November 16, 2008
Critic At Large: Quantum Of Solace
Am I the only one who kind of liked the title of this latest chapter in the Bond franchise? It's not nearly as cryptic as other reviewers have made it out to be. The film picks up immediately after the events in Casino Royale; a distraught Bond is determined to exact vengeance on the mysterious organization responsible for his girlfriend's death. His vendetta eventually leads him to a generically European CEO of a multinational that ostensibly promotes environmental stewardship. This being a Bond film, we soon discover that the CEO is not a nice man and our hero sets about getting his revenge while serving queen and country.
And that means lots of gunplay, car chases, and fistfights. The tone of this film is much more frenetic than Casino, which had a more deliberate pace. Casino could have been based on a Le Carré novel, while Quantum adheres to the more traditional Fleming formula. There's nothing wrong with that formula, of course. The film is entertaining, but it doesn't feel as grounded in reality. However, it's interesting to note that Daniel Craig's Bond is not nearly the misogynistic dick that his predecessors were; Bond has one brief dalliance with a minor character and even that felt forced, like the writers shrugged their shoulders and said, "Well, he has to shag someone."
Posted by wintermute2_0 at November 16, 2008 06:47 PM
Comments
But he DOES have to shag someone! No Bond film is complete without a shagging or two.
Posted by: Jeff P. at November 17, 2008 10:19 AM