Quantum of Solace

I was never a big James Bond guy. I prefer my spy movies to be more brutal. I did not really enjoy the light hearted realm of James Bond movies. I enjoyed the girls, the stunts and a few of the gadgets, but for the most part, I just was not terribly interested in them. That changed with Casino Royale. I enjoyed Bond with the Jason Bourne aesthetic. I loved the muted colors, the up close fights and the awkward close ups. I enjoyed a Bond with vengeance on his mind and I loved me some Daniel Craig as Bond. Craig is a real man (no disrespect to Sean Connery). Craig could take charge and he was cold. I like cold. I like intense thrillers and Casino Royalegave that to me. Plus, that card game. Holy Crap what a game! The stakes were intense and it was played perfectly. needless to say, the stakes were high for this 22nd installment into the 007 canon.

If ever the phrase "hits the ground running" were to be fitting for a movie, this movie epitomizes that phrase. Right from the word "Go!" Bond is in the middle of a high speed chase, with loud cars roaring and quick cut editing the scene is dizzying, loud and effective. Bullets fly and pierce car doors, but sound like they are whizzing by your head. Only mere minutes after the car chase, Bond is on foot chasing a traitor who almost killed M(the fabulous Judi Dench). The foot race is again, fast and loud and while it does not quite live up to the best foot race ever, of Casino Royale, it ends in a doozy of a fight, with tricked out rope work stunts and a great shot of Bond shooting a gun. the pace dials down for another little while before Bond is attacked by another guy and throws him through a window and kills him. next up is the beautiful Bond girl Camille(Olga Kurylenko). She is about to be killed at sea, when Bond saves her and we are off on a boat chase, now. yes in the first 30 minutes we have a car chase, a foot chase, a fist fight and a boat chase. Then the movie slows down to give us plot. The problem is, the plot sucks. Do the bad guys want the oil, the diamonds or the water of Bolivia and who is good and who is bad? I am not entirely sure, but did you hear me say the first 30 minutes contains a car, foot and boat chase??

James Bond is out for vengeance and he is not afraid of killing. He is smart though. There is a great sequence of events set against the back drop of this epic Opera that not only shows Bond's intelligence, it leads to a nice chase and it gives director Marc Forster his indie roots. The Opera get to serve as the sound track to more death and more stunts and more action, but since in the Opera itself there is a gun death, it seems to be symbolic of beauty in gun deaths. Cool stuff, man. Well Bond does not sleep with Camille but he does sleep with agent Strawberry Fields. She is sexy and had sex with Bond, so she dies. I wanted more time with her, but such is the way of James Bond. Bond bickers with M like they are mother and son, but she trusts Bond because Bond gets things done. Eventually Bond and Camille are in a plane, where a nice plane chase/fight/crash takes place and Bond and Camille lament fallen pasts and they wonder what happens when you get the vengeance you seek.

Then in a finale featuring a set piece so gorgeous it is a shame it was built just to be blown to pieces, Camille gets her revenge and Bond struggles to get all as this gorgeous glass building is exploding an catching fire. The stunts in that scene are immaculate and Craig shines again as the brutally stoic Bond. For her part, Olga is undeniably sexy, so much so you want the two of them to exchange in hot sexy and sweaty sex, instead of just discussing what life means after vengeance is won.

If I seem ambiguous here, make no mistake, I loved Quantum of Solace, but I loved it less than I had hoped. The Bourne aesthetic only works with a sure handed director and so the shaky camera and the quick jumps and edits are not always effective here. The movie doe snot make much sense because the story is never as engaging as Casino Royale. We are never sure exactly who the bad guys are and what they want. But, we do Bond kicks ass and they lay that on thick. As an action movie is thrills, it is just Casino Royale was more than just an action movie. Quantum is bogged down a bit by clunky exposition and a plot that seems unsure of itself, but every time you think you have had it they dazzle you with a chase or a fight. I still believe Jason Bourne as the number spy, but James Bond proves he is up to the challenge. Thank god they got rid of the invisible car!

Final Grade: B