Film Review: Quantum of Solace
Quantum of Solace, the latest addition to the James Bond series, debuted last weekend. After the hugely successful Casino Royale expectations were high for this sequel.
The main thing I questioned going into the film was its ability to overcome its embarrassingly terrible title. It is a reference to an obscure James Bond short story which is completely unrelated to the film. In an attempt to sound intelligent the title instead just sounds pompous and inflated.
But that could be rendered irrelevant if the film delivered the goods. Unfortunately I was somewhat disappointed by Quantum of Solace. Much like its title, the movie tries to convince you it is smarter than it actually is. In actuality I was reminded of the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels–all the style of the original without any of the substance.
Comparisons with Casino Royale are inevitable because of how closely this film relies on its predecessor. Quantum begins literally one hour after the end of Casino Royale and there are constant references back to the events in that film. The problem is not following new developments that rely on Casino. Instead it is that there are not any new developments to speak of.
Casino Royale was a great film because of the look at James Bond as a character. It was refreshing to see the origins of one of the giants in American cinema. The depth explored in the relationship of Bond and Vesper was what fueled the movie. That combined with the powerful and intense action scenes led to the brilliance of the film.
Quantum of Solace brings all the action necessary, but really lacks in the plot and character departments. Both seem to be going through the motions of an action film, rather than resembling the fresh take that Casino had. The plot was very weak and mostly pointless. The villain’s master plan was a complete joke. The editing made things even more confusing at times. There will be a few moments where you are lost for 20 seconds wondering what is happening.
Daniel Craig as James Bond
The most disappointing part of Quantum was the shallow, lackluster depiction of Bond. There was an attempt to show a distressed and troubled agent, unstable and nearly renegade in his motives. That attempt failed. Everything about his struggle feels forced, as if the director has to continually slam “Bond lost someone! He is so distraught!” into your face approximately every seven minutes. I feel it could have been done in a much more elegant manner. Even the way Quantum ends was unnatural.
After all that I am sure it sounds like I hated the film, but in actuality it was slightly above average. As I mentioned, the film brought the action in spades. There are plenty of elaborate fight scenes and a multitude of explosions. There are still plenty of Bond moments in which the audience can chuckle at how clever or smooth he is. Part of me thinks that if I rewatched Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace I would enjoy Quantum more than I did in theaters. Once it releases on DVD I will definitely give it another chance.
If you enjoyed Casino Royale then you certainly owe it to yourself to check out Quantum of Solace. If you go in expecting good and not great, you will be perfectly satisfied. For those of you who saw the movie, what did you think?
6.5/10
8 Comments
i could not agree more with all the points you mad.e i was going to write a review yesterday and im glad i didnt, cuz it would have looked just like this one.
no matter how bad this movie may be i will still go see it sometime. most likely tomorrow night.
@mark It is not bad by any means. It is just decent…not spectacular.
This was an awesome movie, in my opinion. Casino Royale was awesome as well…and I agree that it (Quantum) could have spent a little more time on the story, but it did not bother me that much. Royale dragged for a long time, and was unnecessarily long. I like how they depicted Bond. Of course he’s going to be cold and not care about killing people or what happens, when the woman he loved (spoiler alert) betrayed him in Royale. This movie was fast paced and entertaining. You cannot compare it to Royale because they are different types of movies. Maybe if there is a next one (hopefully), it will have a balance of action and story. But by no means was this a movie to complain about or rip.
7.5,8/10
they set it up for a 3rd movie since the beginning issue was not resolved. i hate that kind of thing.
I waited to read this until after I watched the movie. I think that your assessment of the film is spot-on.
Quantum of Solace felt like the the leftovers of Casino Royale, and seriously lacked substance. It was still entertaining, but, as you mentioned, the plot and character developments were not up to the James Bond standard that we have come to know.
I really hope that the next film, though, still sharing some of the same characteristics (like the new crime syndicate), will have a completely separate plot.
Your review is pretty much spot on. I went to Boston and saw it opening night with my cousin. He even mentioned during the movie that the camera was driving him crazy during a couple scenes you couldn’t even tell what was going on. My biggest beef with this movie is the stupid and non existent plot. It definitely was more of an action movie than a bond movie(although it had the critical bond moments: girl he has sex with, car chase, boat chase, airplane chase). All in all I would give it a 6.5/10 also.
I was really disappointed with this one. I hope it is a stepping stone for something better cause this doesn’t just cut it.
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