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 For
all the gloss and sophistication that is instantly conjured when the
name of Ian Fleming’s ultimate creation, James Bond, is mentioned, it is
curious how many of the later films about the British super spy are
concerned with his shattered psyche. From the previous chapters
starring the underrated Pierce Brosnan, the films became discourses
about exactly how screwed up and sick in the soul the constant betrayals
by friends, lovers and countrymen alike in 007’s choice of profession
can make one. This is the place where we find the current 007, as
played by Daniel Craig.
Picking up directly where 2006’s
Casino Royale left off, our hero is hell bent for leather on the trail
of the last few pieces he needs to bring closure to a very big question,
did his late love Vesper Lynd betray him as a double agent? Scratching
at the surface of this Pandora’s Box has released an entire consortium
of bad guys hitherto unbeknownst to 007, his keeper “M” or even by MI6,
this would be Quantum, like the title. The discovery of this vipers’
nest leads Bond to his latest quarry, super wealthy ecologist, Dominic
Greene (geddit?),
whose public face as a philanthropist hides a green motivation of
another kind.
This leads us to an important
question about Bond films overall and Quantum of Solace in particular:
How important is the plot to a James Bond film? It’s a query I put to
Marc Forster, director of the latest 007 outing, who responded that the
plots were “a little bit secondary,” and he’s certainly held up that
time-tested tradition. Whether it was gold robberies, kidnapping space
ships, global media manipulation, or, in this instance, the current and
eco-trendy prospect of water-hoarding, let’s face it; no one turns up at
a James Bond movie for the clever premise. What you do need to know is
that Greene and his cronies are now not only on the bad side of 007, but
also a captivating female operative with a more personal agenda than
saving the world.
Olga Kurylenko as Camille may be
my favourite Bond Girl to date (-
Excepting Goldfinger’s wonderful
Shirley Eaton, who gets an homage of sorts in QoS).
Despite being unrecognisable in tanface as the lissome Latina operative,
the Ukrainian Kurylenko holds her own on the role’s physical aspect,
believably dispatching foes alongside Bond and gives us a distressed
damsel who only needs saving from herself. We meet Camille as Greene’s
plaything, another disposable bimbo and possible love puppet for Bond to
vanquish. Luckily, she turns out to be anything but. Like Bond,
Camille is the walking wounded and like any animal in pain, she’s a
dangerous thing. Mourning many horrific losses at the hands of their
mutual enemies, 007 and Camille join forces to become a nihilistic team
of righteous fury.
Marc Forster is known for dramas
such as 2001’s Monster’s Ball and 2004’s delightful Finding Neverland
starring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet. Tear ‘em up action isn’t on his
CV and the choice of Forster (-
allegedly at Daniel Craig’s
urging) is a canny
and refreshing one. Forster’s challenge seemed to be how to instill any
form of character development when this installment is the shortest Bond
on record and the action is jam-packed. The pacing is gigantic
improvement over the previous chapter, which was all gangbusters for the
first half, but stopped dead in its tracks once it moved to the
eponymous casino, never to resuscitate. There’s a bunch of breathtaking
action set pieces starting right off the bat with an eye popping (-
and blurring)
car chase (- H’ray! The return of the Aston Martin!) through the
winding roads around Lake Garda in Italy and a stunning aerial dog fight
and free fall over the Chilean desert. Craig, much better suited for
the grunt work of running, jumping, climbing and knocking enemies out
than his predecessors, really seems to be doing a lot of his own work
here and it only serves to let you know how nuts his secret agent
counterpart really may be. There’s a reason why M keeps sending Bond on
missions despite his inability to keep his quarry alive long enough to
retrieve any intel. The eco-Maguffin of a plot, which is meant to be
relevant to this era of fading natural resources means nothing and
you’re having such a great time watching all the rock-em, sock-em spy
action that you’ll never notice it or get any clearer idea of what
exactly Quantum is. Some might take that as a minus, but I enjoyed the
tighter pacing of Quantum of Solace very much over Casino Royale, which
I felt became bloated and uninteresting. Also, this time there was a
real connection between Bond and Camille, which I felt was absent
between the agent and Vesper Lynd, who all his angst is about. Never
once did I buy that romance in Casino Royale and it’s hard for me to
relate for Bond’s seething agonies since her death. Camille, on the
other hand, has a palpable chemistry with 007, which is ironic as she is
the only major Bond girl who doesn’t even get so much as a kiss from
Jimbo. Crazy, huh?
Big complaint time: Why the
need to turn James Bond into Jason Bourne? As fast-paced as Quantum of
Solace is, the first set pieces are awfully hard on the eyes, with
editing that looks as if it was done inside an overheated blender. Was
that a fist? Was that an elbow? Whose car just fell off that cliff?
Quick, jumpy cuts that actually confuse the viewer and that’s a shame as
the action seems to have been wonderfully choreographed. Let’s say it
together, EON Productions, Bond is Bond, Bourne is Bourne.
The other nudging issue is the
lack of the little touches that I so equate with a James Bond film. I
miss the gadgets; there’s still no appearance by a “Q” and with him an
opportunity to show off some futuristic spy gizmos. Using some of the
neat hologram effects as seen in Iron Man, the knick-knack rundown could
be given new life. The theme song, Another Way to Die, by Jack White
and Alicia Keys, made me worry about truth in advertising. Tuneless and
annoying, this latest earache makes the patently awful You Know My Name
from Casino Royale sound like Goldfinger by comparison. I’m sure this
kvetch falls by the side of character development, but egads I miss some
of the shaken-not-stirred dry wit of the early Connerys. Granted, 007 is
all business now and suffering deep, grievous wounds, but Quantum of
Solace’s Bond is practically a one-note drone of oh-so-broody intensity.
I’m holding off a solid side-eye on the lack of personality until the
next film, but lighten it up folks; I’m not asking for 007 in a clown
outfit, but nobody likes a charmless Bond.
Feh, all trivialities to the
visceral blast of this latest chapter. This is action at its pure,
popcorn-inhaling best. The reprise of Casino Royale’s freejumping, this
time through the crumbling, medieval architecture of Siena, the
intricate structure of Bond’s infiltration of a Quantum jamboree during
a viewing of Tosca is worthy of a chess grandmaster, the aforementioned
aerial dogfight and free fall and the boom-crash pyrotechnic opera of
the film’s climax are all stunning. Also, it’s got the impeccable Judi
Dench as a strangely maternal M, Giancarlo Giannini as Bond’s rakish
partner from the previous film and the amazing Jeffrey Wright as Bond’s
US counterpart, Felix Lightner. Wright’s inclusion is almost a mixed
blessing because in his precious few scenes, Wright delivers all the
effortless cool the audience desperately wants to see in 007. I’m still
not convinced Daniel Craig’s James Bond is completely developed yet, but
Quantum of Solace is certainly a thrilling, kinetic, action-packed move
in the right direction.
~ The Lady Miz Diva
Nov 14th,
2008
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