Quantum of Solace

Quantum of Solace (Marc Forster, 2008)

***
UK/USA

Dubious psychoanalysis and fluffed-up topicality have infiltrated the superhero genre, so that now Daniel Craig has to play Jason Bourne playing James Bond. Fortunately no one told Mathieu Amalric about the series' gloomy-sexy revamp. It's a shame he didn't grow a moustache in time so he could twirl it and also that no one passed him a fluffy white cat so he could stroke it. He resurrects a brand of hysterical Eurotrash villain that I at least presumed extinct since the 70s. He's either playing in a different movie to the rest of the cast or he is the only one among them to pinpoint the cheap and shiny and delightfully convoluted bit of trash hiding behind the murky hand-held world-economy-referencing gloss.

quantum of solace

out of all the films i’ve seen recently that have confirmed my suspisions about a homosexual agenda in hollywood, the title is the only gay thing in this film.

unless you think daniel craig running around with his shirt on is gay…

whatever.  this movie pretty much kicks ass.  alot more ass kicking than any kind of spying.  but that’s okay, because the action is great.  and this is on helluva action flick.

they brought in some directer who had previously done some real heart felt girly crap to try and bring a little more emotion and what not to james bond.  i don’t know about all that, but he sure as shit knows how to blow stuff up.

and unlike casino royal and a lot of other films these days, this one is short.  just about an hour and a half.  which is just about perfect.  although i do with they had spent a little bit of time explaining why there’s a posh hotel in the middle of the desert in south america with no guest that just happens to be running on hydrogen fuel cells.  that part was a little wierd.  but the action that takes place there is freaking awesome.

i might buy this one new.

three and a half hot bond babes out of five.

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Cal Reed

Quantum of Solace

Maybe it’s because I just did not care enough, but “Quantum of Solace” made no sense to me. An organization exists that everyone knows exists but no one knows the name of the organization or who runs it or how many members it has. In fact the only thing anyone seems to know about it is that they know nothing about it. Then suddenly at the end of the movie, James Bond (Daniel Craig) mentions its name – Quantum. When did he find this out? No one seems to know or care – especially the makers of the film. “Quantum of Solace” was one giant excuse to put James Bond in as many roof, hotel, car and plane chases as possible. The plot was thrown in to keep it from being a silent film. It is one of the most confusing and contrived movies that I have ever seen. To even try and explain the plot would give me a migraine. The action scenes were almost as confusing as the plot with an average shot length just above a nanosecond. All of the humor and innuendo of the Bond franchise seems to have been tossed to the wayside in order to capitalize on the Bourne franchise formula and success. But James Bond is not Jason Bourne and we don’t want him to be.
This movie is a perfect example of the Hollywood mentality: what movie/movies have been successful recently and how can we cash in on it? By copying them, of course. James Bond is one of the most beloved characters and franchises in movie history, but Hollywood has managed to forget this and conform it to their cash cow mentality. I don’t blame Daniel Craig or Judi Dench (M) or Olga Kurylenko (Camille) or Giancarlo Giannini (Rene Mathis) or Mathieu Amalric (Dominic Greene). They all did the best they could with the material that they were given which leads us to the writers (Neal Purvis, Paul Haggis and Robert Wade) and director (Marc Forster).
What happened with this movie? This group of filmmakers should not have messed this movie up as bad as they did. These men have made movies that are good. Movies like “Monster’s Ball,” “Stranger Than Fiction,” “Finding Neverland,” “In the Valley of Elah,” “Crash,” “Million Dollar Baby,” “Flags of Our Fathers,” etc. So how is that the men responsible for these wonderful films made such a disappointing Bond movie? The dialogue was arbitrary. The action sequences were confusing and conducive to seizing. The sexual tension and innuendo commonplace in the Bond movies was inexplicably missing. There were no over-the-top gadgets or vehicles. It was all very…plain. And if James Bond is anything, it’s not plain.
It’s clear that there were obvious missteps and mistakes in “Quantum of Solace.” It’s just unexplainable how they happened – especially with writers and directors that we know are talented filmmakers. I think it all comes down to the studios. Hollywood studios fight tooth and nail to reach the top of the box office charts and, in order to do so, they often “borrow” from other successful franchises. Movies like the Bourne trilogy or “The Transporter” series are all studio responses to the Bond franchise. So how did the producers or studio heads forget that “Quantum of Solace” was a Bond movie and not one of their carbon-copy rip-offs? I don’t know the answer, but I do know that if you are in the mood for a Bond movie, skip this one and go rent “Goldfinger.”
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 105 minutes
Starring: Daniel Craig (James Bond); Olga Kurylenko (Camille); Mathieu Amalric (Dominic Greene); Judi Dench (M); Giancarlo Giannini (Rene Mathis)
Directed by: Marc Forster; written by Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis, and Robert Wade based on a character by Ian Fleming; produced by Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. A Sony Pictures release.

Quantum of Solace

[Insert James Bond theme song here] Quantum of Solace baby! Damn I loved this movie!



So the film picks up 5 minutes after the events of Casino Royale. James Bond is on a blood mission to find out who was behind the death and betrayal of his love Vesper Lynn. And at the same time, Bond has to deal with another villain, Dominic Green but investigating him opened up a terrifying truth that will shock MI6 to it's core.



Quantum of Solace is unlike any other Bond film we've had in a sense that it is a true sequel. We stay with the character Bond as he is developing, we stay to watch how the story surrounding the betrayal of the last film is carrying out. This isn't the Bond series anymore where the story is blocked into one movie alone. We finally have a continuation to James Bond.



I'm not to crazy over the action sequences,  I felt for the most part of it they were badly shot. Like the car chase scene in the beginning, the director pulled the shot to close I couldn't really see anything. But the times when they got the action scenes right like the chase in Spain, I thought that was dead on.



I didn't care too much for the Bond girl in this film, I thought she was really uninteresting. But then again, she had a tough act to follow after Eva Green in Casino Royale who is with no contest the best Bond girl in the history of the franchise. Olga Kurylenko is certainly one of the more action fighting Bond girls like Michelle Yeoh but she's got nothing on Eva Green.



One thing I wanna point out about Olga Kurylenko. She has been in 3 movies now where she is hella hella hot and the guy doesn't want to have sex with her. In Hitman, she was stark ass naked and the guy still resisted her. In Max Payne, Mark Wahlberg does the same thing. Hun if even James Bond don't wanna bang you.. there must be something seriously wrong. You sure you don't have a penis under there?



This is my favorite Bond movie because of two things. One is the fact that we finally see some development between the characters of Bond and M. We see M in this film becoming more of a mother figure to Bond and finally breaking the whole image of M being a hard woman. And Judi Dench is fantastic in the movie btw.



The second thing is that for the first time, we finally have a great Bond villain in the form of Quantum, a terrorist organization that apparently has many influences in many places which MI6 never knew about and is now posing as a big threat to national security. There's almost a Kaiser Soze feel to the whole mystic of Quantum being this big organization that no one can track down and I'm dying to see how this plays out in future Bond movies.



Daniel Craig is great as Bond. He finally delivers Bond as being a human character unlike the other Bonds from the previous movie. James Bond finally has a story to tell and he is finally more than a man with cool gadgets and nice suits. I liked him more in Casino Royale though, but he's still pretty darn good here.



The film had decent action and a great build up for me to want to see the next Bond film. I love where this franchise is going and I can't wait for the next one.

RATING: 7/10

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NicholasC

Quantum of Solace

Bond. James Bond. My friend, what’s become of you? Where once there was a suave, bespoke-suited sadist who battled lisping megalomaniacs by the dozen, now there is only a pale Jason Bourne-imitation, eternally running, jumping, regretting… This man isn’t Bond. Bond is promiscuous, cheeky; he drinks life. He isn’t a guy in his twenties (like Bourne) trying to piece life together. He’s British, for God’s sake. He was born knowing life is rotten and the best revenge is to smirk at it. The new Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, says it’s about revenge, but really it’s about life lessons. Bond learns revenge is bad. Bullshit! Bond doesn’t do ethics.

After an initial car chase, Bond is told not to go on a revenge mission. The bad guys have killed his wife. Let it go, is M’s advice. But he’s Bond, and it’s his movie; he can do what he likes, provided he does it violently and in a scenic location. So he sets about criss-crossing the globe; knife-fighting in Haiti, eves-dropping in Italy, massacring people in Bolivia. Is there a connection between these places? God knows. It’s Bond. If you keep track of why he’s anywhere, you’ve missed the point. The bad guys are there. Bond’s job is to travel to the bad guys and kill them. And sleep with girls. And wear Omega watches. Plot is to Bond what the catwalk is to models; he could just stand there, but he looks better in action.

Daniel Craig is still right as Bond, no matter what the movie gets wrong. Women worship him. Men are jealous of him. He looks cruel and public-schooled, and just nonchalant enough to be dangerous. He’s got Paul Newman eyes, for one thing. And those eyes feel right for Bond. When he looks at people you can practically hear Newman (as Hud) saying “My momma loved me, but she died” – and you know exactly why women love men for being remote, unfeeling bastards. Because vulnerability is sexy when you hide it. Whether Bond should be inwardly anything is another argument. But that’s Craig’s interpretation (even if it is, nakedly, an actor’s interpretation), and he plays a wounded Bond bloody well.

Craig’s co-star in Quantum of Solace is, ostensibly, leggy Bolshevik Olga Kurylenko, but really it’s his Omega watch. There’s scarcely a frame of the movie that doesn’t feature this chunky Swiss time-piece; whether Craig is stripped to the waist or just conveniently rolling up his sleeve, and the watch, it must be said, delivers a dependable performance; dutifully flogging it’s over-priced luxury wrist-fashion for all it’s worth. There’s isn’t a scene to match the bit in Casino Royale where Eva Green shamelessly asks Bond which watch he’s wearing, but fans of product-placement porn won’t go wanting. This time round (besides Omega) Bond finds time to check his Sony Ericsson mobile phone, fly Virgin Atlantic, get a lift in a Ford Ka… and probably stab someone with a sponsored knife.

So much of the movie is either an advertisement or a Bourne rip-off that I think people will feel grateful for the one or two scenes Bond is allowed with M. Daniel Craig and Judy Dench understand the slightly patrician, Margaret Thatcher-and-devout-young-Tory vibe that Bond and M have. It restores the series’ inherent British-ness to see Bond knock out MI5 heavies in an elevator, only to slip back to M (who sent them) like the naughty Head Boy who breaks the rules to get his Headmistress’s attention.

The Bourne Identity might have changed the template for how spy movies should be made, but it’s not the only template, and Bond isn’t Bourne. I can live with frenetic editing and (sigh) maybe even realism in a Bond movie, but to exorcise the gadgets and the quips and the bed-hopping is going too far. Bond should be about escapism. He’s wish-fulfilment. To give him mental scars and a conscience might deepen him, but why bother? Here is a character who wears a Savile Row suit to a gun battle, a spy who spies drunk, a lascivious superhero: he’s not real. Quantum of Solace wants a man to go on Bond’s adventures. I just want James Bond.

QUANTUM OF SOLACE (2008)

BOTTOM LINE: "Quantum of Solace" is a missed opportunity to capitalise on Daniel Craig's definitive take on James Bond from Casino Royale, leaving a film that spends a third of its time tieing up loose ends from its predecessor and the rest of the time padding itself out with intense, but ultimately undramatic action sequences.

THE GOOD: When Daniel Craig stepped in to the role of James Bond, he created a very different, but modern and engaging character that was a major departure from all previous incarnations of James Bond. This provided a much needed boost to the franchise, and combined with a strong story and character exploration, Casino Royale proved to be one of the best Bond films ever. With "Quantum of Solace", the grittier, tougher and less-gadgety take on the Bond universe has been thankfully continued, and for the most part, has been ratcheted up in intensity. Daniel Craig is one tough guy in this outing, playing a Bond that is driven even further by rage and revenge, but who also does not have everything go his way or everyone bowing to his whim. In one of the best action scenes in the film, Bond chases down an informant who has infiltrated MI6 and has a bone-crunching fight which is very reminiscent of the Bourne films, and when he kills the informant, he is chastised by M (Judi Dench) for not following her instructions to bring him back alive for questioning. Director Marc Forster has established some very unique action sequences, but he has also stamped a rather unique visual style that makes this film not only different to its predecessor but also different to any other Bond film. The use of titles, intercutting and the use of sound is welcome, with one great example being an intense shoot-out at an Italian opera between Bond and the bad guys, all intercut with the opera itself. Daniel Craig is once again great as Bond, delivering a ruthless killer who is hell-bent on revenge. Olga Kurlyenko, who plays Bond girl Camille, manages to be both tough and cute at the same time, playing a complicated character. Mathieu Amalric plays the chief villain Dominic Greene with a quiet, nasty intensity, without any physical characteristic as most Bond villains have (such as the weeping eye of Le Chiffre from Casino Royale). Judi Dench is also excellent once again as Bond's boss M, and the development of their not quite mother/son relationship makes for a fascinating dynamic. This film is leaner and meaner than its predecessor, and for the first time, serves as a direct sequel rather than another adventure which makes for a different Bond experience.

 THE BAD: It was always going to be unfair to expect this film to live up to the highwater mark of Casino Royale, but given this film had a $200 million budget and the same writing/producing team, this film should have been much better. What made Daniel Craig's first outing so good was its focus on story and character. You got to see Bond in a new light as he went through some pivotal moments in his early career which make him who he is. None of that is done justice in "Quantum of Solace". Daniel Craig is excellent as Bond, but the script and direction do not give him any room to explore his character further (or at all), leaving us with a 2-dimensional take on the character. If anything, only Craig's presence makes Bond watchable this time around, otherwise he would have disappeared in the flurry of non-stop action sequences. There are only a few moments where Craig gets to play with the Bond wit we've all come to know and love but those moments disappear quickly. The lack of a strong story is another major problem. At its heart, this film is only tieing up loose ends from Casino Royale. It sets up the elusive criminal organisation called "Quantum", but apart from that, the rest of the film is just action scene after action scene as Bond dispatches all the bad guys. The experience of watching "Quantum of Solace" feels quite hollow by the time the end credits roll, leaving a Bond film which does not deliver on the new potential and energy started by its predecessor.

RATING: 7/10

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Todd Murphy <br />
http://www.allaboutmovies.net

Quantum of Solace

Now, before I saw this movie, I had heard many things about it that I did not like. A friend of mine, who lives in England, saw a sneak-peak of the film a couple weeks before me and filled me in on a couple things that left a bad taste in my mouth. The gun-barrel at the end of the film? What the f*ck? I was very dissapointed with the stupid gun-barrel sequence from Casion Royale, but let it by because that movie rocked. But having another Bond movie not opening with the classic gun-barrel sequence? It’d be like a Star Wars movie without the opening crawl and bombastic music.

No Moneypenny
No Q/R
No gadgets
No opening gun barrel

I hate to ask this. . .but was this a James Bond movie. . . or a James Bourne movie?

Recommendations: (500) Days Of Summer (Marc Webb, 2009)

Last updated: 2010-01-14 03:06:32 by rammfan518

Quantum of Solace

 
 
Let me start off by saying I didn’t grow up a James Bond fan, even a casual one.  The first 007 film I saw in the theatres was The World Is Not Enough.  To refresh your memory, that was the one featuring Denise Richards as nuclear scientist Dr. Christmas Jones.  Nuff said.

Casino Royale didn’t turn me into a Bond fanboy, but like most people I thought it was the most enjoyable 007 movie in a long time.  So I walked into Quantum of Solace as a casual fan with an open mind.  I had a short list of expectations based on my ‘knowledge’ of what a 007 movie is supposed to be; here’s how Quantum stacked up:

Opening Action Sequence: As much as I hate seeing an Aston Martin get the business, the opening gets major PROPS from me.  The tone was set; this was the first Bond film that’s a true ’sequel’.

Crazy Credits/Theme Song: I was aware that Jack White and Alicia Keys were doing the theme song.  As I write this, I can’t remember much about it.  To be fair though, the ‘James Bond’ overture is the only piece of music I associate with these characters.  EHHH….

Bond Girl: The little Russian hottie (playing a Latina?) didn’t have any overtly sexual scenes with Bond (surprisingly).  I think Eva Green was a much better Bond girl, but Olga Kurylenko is exotic enough looks wise to get PROPS.

Bond Villain: The environmentalist as arch nemesis was a nice modern touch.  And I’ve been a fan of Mathieu Amalric going back to Munich.  PROPS.

Style: Confession time – the Daniel Craig version of 007 is a character I’ve borrowed from in developing my personal style.  Clothes by Tom Ford, bringing back the Aston Martin (as I mentioned earlier), still rocking the Omega watch?  Oh yeah, major PROPS here.

Were some of the action sequences a little too Jason Bourne-ish?  Yeah, but to be fair Bourne is the king of the modern action heroes, so what do you expect?  Did the story get a little convulted at times?  Sure, but this is a Bond movie.  Am I being a little too nice because I didn’t have to pay for my ticket?  Perhaps…

Bottom line, if you enjoyed Casino Royale, I can’t imagine how you would hate Quantum.  It’s a more standard Bond movie, but hey, if you’re paying to go see it, isn’t that what you’re expecting?

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Last updated: 2010-01-18 14:33:25 by malikaziz

Quantum of Solace

Quantum - (n) a particular amount (adj) sudden and significant

Solace - (n) alleviation or comfort

Quantum of Solace - (?) Absolutely meaningless. Not explained through any medium, specifically the 2008 film Quantum of Solace.

Bond is back and he's...not as good as he should have been in yet another 007 film. Quantum of Solace marks the 22nd official James Bond film of the EON Productions franchise, the 25th James Bond film of all time, and only the 2nd James Bond movie I've ever seen. Although Ian Fleming's character is not my cup of tea, I do know what to expect from the man. As I sat down to watch Quantum of Solace I nestled myself into my chair and waited to be astounded by the gadgets and fancy cars that make Bond so recognizable. What I received was a poorly filmed, sloppily scripted, decently acted hodge-podge that did not capture the spirit of a James Bond film at all. Being only somewhat entertained by 2006's hugely successful Casino Royale, I was surprised to find that I actually prefer that film over this one. Quantum of Solace is a direct sequel to Casino Royale, with only a 20 minute gap between the films. The plot to this film is nearly incomprehensible. I actually had to check the internet for a plot synopsis when I got home to make sure I wouldn't make a mistake in my review. According to Wikipedia, the film follows James Bond (Daniel Craig) as he tries to prevent a group called the "Quantum" from executing a coup d'etat in the country of Brazil. His main focus is on Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), an "environmentalist" who seems to be spearheading the whole operation. Helping Bond in his fight is Camille (Olga Kurylenko), a woman whose family was killed by the very man attempting to take power in Brazil. At the same time, Bond is also seeking revenge for the death of the only woman he ever loved, Vesper Lynd. (This plot synopsis took me a week and a half to write, mainly because I had a lot of trouble putting it into words that were understandable. It's not my best work, but it'll do.)

There are not many good things to say about Quantum of Solace. Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis, and Robert Wade all returned as writers for this film, but failed to live up to the precedent set by their previous work on Casino Royale. They created a lackadaisical script that doesn't explain itself very well, and was far too reliant on the first film. It is understandable that a sequel will use the original film as a jumping off point, but you would need to watch Casino Royale immediately before watching this film to get anything! If you've never seen the first film and you plan on watching Quantum, good luck. These writers also abandoned the use of plot development for this film, turning it into an hour and 45 minute marathon of explosions. One of the few things I enjoyed about Casino Royale was that it followed a well thought out script and centered on characters that you learned a lot about. Quantum of Solace gives no backstory to many of the characters, leaving you in the dark when it comes to actually caring about what happens. The shift in director could also be to blame for the mediocre downslope the franchise took in just 2 movies. Marc Foster took the reigns from Martin Campbell, and I would like to take this opportunity to ask him to give them back. Quantum of Solace is the first action film to hit Foster's resume which is comprised of serious pictures such as The Kite Runner and Monster's Ball. From this, it is no wonder Foster seemed out of his element helming a James Bond film. His camera work was utterly dreadful in even the simplest shot. Every action sequence looked as though the man holding the camera was having a seizure. Foster also manages to take all of the intensity and anticipation out of a long awaited film that should have kept the audiences heart's racing. Quantum offers no build up to a final resolution, and the showdown between Bond and Greene was so lackluster that I didn't even realize it was the final showdown until the movie ended five minutes later.

If there is a positive thing to say about Quantum of Solace, it is that Daniel Craig is just as dynamic as he was in Casino Royale as the suave super agent James Bond. His performance alone keeps this film out of the dollar movie bin at Stop & Shop. His dedication to the role actually had me believing it is that easy to be entangled in a series of ropes yet still have the ability to accurately shoot a gun. Sadly, not many of the people around Craig were very convincing. Olga Kurylenko, whose most recent films include Max Payne and Hitman, pretty much lives up to her resume in her role as Bond girl Camille. A flat performance topped off by an inability to understand a word she says really doesn't do much to make the film respectable. In some scenes, Kurylenko's character discusses some grim memories of her family being killed. An actress of higher caliber would have been able to make this monologue memorable, but instead I was left straining my ears, struggling to comprehend the words that were heavily coated in a thick accent. Mathieu Amalric is not bad playing the villain Dominic Greene and is sometimes very engaging. But a one dimensional character makes his villain a forgettable and fruitless minor inconvenience.

Quantum of Solace is (mercifully) the shortest Bond film in the franchise, and I believe that may have been a disadvantage to the film. Perhaps the writers were afraid they would lose the audiences attention if they made the film too long. Whatever the reason, added length could have given Quantum of Solace the honor of being told properly with much more development. But it is futile to sit here pondering "what if's" and I must talk about the film for what it was. With only one and a half good performances, Quantum of Solace is nothing more than a a brief itch that once scratched is gone from your mind for the rest of your life. My rating (3/10)

Quantum of Solace

The latest Bond movie is best enjoyed if you've watched Casino Royale before. The film makes numerous references to events that transpired in Casino Royale, of which includes the very reason why Bond is so motivated to such lengths to uncover the truth behind the mysterious organisation, Quantum. This might delight fans of Casino Royale, but for newcomers to the movie, it's somewhat frustrating. Daniel Craig again provides excellent performance in the show with his portrayal of a stone-cold Bond killing everyone in his path. Perhaps that is the saving factor in this movie, because plot-wise, it is rather ill-conceived and puzzling at times.

A more action variant of the Bond films thus far, Quantum Of Solace is certainly not your average action flick, but a weak plot and bad directing bogs down what would otherwise have been an excellent spy thriller.

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