The latest Bond outing picks up from where Casino Royale left off, and continues down a very different route to the Bond films of old. I enjoyed Casino Royale, though I remember a couple getting up and walking out halfway through, presumably because it just wasn’t “Bond enough”. I thought the movie deserved to be handled in a different way due to it being the first Bond story – a prologue, if you will, where we would view Bond’s character develop into the swathe and sophisticated agent we know and love.
I had anticipated, following the final line of Casino Royal (“Bond, James Bond”), that Quantum of Solace would be a more traditional Bond outing, but this is not the case. We catch up with Bond immediately after the events of Casino Royale and watch as his character further develops whilst he comes to terms with his desire for revenge and resolution. Indeed, as the film concludes, it would appear that this psychological journey has been completed. So, will we back to the one liners, smooth put-downs and outrageous gadgets that made the Bond franchise what it is? Probably not.
New Bond is “edgy”. “Cool”. “Hard”. The producers, writers and director have sought to portray him as such. Again, this film is more edgy, more… well, frankly, more violent. Bond is supposed to dispatch his enemies with the minimum of fuss, and more than a good helping of style. This new Bond seems less super-human, but by being portrayed as such, it’s almost less believable that he can keep surviving one outrageous attack after another. In the old days you could explain this away with a simple shrug of the shoulders and a “well, he’s James Bond isn’t he?”
I have a strong aversion to themes of rape in movies, so I was rather saddened that there is a hint of this in Quantum of Solace. Whilst there is no strong focus on the act itself, there’s enough there to spoil it for me. Themes of rape are presumably the kind of “gritty” subject matters that make a film trendy. Bond is not, nor has he ever been, “trendy”. It doesn’t need to be in there – take it out. What’s next? A lesbian kiss presumably, or perhaps some offensive language.
Not content with the story line showing Bond to be more hard-lined, edgy and ultimately “down with the kids”, the directorial and production team have insisted on using the whole shaky, blurry camera work that ruined the look of the second Bourne film. This is worse. The scene changes occur with a rapidity that induces a feeling somewhat akin to sea-sickness. Shaky camera work makes it impossible to see what is going on, and there’s lots of blurry panning to help that sicky feeling along.
The human eye does not blur when you pan your head around. It does not work in narrow angle. Nor does one’s vision necessarily go shaky when involved in the heat of the action. Even if it did, we are viewing the movie from the point of view of a third party, not Bond himself. The camera work just lets down what could have been a great intro sequence.
Quantum of Solace is the shortest Bond yet, and I think it suffers as a result. More time is needed to let the plot develop – frankly the plot seems a little thin, with the movie focusing more on explosions and special FX. In any case, Quantum of Solace poses more questions than it answers. Just what is this Quantum organisation? Presumably, the next installment of Bond will continue this story line. Perhaps the powers that be have deemed that Bond should be a serial movie with a single plot line flowing through them all. This is a departure from the past again, and I don’t think they should be so quick to shrug off the hallmarks that made the franchise what it is.
After watching Quantum of Solace, I find myself in exactly the same position that I was in after watching Casino Royale – one of wishing to reserve judgment until the next installment. I really hope that Bond is not turned into another stereotypical Hollywood action series, and that we start to see a blend of the smoother Bond with this new unproven formula. On it’s own, this is not a bad movie, but it is not Casino Royale, and it’s a million miles away from Golden Eye. There’s been enough character developing now. We’re convinced. Daniel Craig is Bond. Now let’s see him actually playing the real James Bond…
Agree totally
Oh, you are so right about the one-liners. My dad took me to see “Die Another Day” When it came out in theaters, I believe I was 16 or 17. I was feeling a little nostalgic so I rented it, and I never realized how many corny lines there were. Still great though! So far loved all the Bond movies, but Pierce Brosnan is my favorite.
I would have to say that Daniel Craig is the best James Bond of all times.’.:
i think that Daniel Craig is second to Sean Connery when playing James Bond.-’