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Two years ago, after seeing Daniel Craig in his first Bond movie, Casino Royale, I just wasn’t convinced. As a cool action hero, I’d take Craig any day. But as Bond? Not so much. Still, Casino Royale was a pretty thrilling Bond film—and the new blonde Bond gave the character something we’ve never really seen before: vulnerability.
Now, with Craig’s anxiously-awaited second Bond film, Quantum of Solace, Craig wanders even farther away from his identity as Bond—and the rest of the movie seems to follow.
Quantum picks up where Casino Royale left off. MI6 has discovered that a secret unnamed agency was involved in the death of Bond’s love, Vesper Lynd. As he searches for answers—and maybe even revenge—Bond meets Camilla (Olga Kurylenko), a beautiful woman with a price on her head. She leads him to Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), an environmentalist who’s working with several countries (including the UK) to support a Bolivian coup. But there’s more to the deal than meets the eye—so Bond is forced to go rogue in order to find out what Greene’s really up to.
After Casino Royale’s gritty departure from the classic suave Bond style, I was intrigued to see where director Marc Forster would take Quantum of Solace. Part of me thought that Craig’s second Bond film would find the young Bond sliding more into his role as the slick, sophisticated Bond—but that’s definitely not the case.
Before Craig came along, James Bond was a smooth operator. He wore tuxedoes. He drank martinis. He spoke in cheesy one-liners that sounded cool just because he said them. He had fancy gadgets and cool cars. He got into car chases and fought bad guys—but, in the process, he rarely broke a sweat, nor did he bleed. Perhaps his hair fell a bit out of place, but that’s about it.
This Bond, on the other hand, is more of a street-fighting thug than a smooth super-spy. He looks awkward in a tux. He drinks strange non-martini drinks. The one-liners are nearly non-existent. And although MI6 has a super-cool computer thingy, Bond doesn’t really have any cool gadgets (or cars) of his own. He also spends the majority of the movie sweating and/or bleeding and/or covered in dirt. And that, to me, doesn’t say James Bond; it says Jason Bourne.
But it wasn’t just the character that bothered me as I watched Quantum of Solace. It’s also the story—or the lack thereof. Granted, Bond movies aren’t really known for having smart, well-developed plots, but I expected more depth from Oscar-winning co-writer Paul Haggis (who was also involved in writing Casino Royale, as well as movies like Crash and Million Dollar Baby).
While Quantum definitely boasts a whole lot of thrilling action, there’s nothing there to back it up. There are plenty of fights, but you’ll never really know who it is that Bond’s fighting—or why. And while I do love a good fight scene (and there are a couple of stunning fight scenes here), it’s always better if I know what’s going on. Here, it’s just Bond fighting some guy who may or may not have some connection to somebody who might know something about Vesper. Or maybe he’s a random bad guy. Or maybe he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time—and he threw a punch at the wrong guy.
So while Quantum is still a fun—and often thrilling—action movie, it’s far from the modern Bond masterpiece that fans have been anticipating. The action is cranked up a notch, but the story suffers—and you won’t even recognize this guy who’s calling himself Bond. So if you’re just looking for a bit of brainless action, Quantum will do just fine. But if you’re looking for the suave super-spy they call Bond, you won’t find him here.
Blu-ray Review:
Filled with high-speed chases, impressive explosions, and gorgeous scenery, Daniel Craig’s latest James Bond adventure, Quantum of Solace, is the kind of movie that begs for Blu-ray. It doesn’t matter what you think about the story—or where you stand on the Craig-as-Bond debate; Quantum of Solace is still one stunning spectacle.
The Blu-ray disc’s special features menu includes Bond on Location, which follows the cast and crew around the world—from Chile and Panama to Italy and Austria. Also included are a number of shorter making-of features, covering everything from the music to the stunts to director Marc Forster. The extras take viewers behind the scenes of the film—to rehearsals, stunt training, filming, and more. While there aren’t any stand-outs, these short-but-sweet features offer a quick glimpse at the process without demanding too much of your time—so they’re worth a look.
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