Pile of Rubbish

C22Man

Bond Review.

Title: Sounds very odd, but kind of makes sense given the story.

Pre-Titles: Bond is involved in a high-speed chase as he travels to Siena with Mr. White in his boot and just manages to escape his pursuers. This opening could have been brilliant, but it is filmed horribly and edited to within an inch of its life. Every cut lasts half a second, making impossible to tell what's actually going on and sucking any enjoyment out of what should be an exciting opening.

Theme Song: The first Bond duet by Jack White and Alicia Keys is one to forget. The melody and composition are actually pretty good, but the singing and lyrics are woeful. White is totally out of place and Keys honestly sounds like a cat being strangled, put them together and its ear torture.

Plot: Bond tracks an organisation named Quantum and hunts them down in a state of revenge. He quickly discovers that its leader, developer Dominic Greene, plans to drain the Bolivian water supply. The plot had the potential to be very exciting, but it is told in such a confusing and mundane way that you lose interest very fast. Part of it feels like a Bond revenge mission and the other part feels like an old-school world domination plot, and these two styles don't mix whatsoever. The whole story itself feels rushed and the characters are given no convincing development.

James Bond: Daniel Craig is the best thing here, yet he can't keep the film afloat. He nails the brooding edge of the character once more and adds even more physicality to the role, while being compelling with his expressions. However there's no balance, as he is given poor dialogue and doesn't get a chance to show his charming side, making him come off as a little too gloomy.

Bond Girls: Both Bond girls are simply boring. Olga Kurylenko is convincing as the emotionally damaged Camille but she gets nothing interesting to do, looks constantly angry and has no chemistry with Craig. Gemma Arterton at least has some fun as agent Fields, but she gets too little screen time to make an impact and just feels like a throwaway character.

Villains: Words don't do justice to how dull a villain Dominic Greene. Making a shadier businessman type of villain isn't a bad idea, but he has no personality and is not remotely convincing as a threat in any way. He doesn't say anything memorable, he doesn't do anything worth remembering, he looks like a depressed diplomat and most of the time he stands around looking bored. Joaquin Cosio at least looks the part as Greene's supplier General Medrano and he is intimidating, but the character is only glossed over and his role seems shoehorned in.

Support: Judi Dench is as solid as ever in an expanded role as M, but she is in the field way too much. Giancarlo Giannini makes a welcome return as Mathis and is amusing, but doesn't get much to do. Jeffrey Wright's is completely wasted as Leiter, all he does is drink and look indifferent.

Action: The action is intense, but there's way too much of it and it's filmed dreadfully. We get a chase along rooftops, boat chases, helicopter chases and countless shots of Bond walloping people with all of it done in shaky cam which means you can't really tell what is happening. As a result you simply don't care what is going on. The climax is a good set-up at a desert hotel, but Bond's fight with Greene is pathetic and it quickly becomes explosions galore.

Score: David Arnold provides another decent score. He offers a fitting backdrop to the rough approach of the film in many scenes and his slower tracks are appropriately moody. However it is a bit lacklustre compared to his previous efforts.

Production Values: Foster deserves most of the blame here for his terrible directing. As said the action sequences are a mess, while the dialogue heavy scenes are shot blandly and the 'important' scenes don't feel remotely important. The editing is the other issue as the film looks like it was edited by a maniac. It is all just lightning quick cuts, close-ups of people looking really irritated and the incredibly annoying shaky cam tormenting our senses. The pace is all off as well and it feels like one long action scene, it's like the film cannot slow down and that results in nothing being given room to breathe or develop. The writing is simply terrible. Was Bond's mission engaging? No. Was the villain's scheme interesting? No. Where the characters well written? No. As a result it is so hard to care about anything on screen. The locations are all good, but there is way too much globe hoping going on and if it wasn't for the awkward cards telling you then I wouldn't have a clue where Bond was.

Conclusion: If Casino Royale was an Aston Martin, then Quantum of Solace is like taking that Aston Martin and driving it into a brick wall. Everything that Casino Royale had done so well has been completely done away with for no reason at all. The characters are all boring and only capable of being angry, the action is one massive mess, the plot is ridiculous given this more grounded portrayal and Bond has gone from feeling like a real person to a crazed wrecking machine. I love the dark and intense Bond, but there has to either be some levity or a really intriguing premise because otherwise it just becomes a chore to get through otherwise and that is exactly what Quantum of Solace is.

score 3/10

C22Man 31 July 2015

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3288139/