Review: “Quantum of Solace” – Franck’s Take
Friday, November 14, 2008 at 11:47AM | By Franck Tabouring 
Seen on: November 14, 2008
The players: Director: Marc Forster, Writers: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Paul Haggis, Cast: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Giancarlo Giannini, Jesper Christensen, Mathieu Amalric
Facts of interest: This is the 22nd official Bond flick.
The plot: This time, James Bond (Daniel Craig) tries to stop a ruthless businessman from taking over one of thr world's most precious natural resources.
Our thoughts: Marc Forster’s “Quantum of Solace” introduces viewers to a Bond different from others; one that some will applaud and others will disapprove of. I completely agree that this 22nd official James Bond adventure drastically diverges from the conventions of most of its predecessors, but that doesn’t automatically make it a bad film.
As a die-hard Bond fan myself, I had my doubts about the future of Britain’s most famous agent when I first heard that “Casino Royale,” Daniel Craig’s debut as 007, would take the successful franchise into a new direction. Luckily enough, director Martin Campell and screenwriters Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade ended up delivering a fantastic show and one of the best Bonds in quite a while.
Along comes the anticipated “Solace,” which is a direct continuation of “Royale” and keeps heading into a direction many Bond fans may indeed not entirely appreciate. Although I consider myself part of the group that responds positively to this sequel, I can understand why many cinemagoers out there think Bond is Bond no more.
Indeed, Forster’s film has its flaws, and I’m certainly not ignoring them. It is true, for instance, that this new Bond is more a mirror image of Jason Bourne than any of the previous Bonds. The action is louder and more brutal, and James goes through a whole lot more pain than usual. The trouble here is that 007 never was a real action hero in the first place, and watching him going this wild feels awkward.
Gone are also some of his trademark quotes, including the usual Martini order and the “Bond, James Bond” line. While I admit that such details have always been part of the charm of this intriguing lead character, I personally don’t mind the absence of these things too much. I’m very open to change in the franchise after so many years, and I welcome the idea of exploring Bond as a character with some flaws of his own.
Overall, I had a fabulous time watching “Quantum of Solace.” The plot is fast-paced and highly entertaining, most of the action scenes look gorgeous, and in my opinion, there’s still enough traditional Bond goodness left to have a great time. The main story line may not be as sophisticated as in “Casino Royale,” but the main villain is a scary, nasty fellow, and his evil plans are certainly not the worst we’ve seen so far.
I haven’t touched on the actual story yet because too much detail may spoil a lot, but what I can tell you is that Bond heads out to stop Dominic Green (Mathieu Amalric), a ruthless businessman who’s part of a dangerous international organization with plans to take control of one of the world’s most precious natural resources.
Forster, who also brought us “Monster’s Ball” and “Finding Neverland,” is definitely capable of helming a flick of this high a caliber. I admit his action scenes look a little too shaky at times, but other than that, he’s a dab hand at directing a big-budget production. Accompanying these exciting scenes is David Arnold’s excellent score, which uses less of the Bond theme but helps giving the film its suspenseful atmosphere.
I’m a big fan of Daniel Craig’s work and I truly believe he’s a great Bond. He handles the character quite well, and he comes across as a credible character who deep down his heart isn’t always the tough guy he appears to be. Olga Kurylenko looks stunning as 007’s female accomplice, while Gemma Arterton has too small a role for a Bond girl. As for Amalric, he’s just the perfect villain.
Freaky quote: “I am motivated by my duty." – Daniel Craig
The final word: Is “Solace” better than “Casino Royale”? Certainly not. Is it still a wildly entertaining Bond adventure with plenty of hot pursuits, gorgeous ladies and terrifying bad guys? Heck yes. While the 22nd Bond adventure hits a few bumps along the way, I still consider it a solid sequel that opens many new doors for a franchise loved by millions of people. My only serious regret? It’s too short!
Article by Franck Tabouring
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Reader Comments (4)
The only point where I'd really have to disagree with you is the villain, who didn't impress me. Nasty, yes, scary, no; there was nothing creepy about him.
i don't know. amalric struck me as being about as dangerous as a starbucks barista. he was much better in munich.
I think Quantum of Solace is weakeing the valuable Broccoli franchise for James Bond. Bond used to be subtle, sophisticated, full of intrigue with interesting stories and characters. In this latest episode we have a standard "shoot em up."---A weak confusing story which serves only as an EXCUSE for spectacular chases on land sea and air....who needs it? Now Bond has been reduced to the level of ANY adventure movie. Bond used to be unique. Now it's a standard hackneyed film competing with dozens just like it. I'm saddened by this turn of events
Without a doubt, Connery & Brosnan were the gold standard of Bond & my darkest days where during Moore’s farcical portrayal of our favorite 00. So I am pre-disposed not to accept Craig as a bone fide replacement. But even in both movies, Craig is not the problem, the producers & directors are. OK. Perhaps my last comments were really a review of Casino not having seen QoS. Now I have seen it and there are so many problems with it I do not know where to begin. All the chases are herky, jerky, shaky staccato film clips. You can never really see what is going on. This is contrary to the traditional Bond flick replete with detail. And if Craig is gritty, moody, mean & vindictive one can still see a path by which he becomes a cooler if not a cold, uber-professional agent with a dry, sardonic sense of humor. This Bond clearly appeals to a feminine perspective that escapes me. I understood him not becoming 'involved' with the other women in the 2 flicks as having high standards and was at least relieved to see his response to Fields as, what we would term a normal orientation! (The women seem to love that Bond does NOT 'hook up' with the main girl in either film and broods ceaselessly like a forlorn Hamlet for his unrequited lover from Casino). Even the opening chase, usually one of the best, is almost visually incomprehensible. Car chase, rooftop chase, sewer chase, apartment knife fight chase, boat chase, plane chase, Chase-Morgan, certainly they all were purloined from the Bourne genre but somehow Bourne's were more believable.
The opening graphics were not as bad as I feared, but were definitely not 007 quality. Far too much of Craig shooting his Walther PPK .380; (don't make me go into why that is a problem). We have grown accustomed to the sultry, sexual/sensual and awesome graphical intro to the Bond films. This one was not of the same caliber. Ditto on the theme song. It was not a good as past songs but I was fearing worse and it was actually passable relating somewhat to the general theme of the film. The barrel scene was placed at the end of the film. I prefer the beginning but in either case it should be presented with high quality graphics and punctuated with 007 theme song riffs. It was not.
Lots of chases. Most are barely watchable. I actually liked the reference to the traditional 13th century Italian Palio horse race in which the riders can use their longer wooden canes to encourage their steeds or discourage their opponents; and the actual event was supposed to be occurring outside of the chase area.
The knife fight was lame. How did the baddie die anyhow? Please tell me not with the little pair of cuticle scissors Bond had. And if the death blow was to the only wounded area shown, the left jugular, where did all the blood go as Bond let him 'bleed out'. Not to worry the details because we are soon introduced to THE BOND GIRL. Well, a little anti-climatic because she is not quite as attractive as we are used to although she has very pretty lips. The rest of her seems strangely disproportionate for some reason. It's also strange that she would return to the baddie who just tried to have her whacked. That has little probability for success for someone who we later learn is "Bolivian Secret Service". Oh well, not to worry, we are off on another chase, this time with boats. It is perhaps the best done but for the last scene in which the grappling hook is somehow thrown onto the rubber speed boat and flips it from the front of Bond's boat over the top to the rear...... can't quite figure the physics out on that one. Not to worry, we've docked and Bond mysteriously hands the unconscious maiden who he has just rescued over to a dock attendant...what?
Well were off to track this baddie and somehow reconnected with the GIRL in Bolivia where we eventually learn that the baddie, Mr. Greene of the evil Greene corporation in conjunction with the even eviler Quantum Criminal Consortium LLC has concocted a plot wreaking with the venom of true corporate greed, evil capitalism and nefarious financier-ship; to wit, steal all the fresh water in where? Why Bolivia of course and sell it back to them Bolivians at double the price! MUAHHAHAHAHAHA (evil laugh). We learn at a big party that times are tough in Bolivia because it is costing a weeks wages for an average Bolivian to buy a gallon of clean water! As I remember, the average Bolivian earns about $0.25 per day making the water cost about $1.75 a gallon; pretty much on par with market values in Cleveland. Perhaps this is not the best country for our get richer quicker scheme.
No matter, we are off to the evil opera where the evil baddies are meeting to plan, well, evil. This is where we juxtapose a modernistic version of the Tosca operatic bloodshed whilst Bond dabbles in the real thing dispatching the body guards of the evil biggies who, now discovered & uncovered, are making a hasty retreat for the exits faster than attendees at an Al Gore speech.
No matter, while in Bolivia we are matroned by the closest thing to a real Bond girl, agent Fields. Unfortunately we never really figure out what is beneath that trenchcoat although it appears that Bond does. Also unfortunately for Fields and us, she is quickly eliminated by the baddies in what can only be termed as a 'crude' theft of the Goldfinger modus operandi. I would have expected more of a mess but why waste camera time on the slickened Fields when you can spend it on bathroom scenes with....who else....M of course. Perhaps the most difficult what seemed to be15 minutes of the film (as if minutes were hours Mr. Spock) was watching M in her bathrobe apply & remove cold creme. The threat itself would have sent Mr. Greene permanently into pro bono philanthropy. Not finished with us yet, M draws her bath and the tension in the theater built noticeably as we all began to fear that we would be greeted with an au natural scene of her slipping out of the robe into the tub. Fortunately we were spared that experience (wait for the unedited version coming to DVD soon!). However, it just calls into question what fob with a mommy complex of some sort is calling the shots in these films.
M continues to demonstrate why she should not be "M" vacillating from suspecting Bond to needing him back in 00 some 4-5 times during the movie. We did get a glimpse into the possible personality of M's hubby when he meekly announced, "the calls for you dear on your private line". Whatever.
M may welcome Bond back with open arms or have him captured or killed, no matter, the BOND GIRL is rescuing Bond in her getaway car, a 1964 VW Beetle. I guess the Bolivian Secret Service does not get to roll like the 00's in MI6. At least it was a 40HP!
No matter. We are now off to a hotel in the middle of a high plains Bolivian desert. Time to charter a plane...no, not the little Beachcraft Bonanza that would actually be faster and more maneuverable. Choose the DC-3 with a load of cargo on board. Watch out though, you'll get shot down by the Bolvian Air Force in a single engine Marchetti SIA1 (which I have been corrected on and is a fast little number) I guess the BAF doesn't get to roll like the 00's at MI6 either.
No matter because they are both jumping out of that crate with the only parachute. Somehow everything turns out ok after wrestling for 10,000 feet with the BOND GIRL & parachute falling at 120 MPH because the chute opens 20 feet off of our LZ, a nice big soft slab of granite. BTW, the BOND GIRL walks for miles on granite stones in her bare feat…she’s a hearty lass.
It’s off the hotel to find the baddies. The hotel, located in the high plains desert of Bolivia, is called the Plaza del Sol. It is completely self-sufficient and powered by...solar....no you idiot, hydrogen fuel cells. In fact, each room appears to have its own hydrogen fuel cell and its accompanying hydrogen supply tank. The maids must make your bed and refill your hydrogen tank when they replace the shampoo in the bath, I guess. Naturally the hotel, located in the high plains Bolivian desert is made substantially of steel & stone. Unfortunately, the steel & stone in Bolivia is not quite as durable as the steel & stone you and I have grown to love as we discover when Bond causes a baddie car to crash through a wall igniting a hydrogen tank. The rest of the hydrogen tanks ignite sequentially. Darn it, I hate when that happens, you just can't get good hydrogen tanks anymore. Again, unfortunately, the Bolivian steel & stone burns more like paper mache. Bond battles the Greene baddie but aborts to rescue the BOND GIRL who is caught up in her own subplot vendetta too trite to be explained here. Mr. Greene escapes into the desert only to meet a cryptic fate induced by other unknown baddies and Bond’s 10W-40 payback for the treatment of luscious Agent Fields.
You would be better off waiting for this to hit DVD. At least then you can slo-mo or replay the chase scenes making sense of them, spend more time with the slick Agent Fields and most importantly, FFW or skip over M's bathroom escapades. You have been warned.