bond reboot.
Director Marc Forster ("Finding Neverland," "The Kite Runner") is a very good
director who incorporates moments of stylistic elegance and artistic panache not
normally seen in action films. But Forster is not an action director, and it
shows. His rapid-fire editing induces nausea, and his action scenes are often
incoherent, claustrophobic and erratic. Some of the non action moments are
sometimes more effective. There is a well crafted sequence involving a meeting
of power brokers that takes place at a staging of Tosca that was probably my
favorite scene in the film. Underplayed yet very effective.This isn't to say
that the stunt work isn't first rate. It is. But even more than "Casino Royale,"
"Quantum of Solace" seems to labor under a palpable case of Bourne-envy, right
down to the duplication of specific action aerobatics (not to mention thematic
elements) from those movies.
Daniel Craig continues to impress with his animal grace and sheer physicality.
We've never seen Bond more ruthless or the violence more brutal. More assassin
than spy, Bond kills far more people than he apprehends. Craig is the best actor
to ever portray Bond. His portrayal is less, the atypical movie Bond then it is
closer in tone to what Ian Fleming created on the printed page. Not the debonair
tuxedo rack of previous films, but a coiled spring waiting to strike.
For much of the movie, this designedly impersonal Bond, impervious to warmth or
humor, is an unsympathetic killing machine, pitilessly cruel and callously
efficient. Though the character maintains the classic poise and elegance, his
dapperness masks a murderous wrath. Unable to forgive himself, he punishes
others. "Quantum of Solace" never really allows Bond or the audience to tackle
his tragedy head-on. We must be satisfied in closure that comes in the form of
bullets and broken bones.
For a Bond movie, there is a surprising lack of sex, hearkening back to the
1980s, when the AIDS outbreak led the franchise to temporarily dial back on
Bond's dalliances. We catch Bond only after the fact with a low-level British
agent (Gemma Arterton), and never does the usually promiscuous playboy bed the
film's female star, Olga Kurylenko
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"Quantum of Solace" just doesn't live up to the promise no doubt unfairly
expected after the unexpected freshness of "Casino Royale." "Quantum of Solace"
is, perhaps, the classic middle child, more linking bridge than fully formed
creation. Like many bookended films, it is the pivot point on which all the
others turn and cannot be fully understood or appreciated until it is
contextualized within the greater whole.
That there will be a third film in this quasi-trilogy is not in doubt. After
all, "Quantum of Solace" ends with the tantalizing coda that closes all the Bond
films: "Bond Will Be Back." The only question is: In what form? The films final
line, spoken by Bond is pitch perfect and is perhaps indicative of what is yet
to come. M says to Bond, “It's good to have you back”. Bond's response, “ I
never left”.
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QUANTUM OF SOLACE
© 2008 MGM/Sony Pictures
All Rights Reserved
Review © 2008 Alternate Reality, Inc.
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