Genre: James Bond
Director: Marc Forester (god knows why)
Starring: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Almaric, Judi Dench
Running Time: 106 minutes (plus trailers)
I actually saw Quantum of Solace more than three weeks ago, but it has taken me all this time to recover enough faith in humanity to write this review. How’s that for an opening paragraph?
When ‘Casino Royale’ hit the screens and the world was introduced to a new kind of 007. Gone were the gadgets, the one-liners and the suave sophistication, and in its place was gritty action and a Bond that wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, played with brutal realism by Daniel Craig. The film was a massive success both commercially and critically, but aside from that it was also successful in reinventing Ian Flemings beloved secret agent. By the end of the Pierce Bronson run of films, the character had basically become a joke (Die Another Day: The movie with laser beams from space, invisible cars, ice palaces and an Asian villain who has so much plastic surgery that he becomes a British guy) and audiences turned there attentions to another spy: Jason Bourne. The Bourne films reinvigorated the spy genre with heat-racing gritty action sequences and (relatively) believable plotlines, and it was these movies that inspired Casino Royale. The movie, released in 2006, balanced story with action almost perfectly, as well as paying homage to the Bond clichés without being overly cheesy. And so while it will never have the same place in my heart as ‘From Russian With Love’ or ‘License to Kill’, Casino Royale was to me a great action film that brought 007 racing into the 21st century, and the last scene in the film promised more to come.
Quantum is the first direct sequel in the Bond franchise, picking up an hour after the end of Casino. I entered the film having read a lot of negative reviews online, but still, I was hoping that I had been mislead. From the opening minute however, it was clear that this was not the case. The action, obviously an important component of this franchise, looked like it had been shot by a monkey with Parkinson’s disease. The movie opens with a car chase, which would have been really exciting if you could tell what the hell was going on. The camera was never more than a foot away from the cars, and the editing was abhorrent. The second action sequence – a chase over the rooftops of Spain – suffered from the same problems, plus some really obvious CGI. The choice of director for this film was ridiculous; Marc Forester, who is best known for ‘Monsters Ball’ and ‘Stranger than Fiction’. Both are very good, but why on earth would you give this man an action film? The story was…I don’t know. I don’t think there was a story. Something about water, but to be honest you will not care. The film was sold in the advertising material as a revenge story, with Bond out to get the people who where responsible for the death of his girlfriend from the first film, but the resolution to that story is incredibly unsatisfying.
There are also enormous logical problems (if your parachute opens five metres from the ground, you don’t get up again. And who builds a luxury hotel in the middle of a desert?)
But to me, what was worst of all was the complete lack of respect the writers and director had from one of cinemas most beloved franchises. Casino Royale took some of the properties most beloved staples (Bond James Bond, shaken not stirred, the opening gun barrel sequence) and twisted them in a way that was refreshing and exciting to watch, but this film just completely ignores them. The bad guy was boring and even the opening credits sucked (although I did like the song.) In case I’m not making myself clear, I hated Quantum of Solace.
But perhaps I’m being unfair. I read through what I’ve written so far, and I notice how much I’ve mentioned Casino Royale. The reason is because I love James Bond; I own all 21 films, and have watched each of them multiple times. But even I, a die hard fan, realised that the more recent movies were becoming a parody of themselves, and so when Casino Royale was released it was a sign of the franchises redemption. Quantum ruined this. It’s certainly not the worst thing I’ve seen this year (cough*Body of Lies* cough.) but as a Bond fan I was heartbroken. Some of the action, particularly the plane chase and the final showdown, was quite exciting, and the acting, particularly from Daniel Craig and Judi Dench, was very good. One good thing I can say is that the movie is never boring; many people had a problem with extensive poker scenes in Casino, but Quantum moves along at a good speed. As a James Bond film, it is insulting, and as a sequel to Casino Royale, it is incredibly disappointing, but as an average popcorn movie…it’s alright. If you really want to see it, you probably already have. My advice to those who haven’t is to watch Casino Royale again instead.
Rating: 4/10
