quantum of solace
When Daniel Craig took on the Bond mantle, he turned in one hell of a performance in CASINO ROYALE. It was exciting, sexy, and had a compelling plot. QUANTUM OF SOLACE doesn't play quite as well. I think my biggest issue with it was how just straight up pissed that Bond is. He is angry, and just driven by revenge. I think something that has always worked for the Bond series is the sense of fun that has somehow permeated the films. There is a playfulness and banter that keeps the darker elements of the stories from totally overwhelming and slowing down the films. This movie just didn't have that. Although there are some thrilling action moments, and the actors all do good and interesting work, the movie just feels weighed down by that anger.Judi Dench is (as always) a welcome presence in the film, and the villain, Mathieu Amalric, is appropriately slimy. (For a complete change of pace, check him out in THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY.) One sequence that totally rocked my world happens at an outdoor opera performance...I don't know how to describe it...but it is very cool, and theatrical fans will get a kick out of the very avant-garde interpretation of (I think) TOSCA.
Final thoughts: Not the worst Bond film....but the playfulness is gone, which is too bad. Daniel Craig still makes a great Bond, and let's hope that the third in the (supposed) trilogy will find some fun.
posted by beth slack at 8:58 AM
2 Comments:
I think you nailed it when you mentioned the third film - this incarnation of Bond should be seen in a broader context, and this one was the dark one.
We all love the "sexy martini talk" as Robin just called it, but that's if you take each Bond film as a separate film, which they were, but there is an emphasis on 'arcs' these days, which isn't a terrible thing. Also, I should probably say that I really liked the Timothy Dalton Bonds.
I loved the opera scene too, though I think the 'violence/action-to-opera' has been done before (was it Face Off? no, that was a lullaby, but it has been done before somewhere).
Anyhoo, I'll take Bond, and especially this Bond, over a Bourne/action film anyday.
Good post, Slacky!
I actually like this way better than Craig's first Bond.
I have a love/hate thing with Bond flicks in general because I find them to generally be painfully cheesy in their double entendre and I personally have no desire to see Bond bed ANYone let alone many women throughout the course of a film.
But I LOVE action flicks and to me, this was the first time Bond was a straight up, badass Secret Agent on a mission! Plus, I don't find Craig attractive so it was better for me that he wasn't smiley and trying to be sexy but rather rugged and dirty, serious and intent on revenge. I actually enjoyed him in this one - and the moments when he WAS sexy stood out in a good way.
What I didn't really like was the lead girl. She looked like Mogley from The Jungle Book! The Spanish culture is rich with knockout beauties that would make the most confident North American woman cry herself to sleep and call the plastic surgeon and they found the one that looks like a Lost Boy. Yeesh. Her acting was alright and she had legs for days but there was just something too boyish in her face for me. Poor casting.
In closing (haha), I find the fun in the action, the cars, the snappy dialogue so it was plenty fun to me! Maybe the third will please us both equally? (hahahaha)
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