Quantum Of Solace

I happen to be one of those people who go to the movies to get some entertainment, and I don't necessarily go looking for deep insights into life. As a result, on leaving a cinema, I'm rarely disappointed by what I saw, and so perhaps am not the best reviewer of a movie after I've left it. Consequently I've left it a couple of days before giving my review of Quantum of Solace.

Having criticised The Dark Knight for being too much of a Chris Nolan film rather than a Batman film, I have to say that Quantum of Solace comes very close to being too much of a Marc Foster movie than a James Bond movie. Stylistically, QoS is further away from even Casino Royale and part of this comes from Foster's decision to use his own creative team, rather than the standard Bond one. Daniel Kleinman, for example, has been dumped from doing the title sequence, and instead Mk12 step in to provide both this and the gunbarrel logo. This gives the movie quite a different feel (although Mk12's decision to restore the silhouettes of women to the title sequence is an interesting step back to tradition). In terms of style, my one big complaint would be that it is perhaps time to return the gunbarrel to the beginning of the movie, rather than, in this case, leading into the closing credits. CR was able to have a pre-title sequence in black and white which gave a firm feeling of the movie beginning, whereas QoS kicks in with an action sequence and, for a moment, I was unsure if the movie had begun, or if I was watching another trailer.

Oddly enough, as the movie stylistically moves away from its predecessors (another example of this is the appearance of very exaggerated location subtitles) James Bond himself becomes more and more like the Bond of old. He spends the majority of the film in a tailored suit, and at one point is back in tuxedo. After the joke in CR, he most certainly does give a damn about how he likes his vodka martinis, and more than that, the idea of staying at accomodation that is anything less than five star has become something of an anathema to him. Perhaps the most obvious example of his actions, however, is that, within an hour of meeting MI6 agent Strawberry Fields (easily one of the silliest names for a Bond girl ever, but thankfully we only discover her first name in the credits) he shags her silly. Rather oddly, though, this is the only sex Bond has in the movie, implied or otherwise. Bond only actually gets a single kiss from primary Bond girl Camille, before she walks off into the distance. But Bond is still as brutal and as callous as he was in CR. At one point "M" is forced to ask Bond not to kill their lead as he has already murdered three of them. Though this is symptomatic of Bond being a broken man. Vesper's betrayal from CR weighs heavily on him, and it is this more than the hunt for Quantum that makes QoS a direct sequel to CR. Bond himself continues to develop, seeking for a way to end the pain of Vesper, while hardening himself against the possibility of having his heart betrayed again. Barbara Broccoli has said that there will be one more film in the development of Bond to 007, and it certainly seems that she and Michael G Wilson have indeed been planning this with some thoroughness.

Whereas CR was the longest Bond film to date, QoS goes the other way, and is the shortest film in the entire series. To a certain degree I believe this has meant that the movie has suffered ever so slightly. While CR took the opportunity to occasionally reflect on what has happened, QoS from the very outset hits the ground running and seems to rarely let up. We have a pre-title sequence that is nothing but action leading into a short moment where White laughs at MI6 before there is more action. Bond is sent to Haiti for more action before going to Austria for a bit more action, and so on. This leads to what trailer makers call a "high octane" film, but unfortunately gives some slightly muddled plotting as a result. Reflection is needed in order to work out quite what is happening. Bond's mission occasionally seems disjointed as he travels from lead to lead, but the most confusing moment comes with regard to Mathis who, on his deathbed, tells Bond that they forgive each other and tells Bond that Mathis was indeed his cover name, which Bond says was a stupid name. It's never quite clear if Mathis is saying he was always a double agent, with Mathis not his real name and that's why Bond should forgive him - or if Mathis is his real name, and he used it as a cover name in Bolivia (hence a stupid cover name)...although quite why they forgive each other still remains unclear. Equally Mr White, who Bond tried so hard to hand over to "M" in the pretitle sequence, disappears and is never heard from again. I understand a scene was filmed where Bond tracked him and the British envoy down and dealt with both of them, but this scene was cut. One can only hope the reason for the cut was that this will be developed in the next film, rather than they just wanted to remove it to pick up the pace of the movie.

Marc Foster's hand can be felt throughout the entire movie - Bond's opponent, Dominic Greene as played by Mathieu Amalric (The two Quantum members we've seen now are Greene and White...will we see Red and Black?) is an everyman with no noticeable foibles; in fact, if anything Greene seems to be a little weed of a character. It's almost hard to believe that Bond doesn't simply kick his arse when he and Greene come face to face. Equally, Greene has no stand out henchmen of note. Indeed the nebulous Quantum organisation seems to be the villain of the movie more than Greene himself. This in of itself isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that Bond doesn't seem to have an opponent worthy of him in the film. This isn't really Amalric's fault, but it does make him a less than memorable character.

Olga Kurylenku is Bond girl Camille Montes, and she is one of the more complex Bond girls we've seen for a long time. Initially she seems to be playing against Dominic Greene, despite being his lover at the same time, but ultimately she is revealed to have been at the very least trained by the Bolivian secret service in search of the same revenge that Bond is - albeit hers is against would-be Bolivian dictator General Medrano. Medrano raped her mother and killed her father, while leaving her to almost burn to death, and nastily scarring her back. In a nice bit of character development, this means she suffers from pyrophobia in the film's finale, giving Bond the opportunity to play Knight in White Shining Armour as he has to rescue her.

Gemma Arterton, though credited quite high in the film, has little screen time as MI6 Agent Fields, and ends up covered in oil, having been drowned in it, in a rather nice homage to Goldfinger. Jeffrey Wright also has his screen time cut down as CIA agent Felix Leiter which is a shame as he is developing the character quite nicely. Leiter appears to have the same strong sense of fair play that Bond has, making them good partners. Giancarlo Giannini returns as Rene Mathis and it is great to see this character return, complete with the baggage that he brings from CR. It's almost disappointing to see him pass at the end of the film, but at the same time it seems quite fitting.
One person who does not suffer is Judi Dench, returning for her sixth outing as "M". Dench is again absolutely superb in the film, having complete trust in her best agent, while at the same time not entirely happy about his cavalier attitude towards life and death (see what I did there?). "M" is joined by Tanner in this film, now portrayed by Rory Kinnear, but here Tanner is nothing more than replacing Villiers from the last film.

A new production designer brings a different feel to the movie, as does the new director of photography, but both of them are trying very hard to keep in the Bond style, with the Austrian opera performance being of particular note as a set that is both awe-inspiring while also being just that little OTT Bond style. David Arnold returns to score the film, and uses both the James Bond theme and Jack White & Alicia Keys theme (which slowly grows on you, and works wonderfully opposite the interesting title sequence) liberally throughout the score.

No doubt in a few years from now I'll rewatch this movie and have a slightly different opinion, but this is the initial feel. A good film and a good chance for Daniel Craig to cement his position as James Bond.

Favourite Bond: 1. Timothy Dalton; 2. Daniel Craig; 3. Roger Moore; 4. Sean Connery; 5. George Lazenby; 6. Pierce Brosnan

Favourite movie order: 1. The Living Daylights; 2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service; 3. Casino Royale; 4. Dr No; 5. Licence To Kill; 6. A View To A Kill; 7. Live And Let Die; 8. Quantum Of Solace; 9. Thunderball; 10. For Your Eyes Only; 11. Octopussy 12. The Spy Who Loved Me; 13. Tomorrow Never Dies; 14. GoldenEye; 15. From Russia, With Love; 16. Goldfinger; 17. You Only Live Twice; 18. Moonraker; 19. The World Is Not Enough; 20. The Man With The Golden Gun; 21. Die Another Day; 22. Diamonds Are Forever

Favourite Bond girl: 1. Carey Lowell/Pam; 2. Claudine Auger/Dominio; 3. Diana Rigg/Tracy; 4. Eva Green/Vesper; 5. Olga Kurylenku/Camille; 6. Carole Bouquet/Melina; 7. Izabella Scorupco/Natalya; 8. Barbara Bach/Anya; 9. Maud Adams/Octopussy; 10. Michelle Yeoh/Wai Lin; 11. Mie Hama/Kissy; 12. Daniela Bianchi/Tanya; 13. Ursula Andress/Honey; 14. Jane Seymour/Solitaire; 15. Maryam D'Abo/Kara; 16. Lois Chiles/Holly; 17. Honor lackman/Pussy; 18. Tanya Roberts/Stacy; 19. Denise Richards/Christmas; 20. Halle Berry/Jinx; 21. Britt Ekland/Mary; 22. Jill St John/Tiffany

Favourite Bond villain: 1. Robert Davi/Sanchez; 2. Donald Pleasance/Blofeld; 3. Gert Frobe/Goldfinger; 4. Christopher Lee/Scaramanga; 5. Jeroen Krabbe & Joe Don Baker/Koskov & Whittaker; 6. Christopher Walken/Zorin; 7. Louis Jordan & Steven Berkov/Kahn & Orlov 8. Jonathan Pryce/Carver; 9. Adolfo Celi/Largo; 10. Mads Mikkelsen/Le Chiffre; 11. Sean Bean/Trevelyan; 12. Michael Lonsdale/Drax; 13. Yaphet Kotto/Mr Big-Dr Kananga; 14. Julian Glover/Kristatos; 15. Joseph Wiseman/Dr No; 16. Lotte Lenya/Klebb; 17. Mathieu Almaric; 18. Telly Savalas/Blofeld; 19. Charles Gray/Blofeld; 20. Toby Stephens/Graves; 21. Sophie Marceau/Elektra; 22. Curt Jurgens/Stromberg